Monthly Archives: March 2012

Oscar-Winning Film Unites U.S., Iranian Audiences

From left: Merila Zarei (Actress), Asghar Farhadi (‘A Separation’ Director) and Tahmineh Milani (Director). Credit:CC BY 2.0

NEW YORK, Feb 28, 2012 (IPS) – Amid mounting tensions between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear programme, perhaps nothing less than an Oscar to the acclaimed feature film “A Separation” could have brought smiles to the faces of millions of Iranians who see most news as bad news these days.

Written and directed by Ashghar Farhadi, “A Separation” was Iran’s entry for the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Film category. An acclaimed and powerful drama, the film received the first Oscar in Iran’s cinema history Sunday night in Los Angeles for a sophisticated story that captures the essence of everyday life and the difficulties of being honest when it’s costly to do so.

In 1997, Majid Majidi’s “Children of Heaven” was nominated for an Oscar, but lost to “Life Is Beautiful” from Italy.”‘A Separation”s position has surpassed the Iranian independent cinema; it is now (emblematic of) national hope,” the prominent Iranian director Tahmineh Milani told IPS in a telephone interview from Tehran.

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U.N. Special Envoy on Iran Details Pattern of Rights Abuses

Ahmed Shaheed

NEW YORK, Mar 8, 2012 (IPS) – A United Nations envoy has called on the Iranian government to release all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and to conduct an extensive, impartial and independent investigation into the violence that followed the 2009 presidential election.

In a 36- page report released at the Human Rights Council in Geneva Wednesday, Ahmed Shaheed, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Iran, catalogues allegations that amount to a “striking pattern of violations of fundamental human rights guaranteed under international law”.

“Mr. Shaheed’s report has utmost importance to the people of Iran, as it proves how oppressed Iranian people are and that their human rights are violated,” Iranian human rights activist and 2003 Nobel Peace Laureate Shirin Ebadi told IPS. “It is also important from an international point of view, because an impartial international authority has reviewed the people’s claims and has presented a report.”Iranian authorities had refused Shaheed’s request for a country visit in September 2011. In October, he presented 58 cases of human rights violations in his interim report to the U.N. General Assembly, prompting a harsh response from Iranian officials who questioned the U.N envoy’s credentials and the credibility of the sources used in the report.

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