Documentary Educational Resources

Tehran Has No More Pomegranates

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Massoud Bakshim’s Tehran Has No More Pomegranates identifies itself as “a musical, historical, comedy, docu-drama, love story, experimental film.” Attempts to classify the film—as a postmodern visual stew, as a sarcastic video collage-portrait, as a half-tribute-half-roast—don’t quite encapsulate the its nuances. This resistance to simple definition also fits the film's subject: the Iranian capital of Tehran.

This portrait of Tehran is not a straightforward, traditional documentary comprised of facts and interviews, and there is no startling revelation about the city around which the documentary is centered. Early in the film viewers are told that the subjects interviewed throughout the footage may seem real, but are not, and that the facts and history provided are "probably inaccurate." Viewers are told the film is not finished, and that the footage they are watching is the research collected for a project that will never come to fruition, a sort of allegorical way to indicate that it is impossible to successfully complete a film that would depict the true realities of Tehran. The film’s greatest accomplishment is not in any one particular subject or goal concerning Tehran; rather, it is the commentary cleverly tucked throughout.

Tehran Has No More Pomegranates dissects the city by comparing old footage and photographs to images from today, bringing into question the true extent of its progress. Women's attire is used by Bakhshim to demonstrate. Garments worn by men and women of the past are shown to the viewer; then the narrator cheerfully moves to address modern clothing, pointing to how men and women have many choices. The camera shows men wearing a variety of clothes and women wearing the veil and scarf, who can be differentiated from each other only by the colors they choose.

Aside from simply comparing and contrasting the present with the past, Tehran Has No More Pomegranates addresses specific issues that beset modern day Tehran, all with a biting sarcasm. Once the film begins to address modern times, the mischievousness reveals itself and the film’s spunky qualities liven up the pace during the search for “Tehran’s biggest problem.” Unfortunately, sardonic humor and history can make confusing partners, and during the first portion of the film, it was difficult to identify the legitimate historical information. The language barrier—the film is in Farsi with English subtitles—combined with my limited knowledge of Iran's history intensified this effect, and the film’s unique approach suffered.

Tehran Has No More Pomegranates is a bit of an inside joke, and a Tehrani will see a different film than someone raised on a farm in rural Wisconsin. He or she will have the benefit of reactions based on personal experiences while the rest of us can only sit back and absorb.

Tehran Has No More Pomegranates treats the title city as one would a beloved scoundrel of a friend. The polluted, overcrowded city is not cast in an entirely despicable light, and there is a constant undertow of familiar love. Without that sense of caring, the sarcastic tones would have fallen as flat as a “your mama” joke to an orphan.

Written by: Kelly Palka Gallagher, December 15th 2009

Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy

admin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:06:00 +0000

Directed by Renee Bergan, Mark Schuller

Documentary Educational Resources

The opening shots in Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy, a fifty-minute documentary narrated by Edwidge Danticat, reveal an island paradise: turquoise waters, green hills, beautiful, and colorful flowers. But these scenes don’t last long.

Almost immediately, we’re introduced to numerous working-class and poor women, nicknamed poto mitan, Creole for the pillar around which everything revolves. Their stories range from the heartbreaking to the enraging as one after another they describe the poverty that keeps them and their offspring from fulfilling their dreams.

Viewers will see incredible penury—large families crammed into tiny tin-roofed shacks—as well as miserable filth caused by infrequent garbage pick-ups. Graffiti in English and Creole spells out the community’s rage: People are Dying; Fuck You, UN, Go Home. The latter refers to the United Nations’ “Stabilizing Mission,” on the island since 2004 ostensibly to protect human rights and, according to a UN website, “restore a secure and stable environment” to the nation. That this has been an abysmal failure goes without saying.

While the film could have more clearly explained the UN’s purported function, and better describe the role of the World Bank and the neoliberal economic policies that have stifled Haitian development, the film’s focus on the women most impacted by the current social crisis is effective.

What’s more, the film assesses the pervasive sexism that continues to undervalue female children and adult women. As local lore has it, why send a girl to school when her life will involve nothing more than cooking and cleaning? What use is a “kitchen scholar?”

Marie-Jeanne, one of the women interviewed in the film, explains that while sexism is a factor for some people, her decision to keep her child out of school is purely financial. On a salary of $1.75 a day, she says that she cannot afford the $15 monthly school enrollment fee. The decision is obvious: When the choice is between food and education, the latter loses.

Another woman, unemployed since her factory closed in 2006, goes even further. “Misery and poverty facilitate violence. Anyone can get involved in crime. Anyone can become a thief.”

Dozens of people add their voices to the mix. Some describe whole families being forced to migrate to the capital city of Port-au-Prince because of ever-worsening conditions in the countryside; others reveal that they involuntarily forgo medical care for treatable diseases; and still others tell horrifying accounts of children dying of dehydration and hunger.

But there are small glimmers of hope. At the film’s conclusion, the viewers meet members of the Women’s Vigilance Committee (WVC), an organization that teaches female workers their rights and campaigns against violence. The WVC has also organized International Women’s Day celebrations, as well as marches and protests. As one WVC leader explains, “Women, if we don’t speak up, no one will speak up for us.”

Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. But as Camille, another interview subject, explains, “Haitians are not starving because of lack of food.” Haitians are starving because of inept political leadership, ignorance, and preventable poverty.

Knowing this is the first step. From there, action is inevitable.

Written by: Eleanor J. Bader, November 13th 2009

Love Iranian-American Style

admin — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:50:00 +0000

Directed by Tanaz Eshaghian

Documentary Educational Resources

Finding love is never easy. But having to deal with what your family expects, especially when it contradicts the current society that you are a part of, makes it that much harder. Tanaz is an Iranian-American woman, who has pursued an education and is now a filmmaker. However, she is 26 years old and unmarried, which is unacceptable in her family’s eyes. From their point of view, she must marry a successful Iranian Jewish man, who expects her to be a virgin and be an automatic wife and mother.

Tanaz, on the other hand, wants none of that and is searching for love (her family believes in making matches, not love). Nevertheless, after hearing this from her family for so many years, she puts pressure of her relationships with American men for them to lead to marriage, which is something many men are not ready for or don’t want to hear about at that age. Over a few years, Tanaz documents trying to find love, both with her ideals and her family’s ideals.

Tanaz focuses a good portion of her film on her mother, who allowed Tanaz to pursue an education instead of marrying her off when she was younger. Throughout her filming, she discovers things about her mother: that she believes Tanaz should have married younger, and that it is important for her to marry a proper Iranian man. After having dating difficulties, she decides to go out on the arranged dates her mother and other members of her family make for her. However, she finds that is not what she wants with her life, even though it is a disappointment. By the end of the film, her mother agrees that is never too late for Tanaz to marry, which is a 180 degree turn from earlier, when Tanaz was told she was getting too old for men to find her attractive.

Love Iranian-American Style provides a powerful insight to how family and culture influence how we live our lives and interact in our relationships. Throughout the documentary, you root for Tanaz, that she finds what she needs without having to give up part of herself. In addition, if you have ever had problems finding a lasting relationship, you can relate to her in her journey.

Written by: Elizabeth Stannard Gromisch, December 20th 2007

Into the Field

admin — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:49:00 +0000

Directed by Alyssa Grossman

Documentary Educational Resources

The focus of Into the Field is the secular lives of the women living in the Romanian monastery, Varatec, rather than their spiritual ones. The everyday life of nuns is skimmed over by filmmaker Alyssa Grossman. Presumably, Varatec is as self-sustaining as possible due to its isolated location, and there are many shots of nuns working in the fields. Living in small groups in private homes gives them a rather dual identity that may be denied an order which lives solely inside abbey walls.

I was fascinated by the ways in which the church fulfills these women’s need for community and family; when asked, they are quite vehement in their assertion that they have no desire to be married. Neither do they wish to live apart from their community. Though the work is physically tough and seems endless, the Romanian nuns seem quite content. Certainly after working in the field for up to ten years as an act of obedience, they are committed to their chosen destiny.

Grossman includes some brief sequences of stop-motion animation that are distracting. They add nothing to the quality or theme of the film and are self-indulgent and seem to be the work of a high school student rather than a doctoral candidate. She may have intended them to be an internal commentary about her frustration in making of the film. I believe the piece would have been much stronger without them.

Written by: Pamela Crossland, March 23rd 2007

At Highest Risk

admin — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 00:25:00 +0000

Directed by Rebecca Rivas

Documentary Educational Resources

Watching this film made me realize all the things I take for granted - for instance, the advanced practices we have in maternal medicine. Overall, At Highest Risk is about the conditions, process and risks Andean women endure, especially in the last months of pregnancy until the birth of the baby. A huge part of the film concentrates on certain laws and solutions that have been put into effect by the community and society in order to avoid complications or, worse, death due to giving birth. Some of these include sterilization, moving to a clinic in the last months of pregnancy and issuing fining those who give birth at home.

The audience is introduced to an expecting mother named Judyth, who expresses concerns with family, friends and others about the birthing process in her town of Ccapacmarca. Each scene furthers us to a better understanding of the health care system in place for these women. At one point in the film, the audience is witness to a birth and the different tradition and ceremonies that take place after. The high point of the film is, of course, the outcome of Judyth’s pregnancy and her choice to combine both western medicine and traditional beliefs. Will she keep the keep the traditional beliefs and does she have complications she feared having?

At Highest Risk was very interesting to watch and brought to mind not just all of the advances in maternal medicine that Western women have, but all the advances in general.

Written by: Adriana Monrreal, March 10th 2007