being irrepressibly joyous

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People You Think You Know
by People You Think You Know
15-Oct-2009
 

I find that generally speaking, Iranians are a jovial bunch. Quick to crack a joke, down for a party and always willing to sit down for tea with friends and family.

But as soon as the topics of Iranian culture or history come up, things turn conspiratorial and/or depressing. Of course there’s no shortage of bad history to account for this and as I work on my Internet documentary on Iran, I find myself focusing on the sorrowful Iran more often than I’d originally hoped. It’s hard not to; so much of the culture centers around mourning. Everyday sayings use analogies of martyrdom and death. Rumi’s poetry, that paragon of Persian society, is defined by sorrowful longing for a lost love. In an upcoming episode of my documentary series, an immigrant – my mom – longs for a home that doesn’t seem to exist anywhere. (watch a clip here)

So, given the Iranian tendency towards melancholy, I was very pleased recently to come across this wonderful project from a blogger named “seamorg.”

Seamorg writes:

- Looking for Persian dancers: of any style, but especially male or female Beat Boys, breakdancers, poppers, lockers, or Iranians who can do African or other ethnic dance to perform dances inspired by the green wave.

- This is a tribute to the allah-u-akbar cries from the rooftops of Iranians.


- Email me videos of yourself dancing on your roof-top.


- Why?  Because despair thrives by making us despair.  The only way to fight the sad-ness enforcement of the I.R.I is by being irrepressibly joyous.


- Please email for more details: seamorg74million@gmail.com

So if you’re a dancer, or aren’t afraid of people knowing you’re not, please shoot seamorg an email.

~Alborz

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People You Think You Know

what it's going to be about....

by People You Think You Know on

Honestly I am still discovering what it's going to be about. That's the trick with documentaries - you never know what you've got until you're done.

However, generally speaking - I'm interested in exploring how culture both unites and divides people. I'm doing this through my own family's story - and the general story of Iran - but I would like to get to broader truths about how culture works on all levels. Different societies have different culture. Different cities, neighborhoods, families and even individuals have different cultures based on their own histories - it's impossible to get in another person's head. So "people you think you know" refers not just to Iranians, but to everyone and anyone.

...anyway. We'll see if I accomplish all that :) 

Thanks for the interest.

www.peopleyouthinkyouknow.com

www.peopleyouthinkyouknow.com/theblog


Iraniandudeee

Interesting

by Iraniandudeee on

what's the documentry gonna be exactly about?