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Prisoner of Tehran: a Personal Journey Through Family History

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Prisoner of Tehran: a Personal Journey Through Family History PRISONER OF TEHRAN: A PERSONAL JOURNEY THROUGH FAMILY HISTORY RAHA SHIRAZI A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIRMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF FINE ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN FILM YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO DECEMBER 2011 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88653-3 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-88653-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distrbute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. Canada Abstract: Growing up with political instability has left a lasting imprint on me as a filmmaker. I find myself examining human relationships within political contexts. Exploring sociopolitical issues through my work is a way for me to navigate this territory within myself. As an Iranian Canadian woman, I find these three separate identities combine to create a rich palette of experiences to draw upon in my work. Finding my voice and expressing my ideas through art is not a freedom I take for granted. In the end, my work is a projection of my diverse cultural experience filtered onto the screen. I set out to make a documentary about an Iranian woman named Marina Nemat, the author of the book, "Prisoner of Tehran: a memoir". My fascination and draw to Marina's story and herself sprung from a personal link to the notorious Evin Prison where political prisoners have been serving time as far back as any living Iranian can recall. My mother was imprisoned in Evin when I was only one year old. I cannot recall her absence from my life nor did I know about this chapter in her life until I was much older. When I made the discovery and asked her about Evin, my mother would brush off the experience and the subject and I soon learned that what had taken place during her time there was an ordeal that she was not able to share with me - not for the time being at least. After she passed away my obsession with Iranian politics, the notion of displacement and what goes on behind the bars in Evin prison grew immensely. iv Finding myself obsessed with the past, my memories, and a revolution that I could never quite understand, I set out to make a film about my mother informed by the experiences of Iranian writer, Marina Nemat, in the hope of finding answers to my own personal history. v Acknowledgments Many thanks to my family and friends for their support and participation in this film. A warm thank you to Ava Shirazi, David Todon, Maya Bankovic, Aram Collier, Chelsea McMullan, and Cole J. Alvis for their creative contribution to the film. In addition I would like to thank Professors Tereza Barta, and Laurence Green for their guidance, and tremendous support. This Film is dedicated to my beloved mother Parvin Shirazi, whose courage, strength and love is an inspiration to me everyday. vi Table of Contents Abstract iv Acknowledgement vi Table of Contents vii 1. A brief History 1 2. In the beginning 4 3. The Notion of Time and Memory 9 4. Challenges 17 5. Women and Iranian Cinema 21 Bibliography 27 Filmography 29 vii 1. A Brief History "It is a mistaken assumption that nations wronged by history (and they are in the majority) live with the constant thought of revolution, that they see it as the simplest solution. Every revolution is a drama, and humanity instinctively avoids dramatic situations. Even if we find ourselves in such a situation we look feverishly for a way out, we seek calm and, most often, the commonplace. That is why revolutions never last long. They are a last resort, and if people turn to revolution it is only because long experience has taught them there is no other solution. All other attempts, all other means have failed." [Shah of Shahs 27] The Iranian revolution of 1979, also referred to as the Islamic revolution, is the event in which the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, and his government were overthrown through a series of civil resistance campaigns that erupted in October of 1977 and ended in February of 1979. In April of 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini came into power and Iran was declared an Islamic republic. These uprisings were partly secular and partly religious in nature. During Reza Pahlavi's time, the industrialization of Iran was growing at a rapid rate. While the country seemed to be progressing swiftly, only a small percentage of its population was on the rise alongside the nation's industrial growth. Even though there is much to be discussed about this time period and the start of this revolution, including Dr. Mohammad Mosaddegh, the democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran, his role during the uprising of 1952 and his wish to publicize oil in Iran, which was what had made Iran rich and an asset to the rest of the world; for our purposes we must move forward and take a broad look at the political situation in Iran after The Shah's demise 1 and during the ruling of the Islamic Republic of Iran, more importantly we must take a look at Evin and its history. Evin detention center was built in 1972 by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, and consisted of an execution yard, courtroom, a separate block for common criminals, and for female inmates. It was built to hold 1500 prisoners with another 100 in solitary confinement This number grew rapidly during the Islamic Republic. During the 1980's, Evin was holding at least 20000 inmates at any given time. Evin, before and after the revolution, was a political prison holding inmates that were believed to be from the opposition and against the government. No one was allowed to document or photograph inside Evin, and the only way individuals learned about the place was through the testimony of others, who had been inmates there. It is said that rape was used by interrogators in Iran for decades. "During the 1980s, the rape of female political prisoners was prevalent. It was so prevalent that it prompted Hussein-Ali Montazeri, who was Ayatollah Khomeini's deputy at the time, to write the following to Khomeini in a letter dated October 7, 1986: "Did you know that young women are raped in some of the prisons of the Islamic Republic?"[Ali Montazeri, the depute, states the above in a private letter to Khomeini]. Many political prisoners, who survived Evin have, over the years, emigrated and relocated themselves and their families to other parts of the world. Many of these 2 prisoners have written about their experience in prison and most have been the center of controversy. Since there are no complete records of who has served time in Evin, nor any documents that record the events that took place behind its walls, Evin remains a mystery, and only parts of it can be imagined through writings and fragmented memoirs of former inmates. For female prisoners especially, the shame of rape and torture behind those bars silenced them for the majority of their lives. No one talked, and family members fearing the answers to the question, "What happened to you?" never asked. Everyone sat in silence for years hoping that the passage of time will erase the memories away. "Women's bodies became a primary battleground for revolutionary ideologues, who believed that the dress, manner, mobility, education, religion, occupation, etc. of women, were clear indicators of a pervasive social and cultural imperialism that had been corrupting society. In this conception, women ultimately became the barometers by which Western infringement was to be measured." [War Against Women 4.] 3 2. In the Beginning I spent my childhood growing up in Iran during the Iraq-Iran war. I spent most of this time drawing with the pencil and paper my Mom provided, to distract me from the war beyond our apartment walls. My mother was the center of my world. She kept me protected from everything, from the conflict outside and even from her own story.
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