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Entries in House of Cinema (3)

Wednesday
May302012

Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society --- From House of Cinema to "Forbidden City" (Arseh Sevom)

Photographer Hoda Rostami in her "Forbidden City"


After the Streets, “Campaign against Bad Hijab” Reaches Parks and Mountains

Last week we reported on the national re-launch of the so-called “moral security” project. The campaign has now gone beyond streets and reached mountains and parks as well.

The Forbidden City

While the Moral Security project is implemented with full force, the Iranian-Swedish artist, Hoda Rostami, challenges the treatment of her peers through the lens of her camera. Rostami’s collection of photographs from Tehran shows Iranian women freed from imposed hijab in current day-to-day situations. In an article on Tehran Review, the artist describes the motivation for her work:

My street photography soon turned into my concern for myself and others around me in a city and country that I loved, [so] I depicted it in another way, as I liked it to be. This collection is more of a manifest and an expression of words that appear to have been forbidden for years in this city.

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Tuesday
Mar132012

Iran Feature: The Week in Civil Society, from Women's Activism to Harsh Sentences to Cyberspace (Arseh Sevom)

One of the video testimonies in "Women Speak Out Against War"

See also Iran Video Document: Tehran's Larijani to UN "We Are a Benchmark for Human Rights"


Arseh Sevom, the non-government organisation promoting civil society in Iran, presents its weekly review of developments in the country:

A New Year Greeted with Empty Pockets, Joy, and Trepidation

The celebration of Iranian New Year (Norooz), which falls at the moment of the Spring Equinox (5:14 am UTC or GMT, March 20), has managed to survive every political regime and every change of religion. It remains autonomous of state control and an example of “the configuration in which society stands apart from the state.” Its continuing celebration in Iran represents a requisite of a civil society.

The fast approaching new year is causing a mixture of apprehension and excitement. This will be a difficult Norooz for many suffering from the bad economic situation in Iran where a combination of run-away inflation, poor economic management, and sanctions are really taking their toll.

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Thursday
Jan262012

Iran Feature: How Do You Cope with Award-Winning Director Farhadi?

Maya Neyestani: "Asghar, take your award and run before Madonna kisses you!"


Iranian director Asghar Farhadi has been on a roll lately, winning the Best Foreign Language Film awards at the BFCA [Broadcast Film Critics Association] and the Golden Globe. He is on his way to the Oscars. But while many in Iran are congratulating Farhadi and celebrating his success, this has infuriated the hardliners....

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