IRAN (is not the problem)
Friday, September 26, 2008, 8:00 pm, $6
IRAN (is not the problem) is a new feature length film responding to the failure of the American mass media to provide the public with relevant and accurate information about the standoff between the US and Iran, as happened before with the lead up to the invasion of Iraq.
We have heard that Iran is a nuclear menace in defiance of the international community, bent on “wiping Israel off the map”, supporting terrorism, and unwilling to negotiate. This documentary disputes these claims as they are presented to us and puts them in the context of present and historical US /IRAN relation.
It looks at the struggle for democracy inside Iran, the consequences of the current escalation and the potential US and/or Israeli attack, and suggests some alternatives to consider. This 79 minute documentary features Antonia Juhasz (The Bu
$h Agenda), Larry Everest (Oil, Power, and Empire), and other activists and Iranian-Americans. There are differences of opinion between many of the voices in this film, but all agree that a war would be unjustified.
See the trailer at www.iranisnottheproblem.org
Plus Q & A with:
Antonia Juhasz – expert on oil, war, U.S. economic/corporate interests in Iraq and Iran, etc., activism and social change, author of “The Bush Agenda: Invading the World One Economy at a Time” and “The Tyranny of Oil” (http://www.TyrannyofOil.org), and Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and Oil Change International.
Larry Everest – author of “Oil, Power & Empire: Iraq and the U.S. Global Agenda”. He has covered the Middle East and Central Asia for over 25 years for Revolution newspaper and other publications, reporting from Iraq, Palestine, India, and Iran in 1979 and 1980, shortly after the revolution that toppled the Shah, interviewed Islamic militants then holding the U.S. Embassy, and reported from Iranian Kurdistan.
Robert Gould – expert on US-Iranian history/relations, nuclear weapons and related health issues, anti-war activism. Former national president and current Bay Area chapter president of Physicians for Social Responsibility, Co-author of “Rollback! Rightwing Power in U.S. Foreign Policy”, contributing author in “The New World Order and the Third World”, “War and Public Health”, and many articles on health, environment, nuclear and bioterrorism, and the persistent legacy of global militarism and violence.
Filmmaker Info:
Produced by Aaron Newman, an independent film-maker and part of the Scary Cow film co-op in San Francisco. He is an anti-imperialism/pro-democracy activist, founder of the SF Chomsky Book Club, and a member of Hands Off Iran.
Reviews:
“After years of working on Iran and Middle East politics, this is perhaps the most engrossing and easily digestible film Ive ever come across. A phenomenal educational tool that explains often misunderstood and complex issues in US-Iranian relations.” – Sanaz Meshkinpour, Middle East Program Coordinator, Global Exchange
“I have watched it twice, and am deeply impressed with how much crucial historical context it provides in an engaging and accessible manner, combining archival footage with incisive analysis from interviews by US-based activists and scholars…I consider IRAN (is not the problem) to be an invaluable tool for raising our collective consciousness around the deeper reasons driving military aggression, for combating our lethal national amnesia in relation to Iran, for inspiring discussion, reflection and action, and for empowering citizens to better understand the present in light of the past.”-Zara Zimbardo, Fellowship of Reconciliation, National Council