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.
