Comedian and actor Pax Assadi is stepping behind the camera for the first time. Photo / Jason Oxenham.
Season 2 of the award-winning series Raised by Refugees sees writer Pax Assadi also take up the role of director to tell a story which is close to his heart.
In an abandoned office building in an industrial area of Auckland’s Mt Wellington, TV producers of the second season of local comedy Raised by Refugees have transformed the property into a Pakistan hospital in 1980.
South Asian extras fill the set and the once-derelict office cubicles are repurposed into a hospital ward.
Behind the camera is comedian, actor, writer and showrunner of the comedy, Pax Assadi, who created the series based on his childhood experience of growing up in New Zealand with refugee parents. He plays the role of his own father in the series.
It’s a huge day at work for the comedian because he will not only be acting in every single scene, but he will also be directing for the very first time - and on an episode that is deeply personal to him and his family. He will be retelling his own origin story, about how his parents, Afnan and Safia, first met before they found asylum in New Zealand.
“My father was a refugee escaping Iran into Pakistan and at the same time he got to meet the person he would spend the rest of his life with. There is a duality of joy and sadness to this story,” Assadi explains.
“It’s about a young couple falling in love despite all of the pain and trauma going on around them. It’s about my dad’s joy and awe with this woman that he meets and his goal to woo her.”
There’s determination and purpose on the novice director’s face as he looks into the monitor with precision, ensuring that every detail in front of the camera is perfect.
There’s a lot at stake for Assadi, both professionally and personally. The fact he’s intimately connected to the story, and the pressure to get it right, mask any nerves he feels about directing for the first time.
‘I was nervous as hell but I have the ability to get past my nerves. I attribute that to my mother, who can push things down and focus.”
Assadi’s desire to direct came after observing the skills that the directors showed to tell his personal story in the first season.
“I felt like I had the creative capacity to become a director and the first season was like a crash course of learning how to direct.”
The first series of Raised by Refugees, which won best comedy series at the 2022 NZTV Awards, focused on a 12-year-old Assadi growing up in New Zealand in the late 80s and trying to fit in.
The second season will delve deeper into his family history, forcing his entire family to confront their past.
“The show is called Raised by Refugees but season one didn’t really explore the concept of being a refugee other than it was set in a Western country. This season focuses on the relationship between me and my parents and how they became refugees.”
Assadi’s father, Afnan, who practises the Baha’i faith, was forced to flee Iran in the 70s due to persecution, imprisonment, torture and unjustified executions of those who followed the religion.
“To be safe and figure out how to get his family out of Iran, my father escaped in treacherous circumstances in the middle of the night, with a smuggler, crossing the desert on a camel for four days, jumping in the back of a trunk with God knows who, and giving random people money to get across certain bodies of water,” Assadi says.
After making it to Pakistan, Afnan met Safia at a hospital while visiting his cousin. He was disturbing the hospital patients and staff with his loud personality, and Safia was the short-tempered nurse who called security to escort Afnan out of the building. It was the beginning of their courtship.
“They eventually fell in love with each other and slowly built their life together so they could apply for asylum to any Western country that would take them. New Zealand was the country that gave them asylum. He moved here and was able to figure out how to get his family out of Iran and into New Zealand.”
Assadi admits that retelling Afnan and Safia’s story will emotionally push his parents to the limit and that’s why he put his hand up to direct the episode to be the caretaker for his own family history.
Despite their initial apprehension of seeing their story portrayed on the small screen, Afnan and Safia gave their blessing for their son to direct and share their experience. They knew that their story of struggle and adversity represented the stories of a wide range of immigrants and refugees who call Aotearoa home.
“Deep down they understand the importance. They understand that exploring these ideas only adds to the tapestry of how we understand each other in this country. The more that we know about each other, about the diverse communities that make up New Zealand, then the more we can move forward.”
On a personal level, Assadi says he’s making this season for his own family, wife of 12 years, Sholeh, and two daughters, Vaha, 9, and Lua, 7. He says the series will be a recorded document for his children and the next generation to learn and know about their history.
“There will come a time when my daughters will watch the show and understand everything that’s going on. To see and tap into what their grandparents went through and all of the emotions on the screen will allow them to have empathy and compassion for their family.”
Assadi admits that being a comedian and being deeply involved in the world of entertainment can be superficial. He says being a father to his own children keeps him grounded and ensures that he doesn’t lose sight of what is important in life.
“I work in a world that is chaotic, fake, and where everything is for show. My children are the anchors that ground me in reality. They don’t care if you have a massive gig coming up or if I’m on social media. They just want me to be real with them. They’ve kept me level-headed throughout my entire comedy career. I think I would be an incredibly selfish person if I didn’t have children.”
Afnan and Safia came to New Zealand a year before Assadi was born. They lived on Auckland’s North Shore before moving to Hamilton when Assadi was 14. Several years later, the family relocated to Christchurch where Assadi’s parents still live.
As a child of refugees, Assadi used humour throughout his life as a survival mechanism and it helped give him confidence and allowed him to build bridges to make friends. In fact, he says he grew up with his entire family using comedy to help mask the pain and struggles that they had endured throughout their lives.
“It’s very common to go to a Bahaʼi or a Persian funeral and people are laughing, making jokes and celebrating. It’s not a sombre environment at all. The funniest jokes are usually in the context of tragedy. The jokes that hit us the hardest are the ones that explore the painful aspects of society and when someone gives us the key to open the door, allowing us to laugh.”
At 16, Assadi saw how popular stand-up comedians were becoming on YouTube and realised that he too could use his humour to pursue a full-time career in comedy. He had honed his skills in performance while interacting with customers during his part-time job at his father’s vacuum cleaner shop in Hamilton.
Assadi debuted as a stand-up comedian at age 19 at Auckland’s Classic Comedy Club and his career has since grown. A Billy T Award comedy nomination followed in 2013 and he’s been a regular writer and a panellist on 7 Days and The Project.
“It’s taken me 10 years to find out who I am as a stand-up comedian. With time I’ve become more skilled and braver. I’m not afraid to tackle harder topics on stage,” he says.
“When you first start comedy, you’re normally doing an impression of your favourite stand-up comedians. As you get older, you become more experienced and you become who you are meant to be on the stage.”
Raised by Refugees series 2 screens from October 18 on Sky Open and Neon and Sky Go from October 19.
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