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Confessions of a Secret Agent

When I first began "blogging" here (or more accurately, "threading") about two months ago, I had to defend my right to speak, because I was not an Iranian. It was hard, and sometimes painful, to hold my ground. But I knew I had finally arrived when I began to be accused of being a secret agent of various governments and organizations. I was “in”, I was accepted, I was one of the family. I met this victory with an odd mixture of satisfaction, frustration, and occasional despair. Recently these accusations have been popping up left and right, and I mean literally left and right, because I am now apparently both a Hezbolaahi and a Zionist agent

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جوانی از دست رفته یک استاد

جوان بدون جوانی داستان دومینیک متئی (تیم راس) استاد پیر رشته زبان شناسی است که بر اثر برخورد با صاعقه به طور عجیبی جوانی خود را باز می یابد. این حادثه عجیب او را مورد توجه دانشمندان نازی قرار می دهد و او را ناچار به تغییر هویت و تبعید می کند. در راه فرار با لورا (الکساندر ماریا لارا) عشق دوران جوانی خود روبرو می شود و در کنار او موفق می شود که روی تحقیق نیمه تمام خود درباره شروع زبان های بشری کار کند. اما وقتی تحقیق او زندگی لورا را به خطر می اندازد، ناچار می شود که میان تحقیقی که حاصل عمرش است و عشق بزرگ زندگیش یکی را انتخاب کند. >>>

We die every day

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چند فیلم، چند خط

- ترور جسی جیمز (●●●●): یک شاهکار، ولی کمی کشدار. یک نوآوری شجاعانه در چهارچوب ژانر وسترن، با بازسازی قواعد ژانر از نظر فرم (با نماهای دور و سرد ولی چشم‌گیرش، به اضافه‌ی تدوین پر از سکوت و آرام و سیر و سلوک عرفانی گونه‌اش) و روایت (وجود راوی دانای کل با آن صدا و سبک گفتار سرد و با فاصله‌اش). با اینکه اسطوره‌ی جسی جیمز را به زمین می‌آورد، از ستایش محناطانه‌اش باز نمی‌ماند. >>>

Shape and purpose

Quite by accident, I came to know an accomplished Iranian artist in our community in Berkeley. His name is Farrokh Shehabi, and he is a ceramics artist. Though he is an engineer by education and profession and managed his construction business for many years, for the past ten years he has found his lost love and passion, pottery. He says about that passion: “It was as though all my life I had been longing for the way clay feels in my hands, as it finds shape and purpose, each piece telling its own story.” >>>

خانه ای از شن و ماسه

برایم نوشتی که مرز رویا و واقعیت را گم کرده ای و این چه خوب است و دلت می خواهد در این مرز توهم بمانی نه برای همیشه که چند گاهی ! اسامی فراوانی برای خواندن تو هر روز تمرین می کنم هر روز به تنم آب می زنم خوش بو ترین عطر ها را به پوستم می زنم لباس جدیدی برای خودم می خرم هر روز جلوی آینه می ایستم و خودم را برانداز می کنم تا غبار زمانه را از خودم بر چینم.>>>

Familiography

I was born in Tehran, Iran also known as the ancient Persia the land of Cyrus and Darius the great. I was born on January 26, 1984 in a hospital called Mehr which is located near the state building in Tehran. Since I was over 11 pounds in weight and over 55 cm in length my grandfather called me Rostam which is an old Hero (like Hercules in Greek writings) in Persian writings by Ferdousi (an ancient writer who wrote the Shahnameh that resembled the true culture of Persians and their tales of bravery and loyalty toward the King). I was raised in Northern Tehran an area that is called Tajrish and nowadays is considered uptown Tehran due to the great numbers of buildings and shopping malls>>>

No-nonsense revolution

The graphic novels, Persepolis and Persepolis 2, now combined into a movie, do not look back to the classics. Satrapi’s self mocking style is ultra-modern. It combines a Disneyesque cuteness with the author’s Hedayat-like anguish. At first the work appears to lack subtlety, protesting the Islamic Regime’s repressions too directly. Later we realize this straight shooting is just another manifestation of the no-nonsense way in which the artist conducts her life. Satrapi’s uninhibited tendency to speak her primal mind has been the driving force in the events of her life.>>>

Phantom unmasked

I have always greatly admired Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Musical shows, From Jesus Christ SuperStar, Evita to Cats all have been great international success’ for more than three decades running regularly on the London Stage and elsewhere worldwide. Ramin Karimloo has been performing Phantom of the Opera's title role since September 10, 2007, and this year will also mark the Phantom's 21st anniversary in London's West End. I was happy to interview Karimloo on his new challenge in a demanding yet rewarding role of The Phantom of the Opera. >>>

The lost requiem

There are gaps in our history, lost episodes in our collective memory caused not by forgetfulness, but by the deliberate policy of governments and politicians. There are also courageous individuals who fight to bring such material back into the public light. Khosrow Sinai is one such individual. Author of "In the Alleys of Love", “The Inner Monster”, and “Bride of Fire”, Khosrow Sinai is internationally famous for over a hundred short films, documentaries and features. One of his works, “The Lost Requiem”, has never been publicly released. Sidelined and ignored for over a quarter of a century, its content has been deemed too politically sensitive to be shown. Now, at last, its official obscurity is coming to an end>>>