Iranian have been producing film for over a century.
In the aftermath of the 6.6 earthquake that shattered Bam, in southeastern Iran in 2003, Iranian filmmaker Jahangir Golestanparast created, produced, and directed Bam 6.6, the story of how Iranians in Bam came together to rescue and aid an American and Jewish couple who were touring in Bam when the quake struck.
The film will premier at a screening at the Washington National Cathedral this evening, January 9, 2008, at 7:00 pm.
The purpose of this diary is to make all Kossacks and especially people in the MD-DC-VA area aware of this film and the opportunity to view it this evening. Then I'm on the road to try to get there in time for the curtain!
A friend from CASMII, the Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran alerted me to this blurb on the film, posted on a very popular and rambunctious Iranian and Iranian-American website, Iranian.com
Bam 6.6, a documentary about the Bam earthquake of 2003 in Iran, is finally readied for release on DVD. Here's my interview with the producer/director, Jahangir Golestanparast. The production chronicles the ordeal of American tourists Tobb Dell'Oro and his Jewish fiancée, Adele Freedman, after they are buried under the rubble. It highlights how grief-stricken Iranians make a special effort to treat the couple's injuries and comfort Adele afterwards. Bam 6.6 has been screened at the 2007 United Nations Association Film Festival and several U.S. conferences and universities. Mr. Golestanparast is scheduled to show and discuss his film at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC at 7 pm on January 9. Please refer to www.essenceofiran.com for details.
Iran is a complex culture and society, a nation of 70 million people who, for the most part, are very fond of Americans. Iranians make as many efforts at soft power diplomacy as some of the more boisterous elements in Iran carry out in provocative behaviors.
This film is one attempt to show another side of Iran. Click on the links and check out the creative and compassionate side of the Iranian people.