Thursday, July 3

Hiatus

You may have noticed that I haven't made a new post since March.  In the words of Salam Pax, the Baghdad Blogger: "I think hiatus is the word".  I have had a busy couple of months, thanks for bearing with me.

This one will be short and sweet: a scene I love from a wonderful Persian film called "Under the Moonlight", the controversial story of a young man who is struggling to decide weather or not to join the Islamic clergy.  This scene shows the playful, caring and brotherly side of Iran's men.

As you have seen in the western media, Middle Eastern men are most commonly seen being angry, mistreating women, acting the fanatic...these images are reinforced throughout western culture with disparaging references to us.  Take, for example, this fireworks package I found on the grounds the week before the 4th of July:



It says several things.  "Osama Bin Laden is a cartoon, a caricature, not a real man."  "Blowing him up would be funny".  "This would be a justified revenge."  And how different is Bin Laden from other muslim 'fanatics'?  Are all muslims 'fanatics'?  Does this help justify violence toward all muslims?

One of the joys of watching Persian cinema is that you get indigenous glimpses at how our people live and interact with one another.  "House of Sand and Fog" and "Not Without My Daughter", eat your hearts out.

Enjoy.





P.S. This is my first attempt to edit a film for a post.  Here's how I did it:

1. I downloaded this film in .avi format from IranTorrents.com
2. I edited this clip (cut it from the film) in Final Cut Pro
3. I exported it into a Final Cut Quicktime File
4. I converted it in Quicktime to XVid format
5. I uploaded it to Youtube
6. (the easy part) I linked the Youtube upload to this page.

-POTW