Appalachian film crew tackles COVID-19 challenges, dispels stigma in Amazon Prime series
Afsheen Misaghi is the director of ‘Normal for Now,’ a four-part anthology only on Amazon Prime. (Misaghi)
Afsheen Misaghi has been stereotyped since the day he was born in Lewisburg, West Virginia -- even if not for the same reasons as other Appalachians.
"I identify in my heart of hearts as a boy from southern West Virginia and Appalachia," Misaghi, whose family is of Iranian descent, said. "Oftentimes when I say that, even when I'm in Appalachia or abroad, I get the most confused look or very overt laugh in my face. That's been my life. I may not look like what others think Appalachian looks like, but I am."
Misaghi is no less Appalachian than you or I, and he carries it with pride.
His love for the region and its people runs so deep, he recently teamed up with several Appalachian actors and filmmakers to dispel the stigma this part of the country gets. The group also dives into the emotional reality this pandemic presents to everyone, no matter geography.
Normal for Now is a four-part anthology only on Amazon Prime. Each episode provides a glimpse into the bedrooms of people doing their best to manage the many challenges quarantine presents.
The experience of loneliness is also one of the production’s themes. (Misaghi)
The production is also unique because the actors are people of color and/or part of the LGBTQ+ community. Also, all the crew are from Appalachia.
"We want to break that mold," he said. "For too long, especially in media, Appalachians have been represented as homogenous, white, racist, bigoted, hillbilly, cousin-lovin', toothless [people] and all that has been up until recently."
"You guys saw Hillbilly Elegy in December. Even the movies coming out recently like Logan Lucky, The Devil All The Time . . . I like these movies, but they paint Appalachia with broad strokes that have incredibly dangerous narratives behind it and perpetuate untrue parts of Appalachia."
The team prides itself on entirely being made up of Appalachians. (Misaghi)
And their message is loud and clear -- just because someone is from or living in Appalachia doesn't mean they're any different than others, especially when it comes to dealing with the mental and emotional toll of COVID-19.
"The Appalachia I know is an incredibly diverse loving place with issues and problems that are very serious," he said, "but we have the same issues humans have across the world. We're no different."
The four parts combined run less than 35 minutes, or about a typical lunch break, as Misaghi put it.
Our entire interview with Misaghi is available here.
We discuss other topics: the hoops they jumped getting the series on Amazon Prime, what Appalachians can do to help remold the national opinion and the origin story of how the series came to be.
You can watch Normal for Now on Amazon Prime here.
