Can you first tell us who you are and what you do?
My name is Amir. And what I do ...
What do I really?
- Amir Asgharnejad? - Amir.
- You are an artist and ...? - Comedian.
- And coming from ...? - Iran.
Amir grew up in southern Norway and trained at the Academy in Oslo.
When I was studying, I lost my dad.
Then was the life and career and everything like that very unimportant.
To make things lost their value.
Then was the humor very important. I saw a lot of Andy Kaufman then.
Amir's graduation show was made by a different artist.
They built a Ikeakök in a gallery and made GHB guests got.
As described in the newspapers, but the victims were familiar to them.
The police closed the exhibition, grabbed Amir's friend.
It was the media storm and debate on art's moral boundaries.
It was in a way my first real performance project.
After graduating Amir tried to make itself known as idiosyncratic comedians.
It led to a couple of strange TV performances.
I think I see an elephant in the room that sits between your nose and mouth.
- Okay, yes? Oh, that? - Why the mustache?
It is humormustaschen.
- It was common in the humor movies before. - Chaplin?
Chaplin.
But even in alternative programs, he became the alternative.
I met Amir 2012.
NRK hired me for a satirical program in the Middle East with Amir.
Typically, when NRK wants to work with me, it's kind:
We will not do a bit of humor immigrant?
I would go to the Middle East and be a fun Iranians.
Then I thought: How can I turn this to become something interesting?
First down, I realize that Amir did not think it through.
He wants to fabricate a new scandal instead.
The project required him, so I went along with the lie.
Amir Asgharnejad, it's you we're talking about here.
You were detained by police in the security check when you could fly home.
First they said they had heard that I had drugs on me.
So it was a new guy who had a leather jacket and sunglasses.
- Then they asked me to undress. - When they were filming you?
Yes, they filmed everything. And then they threatened me and SA-
- if the event would be told and came out, I would die.
It is totally unacceptable, what happened in check.
It went all the way up to the Council of Europe and Amir was once monthly headline.
Thank you for coming here.
In the art world, there are two concepts.
One is elephant art and the other is termitkonst.
Elephant art of trying to preserve a kind of tradition, a nostalgia.
But termitkonsten is more interesting, because it wants to destroy the network
- and deconstruct something to make room for something new.
I wanted to do with viral videos that Andy Kaufman did with wrestling.
2014 saw clips of Amir who get beyond the fight of millions.
For several months, came the new clip. Not even his friends knew it.
My question has to be: Why?
He was interviewed everywhere, but no one knew that everything was staged.
All interviews were conducted in character.
It's a bit like writing fiction. And just the idea that -
- maybe I can use my life and myself as a concept
- and create situations and characters happens in reality.
Suddenly, the project took a completely unexpected turn.
In came an international ad agency-
- and a well-known energy drink, both of which have refused us to make this film.
Our solution is to make a reconstruction of Amir's history.
The participants are played by actors.
Energy drink in the movie is not the actual Market-
- but something that we have created to avoid legal problems.
Just tell the story as if I'm an Alien
- who do not know anything. Just take it from the beginning.
It all started when I got a call.
Hi. I am looking for Amir Asgharnejad.
- It's me. - We are an advertising agency.
Our creative team might want to work with you on a project.
- So we want to make a telephone. - For a television commercial?
We can not talk about the project until you sign a NDA.
- What is an NDA? - It's a confidentiality agreement.
Before we talk about the project, we want to know that it remains secret.
How could they sell the idea? How did that meeting out as well?
It's a crazy idea that fight videos would become an advertising campaign.
I had never done it for real.
I must do it, to be in nature, keep a straight face and implement it.
He ... welcome you to the meeting.
I said you probably spoke English because you are Norwegian.
Which interview are you talking about?
Yes exactly. Sorry. Earlier in the day, he had ...
But then I felt that I might have gone a bit too far too soon.
For he was about to give up.
Okay, if the project is scrapped, it has of course no value.
So I thought, okay ...
No matter how idiotic layup and all that they drag me into are-
- so you just have to drive on.
I regretted having with Amir in a movie about how hard he is working with.
The difference between the script and our reality became increasingly clear.
Be serious now, Amir.
Do you want me to drive you?
I tried not to fuck up your movie.
But I knew well that kind of ... That was my story.
And you had some choices to make about it to your movie.
And it was, I do not agree, so ...
But you had read the script.
Let's just continue.
I do not remember everything that happened the rest of the evening, but ...
Something was a little off that day.
I started might be paranoid, but I remember thinking:
Has she said anything to them? Do all this that everything was fake?
I actually think it was worse-
- your recording than when it happened the first time.
The first time they did it only four or five times.
But your record ...
- Do we take that version? - What are you thinking then?
The when I broke down the door?
Right. Yes, we take that version. What are you thinking?
See you!
You are so passive in the stage and in film in general that ...
I think the audience wants you ...
- It happened not even. - No, but then ...
It has become a movie. You may be a little more economic than in reality.
Can you just take from meeting again, with version when you break the door?
Can you just start from the meeting and take it from there?
And so they said they would pull the rest of my expenses-
- and I just had to go home. So I just went home.
And it was like ... You heard no more from them?
Nothing.
- Are we done here? - I think we have it ...
I think we have what we need. Let me just ...