Interviews with

Abol Hassan Bani-Sadr, the first President of Iran:
“The Iranian Revolution was the first revolution without an ideology that functioned as a way to gain power. It was about becoming a free society again. The goal was liberty, independence, the Islamic Republic. We wanted an Islamic discourse about liberty. What it means that a people finds itself in one unifying pacifistic movement, which succeeds in changing a regime. But once the revolution was finished, once the Shah’s regime was overthrown, the power struggle began. This power struggle is the reason why we did not succeed in building a democratic state.”

Paul Schrader
“I remember running into Richard Gere a period later and he said that I had told him back than that we were in for kind of an Neo Edwardianism in men’s fashion. After the 1960s and 1970s we were in for kind of a cool Classicism to come back and this is how I want to dress this character. Richard said he didn’t believe me, but that I was absolutely right.  I know the kind of lineage of Gigolo. Not only was it very ‘Warholian’ ––ironically we are in the Chelsea Hotel–– Andy Warhol hat a lot to do with it. Interview magazine championed it. Andy loved it and once Andy started talking about it, it became kind of a Studio 54 film. That whole crowd. And it was in the magazine that set the trend in motion.”

and Giorgio Moroder

GD: Mister Moroder, what was your car in 1980?

GM: I drove a Mercedes SL.


GD: Convertible?

GM: Sure.


CR: The one from American Gigolo?

GM: A Mercedes SL 650, to be precise. I always drove Mercedes, it 
is a good car. You can drive it open. And I only needed two
 seats.


GD: Air-conditioning?

GM: I did not need it.


GD: Which color?

GM: Black, like in American Gigolo.


GD: Do you remember what kind of suits you wore?

GM: I know they were too gay. Too European for the Americans.
 For them it is always a problem if somebody is dressed too
 elegant, too much color. That’s automatically gay.


CR: Gay as in glamour?

GM: No, no, my suits were blue, just a little more color here and 
there than you were used to see. I also wore a tie from time
to time and always a jacket. If you were automatically glamorous.

Designers: Mei-Lun Xue and Petra Langhammer

Producer: Sandra von Mayer-Myrtenhain

Editorial Assistance: Marco Agosta and Lena Wiegmann

128 pages, soft cover
ISBN 978-3-905929-01-1