Writing by persiancowboy on Tuesday, 31 of July , 2007 at 7:33 pm
Iran has unveiled the world’s largest handmade carpet. According to BBC,
The carpet, which took 1,200 weavers some 18 months to make, is destined for a mosque in the United Arab Emirates.
Measuring 5,625 sq m (60,546 sq ft), the carpet was made in nine separate segments with 2.2 billion knots.
It was woven in Iran’s north-eastern province of Khorasan and is worth an estimated $5.8m (£2.8m).
Half of that sum is destined for the local area in Khorasan, where it was produced using about 38 tons of wool and cotton.
Category: Uncategorized
Writing by persiancowboy on Tuesday, 31 of July , 2007 at 6:14 pm
Thats the title of a press release by the National Iranian American Council about the changes to the “Crossing Over” movie.
Los Angeles/Washington DC - Ongoing conversations between NIAC and the director and actors in the upcoming film, ‘Crossing Over,’ reached a positive conclusion last week. According to the film’s director, all elements of an honor killing in the script have been eliminated. Written in the tradition of ‘Crash,’ the film follows the struggles of individuals from different immigrant communities as they strive to ‘cross over’ from illegal residency to documented citizenship. Harrison Ford is playing the lead role of Max Brogan, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
His partner, Hamid Baraheri, played by Cliff Curtis, is a naturalized Iranian-American citizen. The star-studded ensemble cast also features Sean Penn, Ashley Judd, and Ray Liotta. The film is currently in the last stages of production and is due out this December.
At issue was the depiction of Iranian Americans committing an “honor killing” in Los Angeles, a scenario that is both highly unlikely and potentially inflammatory. In a letter to ‘Crossing Over’ director/producer Wayne Kramer on May 15, NIAC outlined its concerns.
If “significant changes” were not made, NIAC wrote, “the film will generate serious backlash against the Iranian American community, further punishing a population that has been increasingly the target of discrimination in this time of escalated tensions between the U.S. and Iran.” The producer immediately contacted NIAC to discuss the issue and agreed take its concerns into consideration.
NIAC later submitted its analysis and suggestions to the production team, which changed elements of the script and even re-shot certain scenes. The final product, the director says, does not include any reference to “family honor” and does not depict an honor killing.
Emily Blout, NIAC’s Assistant Legislative Director, commended the director for his willingness to consider the views of the Iranian American community. “Mr. Kramer was receptive and sympathetic to our concerns.” said Blout after the Friday conference call. “I appreciate his efforts and am satisfied with the changes that have been made.”
NIAC president, Dr. Trita Parsi, attributed the success to the power of outreach and dialogue. “The Iranian-American community should engage in dialogue with directors and producers in Hollywood to ensure that the depiction of Iranian Americans reflect the community’s true achievements,” he said.
Category: Uncategorized
Writing by persiancowboy on Sunday, 29 of July , 2007 at 9:44 pm
serendipity \ser-uhn-DIP-uh-tee\, noun:
The faculty or phenomenon of making fortunate accidental discoveries.
There again, perhaps because of serendipity, or an especially conscientious team of doctors, it can also happen that the crucial clues are noticed and recorded for posterity.
– Edward Hooper, The River
The word serendipity was formed by English author Horace Walpole (1717-1797) from Serendip (also Serendib), an old name for Sri Lanka, in reference to a Persian tale, The Three Princes of Serendip, whose heroes “discovered, quite unexpectedly, great and wonderful good in the most unlikely of situations, places and people.”
Category: History
Writing by persiancowboy on Wednesday, 18 of July , 2007 at 8:31 am
Mansour Osanloo, leader of the Tehran bus workers union, was last week
arrested and is now once again in prison. The International Transport
Workers Federation has launched an urgent appeal demanding his release:
http://www.itfglobal.org/solidarity/osanloo2.cfm
Category: Uncategorized
Writing by admin on Sunday, 8 of July , 2007 at 12:04 am
Even a US paper airplane is capable of carrying out precision-guided bombing! Some sources say the Iranian plane crashed into the flowers on the table. The Iranian deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, used the opportunity both in the summit and afterward to call for withdrawal of American Air Force from the Persian Gulf region.
Category: Uncategorized
Writing by admin on Sunday, 8 of July , 2007 at 12:03 am
First 300 and now a new major motion picture slated for release this fall will feature an Iranian-American family involved in an ‘honor killing’ in Los Angeles. The film, entitled Crossing Over, is written and directed by Wayne Kramer and chronicles the struggles of immigrants in America. Written in the tradition of “Crash,” the film follows the stories of several characters from different immigrant communities as they strive to “cross over” from illegal residency to documented citizenship. Harrison Ford is playing the lead role of Max Brogan, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. His partner, Hamid Baraheri, played by Cliff Curtis, is a naturalized Iranian-American citizen. The star-studded ensemble cast also features Sean Penn, Ashley Judd, and Ray Liotta.
At issue is the murder-mystery storyline in which an Iranian-American male murders his sister and her lover on the eve of their father’s naturalization ceremony. The killer, along with his co-conspiratorial brother and father, identify the redemption of ‘honor’ as the motive for this horrific crime. Legally sanctioned in various nations in South East Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, honor killing is a serious human rights issue that must be addressed. However, it is not a phenomenon common in Iran or in Iranian culture.
According to both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, there is no statistical evidence of honor killings occurring in Iran. In Tehran, which houses over 1/6 of the population, or about 12 million people, the practice is nonexistent. Indeed, honor killing has no roots in Iranian culture and is unheard of in the Iranian-American community. There has never been a reported honor killing committed by an Iranian-American in the U.S. or any where else in the world.
Category: Uncategorized
