In The Loner, his first feature, director Daniel Grove follows the story of Behrouz, starting with his forced service as a child soldier – a “Basiji” – fighting for Iran in the war with Iraq. The story then advances to his life as an adult immigrant in the underworld of Los Angeles, specifically the Persian underworld, or “Tehrangeles”. Although much of the film has the trappings of other crime thrillers set in Los Angeles, including drug deals, strip clubs and shootouts, Grove imbues it with the exotic flavors of Islamic culture, as transported to an alien environment.

With grim irony, Behrouz discovers that the life of a criminal here has dangers that even exceed those on the battlefields of his homeland, and which require as much skill to survive. He finds that mere skill is useless when the Russian mob has a contract on your life. Added to this is the danger of dealing with a number of beautiful women, each with her own, equally dangerous demands.

The subject matter of the film doesn’t seem to fit the director’s background. He grew up in Singapore, then moved to Australia where he got a BA in Philosophy and Journalism from the University of Sydney. But eventually his lifelong love of movies drew him into the profession, and he has no regrets about it.

It was really a matter of luck that he found the project. The film’s star, Reza Sixo Safai, who co-wrote the script with Grove, had based much of it on the life of his uncle, who had been a Basiji, survived, and came to the United States. The struggle he had to adjust to life here, which eventually led to his suicide, so moved Safai that he knew it would make a compelling  film. He also felt it would highlight the struggles of other Basiji survivors who would have to deal with the psychological scars of that experience for the rest of their lives. Although Safai’s uncle had not been a criminal, the writers felt the crime genre was exactly right for the story of someone who had been taught to kill as a child.

Grove also knew it would be a terrific vehicle for his first feature, and his previous film with Safai convinced him that the Iranian actor should star in it. That film was A Better Place Than This, a narrative short set in a Singapore prison. Because Grove knew Singapore so well, he felt he had the right background to tell the violent story. It was partly funded by a Kickstarter campaign, completed in 2012 and Grove remembers it as a “very tough shoot”, especially since the sets had to be built from scratch. Grove credits a table reading of the script at the San Francisco Film Society with building his confidence for the job.

The film’s success prompted Grove and Safai to form Black Light District Films, and they started working together on the script for The Loner. Funding was easier than for A Better Place…, especially after Black Light scored a success with A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night, which was shown at Sundance and New Directors/New Films in 2014. Called the world’s first “Iranian Vampire Western”, it was directed by Ana Lily Amirpour, and had a featured role for Safai. Finally, with a credible production company behind him, Grove was ready for his debut feature, and shooting began in Los Angeles in late 2104.

He feels that he completed the film he wanted to make. The characters are drawn realistically, but the style of the film is more expressionistic, even poetic at times. Grove was always drawn to symbolic poetry – Arthur Rimbaud is a major influence – and he chose certain images for their iconic impact. Especially the moon, which has been used symbolically by filmmakers such as Melies since the birth of cinema. In The Loner, the image of the moon recurs vividly at crucial times in the story. For Behrouz, it serves, finally, as the symbol of his fate.

After the premiere, Grove plans to take it on the European festival tour, and is optimistic about getting a distributor. With an intriguingly original theme, some exciting action scenes and several stunning looking women, including Swedish star Helena Mattson, the film should have wide appeal.

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