Beyond the electronic curtain

2012-05-02Just over two decades ago, a large part of the world lived behind an Iron Curtain. The Soviet Union, in its effort to shield its people from the outside world and potentially any outside influence, placed a massive internal security apparatus, all available surveillance technology, and imposed severe limitations on movement, press, speech, assembly, and association—taking away the fundamental human rights to freedom of speech and expression. ❧ After decades of such repression, the most vivid symbol of the Iron Curtain—The Berlin Wall—came down at the hands of people on both sides of the barrier. ❧ Iran today, a country once recognized for it’s rich culture, enchanting tourism, and glorious history, is facing the exact isolation—except this time, behind an “Electronic Curtain”. ❧ Under the Islamic regime, Iran ranks first in violation of Internet freedom, free flow of information and imprisonment of journalists and political activists—only the latest in a long record of repression of Iranian society. Since the 2009 presidential elections, more than 50 publications have been shut down by the Islamic regime. The country also has the highest execution rate in the world. ❧ The documentary recounts the horrific story of Omid Memarian, a journalist who was imprisoned in Iran’s notorious Evin prison for simply doing his job. Through intimate details, Memarian begins his tale. From the beginning moments when two gunmen took him from the newsroom, to the torturous days he spent next to convicted murderers, to the morning he accidentally saw his mother in the hallways of the Supreme Court, Memarian’s story provides a glimpse into a country that is governed through severe censorship. ❧ His tale depicts a real-life slice of this oppression in today’s Iran—not only to evoke people’s sympathy toward a youth dominant society, but also to educate the international community of the crimes of the Iranian regime. His story is told as experts: U.S. Diplomats, Iranian Parliamentarians, Human Rights Activists and U.S. Government Officials guide the audience through details of the regime’s strategies, policies, and fears in maintaining this Electronic Curtain. ❧ Among the experts, Mr. Ramin Asgard, U.S. Diplomat and former Director of Voice of America Farsi, authored the policy: “Beyond the Electronic Curtain” in 2011. The policy was just recently passed into President Obama’s foreign policy strategies—where much effort will be put in aiding Iran to overcome this electronic curtain and its current censorship. ❧ Over the past five years, Iran has employed one of the most sophisticated filtering systems in the world. It controls Internet service providers, hunts activists via the Internet police, and uses thousands of operators to monitor web content, and can slow down or shut down the Internet and any satellite broadcasting when needed—in an effort to control ideas, ambitions, and opportunities of a society who at any moment, aspires to rise for an alterative government. ❧ The documentary reflects on Memarian’s melancholy, but also reflects on the viral affect of such censorship in all avenues of the Iranian society. Memarian’s frustration is not solely specific to journalists and political activists. Rather, the regime’s repression affects people from all walks of life. From students, teachers, doctors, physicists, scientists, businessmen, artists, filmmakers and lawyers, the electronic curtain takes away the basic access to freethinking and free speech. ❧ Ultimately, through Memarian’s tale as well as the experts’ in-depth knowledge of the Iranian history and policies, the documentary aims to portray the Iranian society in it’s entirety; what they aspire to be and what they are constantly deprived of—it portrays the innocence and humanity that’s imprisoned beneath this curtain and the dangers that result from this isolation, not just for the Iranian people, but also for others who lack or enjoy this fundamental right—freedom of speech, expression and life