Bridge to Iran

Caty Borum Chattoo has kindly forwarded me an email announcing airing "BRIDGE TO IRAN" which a series of documentaries already produced by Iranian filmmakers on Iran. It reads:

San Francisco, Calif., January 23, 2012 – Against a backdrop of rising cultural and political tensions in Iran, Link TV will premiere its four-part documentary TV series, “BRIDGE TO IRAN,” beginning on February 14 at 7:30 p.m. ET. Presented by Iranian-American host, Parisa Soultani, the series examines issues such as the role of women in Iranian politics, intimate conversations between the exiled former queen of Iran and a former dissident, and the historically powerful role of the arts – particularly theatre and cinema – within Iranian society. In each episode, in-depth discussions with top Iranian filmmakers provide a unique lens into some of the challenges and realities facing Iranians during a time of increased instability – including censorship, sanctions and safety concerns. New episodes will air at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT on February 14, 21, 28, and March 6 (with repeat broadcasts); more information about all episodes are available online at www.LinkTV.org/BridgeToIran.


“Bridge to Iran,” a co-production of Link TV and CEM Productions, was developed as a response to the cultural and political tensions that have developed between Iran and the U.S. since the Iranian revolution.


Viewable Online at www.LinkTV.org/BridgeToIran
 
---I have visited this website. Some of them are great works such as Iran: A Cinematographic Revolution, which reviews Iranian motion picture industry and traditions, We Are Half of Iran's Population by Rakhshan Bani Etemad is a great look into women's issues and challenges insider. Frankly I am lost what a movie like  The Queen and I  has to say about Iran of today, since it is a biographic work. It might have some value for those  interested in Iran's contemporary history, however I do not see how it adds to its viewers' understanding of Iran of 2012.
Overall this is an admirable effort to bring some understanding of Iran to an American audience. However against a backdrop of war the documentaries do not include anything on the human cost of war. Particularly since the memory of Iran-Iraq eight year long war is so fresh and its wounds are still bleeding. Still they offer a uniquely authentic outlook of Iranian cinema and Iranian women issues. 

A Great Documentary on Iran's Film Industry

One of the great things about Netflix is its collection of foreign movies. You can imagine how surprised I was to find a great documentary on Iran’s film industry. “Iran: A Cinematographic Revolution” directed by Nader T. Homayoun and released in 2007 is indeed a masterpiece. The introduction page of the film reads:

“Despite political turmoil and cultural isolation -- and sometimes even because of them Iran has served as fertile ground for filmmakers for more than seven decades, as witnessed by this tribute to Persian cinema from Nader Takmil Homayoun. From escapism to social realism, the new wave of the 1970s and the more poetic films of recent years, this homage traces the history of Iranian filmmaking through a fascinating array of clips and interviews.”

It is an excellent documentary! It begins its story by reviewing the beginning of cinema and film industry in Iran, then it covers some of pre-revolution controversial movies and then it moves to tell the story of a cinema in the turmoil of revolution. The movie producers have interviewed a diverse number of Iran's directors; their cast includes great and celebrated names such as Makhmalbaf, Qobadi, Panahi and Hatamikia. This movie is their story, the story of how they made films in 7 minutes intervals between missiles attacks on Tehran and how they created an Iranian genre under the eyes of a censor. If you want to learn something about Iran and its film industry you have to see this movie. It is a must see for everyone.

As an economist it was interesting for me to notice that how many directors pointed out that there is no self sufficient film industry in Iran for their genre. Since this means lack of demand, it made me think that how many consumers would like to see a movie in order to entertain, rather than to think. After all that is one of the functions of a movie.

I also wonder if Iranian movie makers are thinking of branching into other Farsi speaking countries such as Afghanistan and Tajikistan, may be the assembly of markets I n these countries and Iran could provide a large enough demand for a self sufficient movie industry.

At Best Illiterate, At Worst Criminally Ignorant

While weblog has provided many with an instrument of expressing themselves, internet has provided them with an audience. Thus there is no surprise that we are witnessing forming a new group of young people that might think of themselves as intellectuals. The young intellectuals are either former journalists or students. They either are graduate students or work in a profession and some have established a new business that others refer to it as: “human rights business.” They write, they talk and they analyze. In media they are referred to as Iranian activists, Iranian student leaders and former journalist.

There is no standard here, in some cases a few have been troublemakers and nuisance back home, some other have been imprisoned and came abroad during their leaves and in most cases they just left Iran like many other young Iranians to pursue better opportunities or to continue their studies. Few actually were threatened or were in trouble.

From hundreds of blogs written regularly by Iranians abroad, few deal with Iran’s issues theoretically or pragmatically. Most are limited to personal memories of individuals or authorities. Most writings often include personal attacks or insolent words. Bloggers and self acclaimed intellectuals argue over concepts such as feminism and sexual orientation of their readers. A good deal of writing is consumed by self-justification. Few here or there actually offer an insight or a solution. To the best of this author’s knowledge few has offered anything more than gossips or common prejudice. One wonders what would be gained by these.

While bloggers use names such as Mandela and Gandhi, they never offer any historical information about their political careers or strategies. They rarely have shared with their audience the foundations of a democratic society, examples of judiciary mechanisms or the history of civil rights campaigns and women rights campaigns in other countries. The history and lessons of history are completely absent. For bloggers history begins with them and ends with them.

For them being right or wrong is not defined by behavior or achievements, it is defined by beliefs. Thus there are some right things that must be done under any circumstances and some wrong things that must be avoided at all costs. To top this all this new generation of Iran’s intelligentsia is utterly and gallingly naïve. A great example is their reaction to documentaries on Iran that usually draw a black and dark image of Iran, the most recent one is the case of Canadian TV show on Iran’s homosexuals.

While this show in an extravagant example of prejudice and mercenary journalism draws a rather ugly picture from Iran, some bloggers just shrugged their shoulders and said: “these are facts, facts must be told!” No one pays attention to the immediate danger of war, or military action against Iran. No one mentions that in reality Iran has been singled out in the region. No one asks why there is not such a documentary about Egypt or Saudi or even Turkey! No one thinks that such programs never say all the facts, including the one that Iran’s public has much more pressing concerns right now.

One wonders, one indeed wonders what the gain of these stories is. It seems these bloggers not only neglect to learn from their own mistakes but also forget 1980’s. Why they don’t look at history books about Iran in the libraries. Do they know that in every book about Iran-Iraq war published before 1991, Iraq use of chemical weapons had not been mentioned? Even those that mentioned it added that it is according to Iranian accusations! Only after Operation Desert Storms, every single book mentions Saddam’s crimes matter-of-factly.

These are facts too, there are many more about Iran. To sit in a safe corner in Canada, the United States or Europe, when bombs are being prepared to target Tehran and shrug shoulders to escape one’s responsibility is not a devotion to “telling facts”. It just shows an intelligentsia increasingly detached from realities in Iran, ignorant of consequences of their actions and illiterate of historical facts and realities. It is sad to see like 1970’s Iranian intellectuals are still a self-absorbed bunch with no idea of the realities that their people face in their daily lives basing all their claims to intelligence on their presumed righteousness. If this is not criminal ignorance, then what it is?