Persian

Laughing without an Accent: Adventures of an Iranian American at Home and Abroad

admin — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:57:00 +0000

Laughing without an Accent is Firoozeh Dumas’s second book, after her debut memoir Funny in Farsi. Dumas is an Iranian-American who writes about the similarities and differences in Iranian cultures through her own experiences growing up in Iran and America. The book is a compilation of twenty-eight vignettes which span her life in both countries. The vignettes portray her childhood, adolescence, and adulthood in the most memorable ways, usually leaving the reader with a smile or laugh before eagerly turning to read the next story.

These days, Iranians are fighting for free, fair, and democratic elections and for their personal rights and freedom. Humor is not the first thing that may come to mind for Americans when thinking about Iranians right now. However, Dumas, who is married to a Frenchman, writes her stories with such ease that humor is exactly what readers find in each story, along with kindness, compassion, love, and sometimes chaos. Almost all of her stories are about her family, and how Persian culture really defines itself in society—or... well... doesn’t (hence, the humor).

One example of calamity is the cultural clash that occurs over a holiday feast her husband cooks for her parents. This is a hysterical but good-hearted read along with her other story of the amazingly bright red comforter that Firoozeh’s mother brought for them that just wouldn’t disappear. Her stories are meaningful because readers, regardless of origin, can relate to the humanity behind her writing.

Dumas’ descriptive skill gives her the leeway to explore her characters more freely, and set a peaceful tone for her readers. She challenges us to look beyond the dissimilarities and focus on the similarities which bring us together. She cleverly uses humor, grace, and respect for the written word as her instruments in one unique symphony. The music that she creates is our laughter—some with accents, some without.

Written by: Mona Lisa Safai, July 16th 2009

ARUSI Persian Wedding

admin — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:20:00 +0000

Directed by Marjan Tehrani

Women Make Movies

In ARUSI Persian Wedding, Marjan Tehrani trails her brother Alex and his wife Heather as they prepare to wed in Iran. In fact, the couple is wed twice in the film—making it thrice in total. One wedding is in preparation—so they may travel as husband and wife—and the traditional ceremony that ends the film, which is the point of the documentary, is the couple's second on-screen wedding.

Tehrani touches ever-so-briefly on themes that would have given the movie more impact had they been explored further. Homecoming is a central theme of the movie, but its possibilities and consequences are not explored in depth. The insider-outsider dilemma that haunts immigrants who return to their country of origin and the responses from those left in Iran is not touched in the film.

Tehrani incorporates historical footage and explanations of the past into the narrative as a way to broach some of the political tension in the film. A few possibilities for firestorms rise, but pass quickly, left only as a footnote. The first time Heather meets Alex’s parents they argue briefly about the relationship between Iran and the Bush Administration. Later in the film, Alex speaks with an Iranian newspaperman about some of the country's political issues: freedom of the press and the inevitable question of Iran-US relations. Mostly, the issues of politics and restrictions are not addressed; they are consciously skirted and barely analyzed. Instead, it is the heat that is blamed for the irritation and discomfort.

Women’s issues are mentioned briefly when the couple encounters an all-female tourist group (which the viewer is led to believe is Iranian, though this is never entirely confirmed or denied) at an Iranian resort town. The tourist group is the only interaction the filmmaker includes with women who are subjected to the rules of Iranian culture and laws of the country. This was an opportunity for Tehrani to take a deeper look at what it means to be a woman in Iran; however, the presentation is vapid because she and Heather are unable or unwilling to push beyond simply getting a few young women to say they would rather live in the US. They are not questioned further, but their peer who responded that she would remain in Iran was: her answer was to remain in her homeland.

ARUSI Persian Wedding was different from what I expected, which colored how I saw the film. It paints a cotton candy picture in the aesthetic of a stylized home movie, utilizing old reels of Marjan's and Alex’s mother that, when narrated by Marjan's encouraging and optimistically pensive voiceover, that lend it a campfire atmosphere. Tehrani missed many opportunities to educate or tell a more complete story throughout the film, and ultimately, it felt like an unfinished product.

Written by: Elisheva Zakheim, May 21st 2009

Elysium for the Brave/Elysium Remixes

admin — Sat, 12 May 2007 01:41:00 +0000

By Azam Ali

Six Degrees

You know you’ve heard that sexy, haunting voice somewhere before. If you’re no stranger to sci-fi, you may have heard Azam Ali’s vocals on the soundtrack of such movies as Children of Dune, Matrix Revolutions and Earthsea, among others. Although Elysium for the Brave is only Azam Ali’s second solo album, the singer has been with world music duo Vas since 1996 and has started Niyaz, a side project whose first album debuted at #1 on the iTunes world music chart. This album has credentials and confidence.

Ali’s voice is simply lovely, especially when paired with Elysium’s richly layered instrumentation and hypnotic beats. The songs, in both English and Farsi, are dark and brooding with Persian, Indian and western influences. Ali sings of wars, internal and external, and the arrangements in her music carry that tension. Despite having all of the right ingredients, Ali’s sophomore effort was disappointing. Most songs on the album leave the listener waiting for a climax that never happens, which is especially frustrating because they are longer than a typical pop song. “From Heaven to Dust” is her shortest song at 4:18; “I am a Stranger in This World” goes on for over 7 minutes. Remixes makes this problem more apparent. Set to overused beats and sliced to its most simplistic, her beautiful but hollow music loses what soul it had. Elysium for the Brave is a showcase for Ali’s voice, and can be enjoyed as simply that, but listeners looking for the emotional intensity it seems to promise will be disappointed.

Written by: H. V. Cramond, May 11th 2007