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January 23, 2012
January 23, 2012
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“Wherever We Gather is The House of Cinema”

For the past 32 years there has been a complex relationship between the Iranian cinema industry and the Islamic republic. The ideologues of the Islamic revolution of 1979 sought justice and independence, dismissing the Shah as the figurehead of the status quo and opposing the West. The dawn of 1979 revolution started out with the mass persecution of actors, actresses, singers, musicians, dancers and other Iranian media figures. They were accused of having acted as accomplices of the former regime in propagating Western values – hence ‘westoxification’.
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January 12, 2012
January 12, 2012
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JAN — Asghar Farhadi Protests Decision to Dissolve House of Cinema

Asghar Farhadi, the director of the award winning film, Separation of Nader from Simin wrote a letter to the Ministry of Culture calling for a vote on the decision to dissolve the House of Cinema in Iran. The letter stated: “If the decision to dissolve the House of Cinema is based on the idea that the majority of the film community and members of the guild are in agreement with your method, then I suggest that you take a vote on this decision among the few thousand members of the House of Cinema.”More info here.
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December 28, 2011
December 28, 2011
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DEC — Iran’s House of Cinema Declared Illegal

The Iran Public Culture Council ruled that Iran's House of Cinema was illegal. The decision was made to settle a lawsuit filed in early December against the organization by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.The House of Cinema, which began as a government sponsored initiative becoming independent in 1993, has been criticized a number of times for its positions. A few months earlier, in September, the organization received an official rebuke for its statement about the arrest of six Iranian documentary filmmakers, accused of "collaboration with the BBC Persian service."Later, the minister of culture and Islamic guidance questioned the organization's legitimacy, claiming the real issue was amendments to the House of Cinema's charter."Consequently, the guild faces a serious question about its legitimacy," stated the culture minister, Mohammad Hosseini.As a result, a lawsuit was filed by the ministry against the House of Cinema.
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December 1, 2011
December 1, 2011
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Marking World AIDS Day

Arseh Sevom -- This is the Day Without Art, a day meant to bring attention to HIV/AIDS. Tackling the disease and its attendant stigma has been a task that has given rise to creative, confrontational, and effective civil society actors all over the world.HIV/AIDS has been addressed by many different factions of civil society in Iran. Today we honor the work of Drs. Arash and Kamiar Alaei, who spent several years in prison in Iran on unspecified charges.In an interview, Dr. Kamiar Alaei had this to say about their work:
We had no real idea about how to design a programme, so we just asked patients what they wanted. As a physician, I assumed that what my patients needed most was care. I found out that they also really needed counselling on how to cope with HIV. Some people said their husbands and wives had left them. Some committed suicide out of despair.
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October 9, 2011
Marzieh Vafamehr
October 9, 2011
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OCT — Actress Marzieh Vafamehr Sentenced

Actress Marzieh Vafamehr was sentenced to one-year in prison and 90 lashes. After international protest, this sentence was reduced to three months with no lashes.Maziar Vafamehr was arrested for appearing in the film "Tehran for Sale" without hejab, but with her head shaved. Appearing in films without hejab was not unprecedented in Iran.
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October 6, 2011
October 6, 2011
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Featured Issue: HIV/AIDS

Since the middle of the 1980s, Iran, like most other countries in the world, has grappled with a growing number of citizens diagnosed with the Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). In a series of articles, we will be looking into the ways in which civil society organizations and activists have worked to bring more awareness to the disease, curb its growth, and work with governments to improve policy. In this first article, we will be providing a brief history and prevalence of AIDS in Iran.A 2011 report by the United Nations Development Program in Iran claims that HIV/AIDS was brought to Iran in two waves – the first wave in the mid-1980s and the second wave in the 1990s. According to the report, the first wave is attributed to transmission of the virus through blood transfusions of blood infected with the virus. The second was noted in prisons where unsafe practices led to infection.Over the past few years, though, the use of illicit drugs in Iran has compounded the problem. Almost 2.8% of Iran’s population are addicted to opiates.
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