PRESS RELEASE
Arts United 4 Iran
A global initiative to celebrate the Civil Rights Movement in Iran
Netherlands Edition

Contact: European Coordinator for United4Iran, Kamran Ashtary
kamran@united4iran-nl.org
Tori Egherman tori@united4iran-nl.org

IRAN THROUGH THE EYES OF OTHERS
Documentary: Letters to the President, followed by a discussion with the director

For Immediate Release

AMSTERDAM, December 10, 2009. On Saturday December 12th, 2009, United4Iran-NL, an affiliate of United4Iran, an organization dedicated to civil rights and democracy, will join a global day of action in solidarity with the civil and human rights movement in Iran. “Arts United 4 Iran” will be from 16:30 – 02:00 at Studio /K in Amsterdam.

Journalist Angus McDowall, who spent more than four years reporting from Iran for the Economist and the Independent, will lead a discussion with Petr Lom, the director of the provocative documentary, Letters to the President. This should be a lively discussion as the two compare and contrast their experiences working and traveling in Iran.

The film, Letters to the President, will be shown at 18.10 and the discussion will follow at 19.40. Petr Lom was granted unparalleled access to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as he traveled throughout Iran’s many provinces, visiting small towns and villages that other officials had ignored. In some towns, he is met with adoring crowds that shower him and his team with letters, most of which request loans. In others, crowds complain about unfinished public works projects.

What we see in this film is the desperation of people who want reasonable loans in order to stay above water. In a heartbreaking scene, we watch as a man begs for money to buy sheep. He tells the bureaucrat that he is so desperate that he might have to sell his daughter and wife. The bureaucrat responds with a simple, “There is no money in the banks.”

The film also presents an undercurrent of the tension surrounding speaking with the press in Iran. Often, bystanders urge others “don’t speak to the foreigner.” A mural painter expresses surprise that the filmmaker and his crew have not been arrested. “We heard that you had been arrested,” he tells them. The film is entertaining, distressing, and thought-provoking. The conversation following the film should be equally so.

For more information about the other programs, visit united4iran-nl.org.

Tweet  Buzz  Delicious  Digg  Facebook  Stumble 

Filed under:
12-12, Press Release by Tori