Head Wind And The Cyrus Cylinder: Iran's Underground Satellite, Internet, And DVD Culture

Head Wind, film by Mohammad Rasoulof

Friday, January 23, 2009, 7:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art
Sunday, January 25, 2009, 2:00 pm, Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art

"This film by Mohammad Rasoulof is a candid, searing look inside the Islamic Republic and its losing battle for control over the flow of information that enters the country from the outside world. In what at first seems like an investigation into the government's effort to deny people access to Hollywood films, the documentary unfolds to reveal that at the heart of this struggle beats the desire of the Iranian people for self-determination and open access to information. This remarkable film touches on one of the major post-revolution issues by examining Iran's underground satellite, Internet, and DVD culture. Description adapted from the Tribeca Film Festival. In Persian with English subtitles. Iran / 2008 / 65 min. / video

Part of the Freer's thirteenth annual festival of Iranian films. This series is organized by Bo Smith of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, with the support of ILEX Foundation: Olga M. Davidson and Niloofar Fotouhi. This series is cosponsored by the ILEX Foundation.

Due to high demand for tickets, assigned seating is in effect for this series. Up to two free tickets per person are distributed beginning one hour before show time."











The Cyrus Cylinder. Terracotta, Babylonian, ca. 539-530 BCE. From Babylon, southern Iraq.

The Cyrus Cylinder is reported to be the first recorded declaration of human rights in history. Reza Shabani asserts that the cylinder "discusses human rights in a way unique for the era, dealing with ways to protect the honor, prestige, and religious beliefs of all the nations dependent to Iran in those days."

(Wikipedia)

Photo credit: Marco Prins and Jona Lendering via Wikipedia. With thanks.

Header: White phosphorus attack. Copyright controlled.