{"id":33748,"date":"2011-02-21T05:19:55","date_gmt":"2011-02-21T10:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=33748"},"modified":"2013-02-10T07:40:24","modified_gmt":"2013-02-10T12:40:24","slug":"memo-to-iran-by-kent-adamson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=33748","title":{"rendered":"Memo To: Iran (by Kent Adamson)"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is by Kent Adamson, a new friend of mine, who kindly took up the call on Facebook to write something for the Iranian Film Blogathon<\/a>. You can read more about Kent Adamson’s diverse career here<\/a>. We have bonded on all things Ann Savage (he knew her very well, and wrote a book about her: Savage Detours: The Life and Work of Ann Savage<\/a>\"\"), and it also turns out that he has a long-standing fascination with all things Kurdish, something he had studied in college. He watched Bahman Gohbadi’s beautiful Half Moon<\/strong> for this Blogathon, and wrote the following memo to Iran. Thank you, Kent!<\/i><\/p>\n

TO: IRAN
\nFROM: KENT ADAMSON, Hollywood, California, USA
\nRE: IDEA JAIL \u2013 it only exists in your mind, baby.<\/p>\n

Date: February 20, 2011<\/p>\n

Sirs, and I know you are,<\/p>\n

Movies, like music, do not follow the borderlines drawn on maps by your cartographers, secured by your guns. Movies are made from three fundamental elements: images, sounds and ideas. You can refuse to show an image, you can turn sound down or off, but you cannot stop an idea, no matter how hard you try. You cannot expect ideas to respect your borders, and stay within them. You cannot throw the thinkers of ideas in jail, and expect their ideas to stay in there with them. Any idea, old or new, that has been thought and communicated by your jailed filmmakers is free to the world forever. There is no jail term for a good idea. It lives or dies in the wind. Get it?! I know you do, because you feel threatened by movies and the people who make them. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nPhoto by Kevin Lee, Berlin, 2011<\/i><\/p>\n

Within your country there is a tribe of people known as the Kurds. About half of this tribe lives within the borders of Iran. Most of the rest of the Kurdish people live inside the borders of Iraq. Now, the Kurds think they live in Kurdistan, which appears nowhere on any map, but thrives within the minds of the people who live in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Syria. Kurdistan has existed since the 12th century. You can chase the Kurds across your borders, you can hold them within your border checkpoints, rob them, beat them, rape them, shoot them, even gas them en masse as Saddam Hussein did, but you cannot stop them from believing they live in Kurdistan. Even if you throw every single Kurd in jail you will not wipe out Kurdistan. In fact, you will put Kurdistan on the map in the eyes of the world. Get it?! I don\u2019t think ya do.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Within the non-state nation of Kurdistan, on the Iranian side, there is a thriving tribe of moviemakers. The last decade has been a watershed era for Kurdish cinema. Compelling dramas filled with transporting images of the Kurdish people, their land, their music, the struggles between their men and women, their search to reunite with their families scattered across armed borders\u2026 all available throughout the world. Here in Hollywood, Kurdish movies seem to turn up most frequently on DVD and on demand with Netflix. Unfortunately, theatrical screenings are very rare. This is something I\u2019d like to speak to you about, once you stop trying to hold ideas in jail.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We could begin with a screening of Half Moon<\/em> (2006) by Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi. Have you seen it? It tells the story of a legendary Iranian Kurdish elder musician, Mamo, who attempts to give a final farewell performance to his fans across the border in Iraq. Mamo would like to sing at a live music festival with the beautiful Hesho. Unfortunately, you guys forbid women to sing in public. <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s have a word about music, for a moment. Music communicates through harmonics. Harmony. The open blending of sounds and ideas makes beautiful music. Women are very good at this. Think about it. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

So, Mamo must take his ten sons, and smuggle Hesho across the border into Iraq to harmonize. This is what we in Hollywood call a PERFECT set up. A musical tour as metaphor for the historic struggle of a stateless nation, set against shifting boundaries, held by armed checkpoints. No, I\u2019m not gonna tell ya another thing about it, because I want ya to see it, to experience the beauty of Kurdish vision and hear the music that weaves through it. It will stay in your mind long after the movie is over. Get it?! <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Watch Half Moon<\/em>, and then let\u2019s have a chat about your diplomatic mission to Hollywood. You guys need a serious sit down over here. <\/p>\n

If your intent is to silence Panahi and Rasoulof by jailing them, and repressing their ideas, maaaaaan, did you ever blow it! Bigtime!! You just put them in orbit around the world!!! <\/p>\n

Come to Hollywood, we\u2019ll talk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is by Kent Adamson, a new friend of mine, who kindly took up the call on Facebook to write something for the Iranian Film Blogathon. You can read more about Kent Adamson’s diverse career here. We have bonded on … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[1119,1121,1255,174,141],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33748"}],"version-history":[{"count":47,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33748\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63203,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33748\/revisions\/63203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}