Films A-Z
Iran: Voices of the Unheard
Iran: Voices of the Unheard
Davoud Geramifard / Canada / 2009 / 67 min.
What is life like in contemporary Iran, where government imposed fundamentalist Shiite Islam is for many an obstacle to freedom? Director Davoud Geramifard filmed secretly during conservative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first term of office in 2008, recording the testimonies of several Iranians who represent the "unheard voices" of their country. The views of a teacher, a former tribal chieftain and a poet diverge from those of the government's Islamist propaganda, which gradually came to dominate following the ousting of the Shah in the Islamic Revolution of 1979. Being an unbeliever, interpreting the Koran differently, maintaining a traditional Nomadic identity or normal aspects of a youthful life such as dancing all of these are impossible for the interviewees. As well as criticising the system, they all hope for social change and point out the clichéd nature of perceptions of life in Iran from abroad. They also call for an Iran in which various minorities, secularists and leftist intellectuals could live in a free and open society without fearing persecution. But how can plurality of opinion return to public life?
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