We met at the middle school and remained best friends for over a decade. I was raised in a relatively liberal family. My companions were mainly my older brother’s friends, and my cousins, many of whom were males. However, coming from a strongly religious family, she was restricted to socializing with females only. Hence, she was not allowed to visit my house, and the only way for us to spend time together was for me to go over to her place. ...
In the late 1950’s Princess Soraya, recently divorced from the Shah, eventually settled in Rome and she started a bizarre career as an actress. It had always been her dream to one day become a movie star. Here she met Dino de Laurentiis at a party . He offered her a role in a movie he was making, “Three faces of a woman” and 3 directors, Bolognini, Antonioni and Franco Indovina were to direct it. It was a complete flop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHMPP3kJggM During the ...
We met at the middle school and remained best friends for over a decade. I was raised in a relatively liberal family. My companions were mainly my older brother’s friends, and my cousins, many of whom were males. However, coming from a strongly religious family, she was restricted to socializing with females only. Hence, she was not allowed to visit my house, and the only way for us to spend time together was for me to go over to her place. Although, this was not always the case, as she normally managed to find ways of rebelling against her family. Later on, as we grew older, we started an English course, which turned into an excuse for her to spend some time out and socialize with people. Every day, we would meet at my place and make our ways to school from ...
In the late 1950’s Princess Soraya, recently divorced from the Shah, eventually settled in Rome and she started a bizarre career as an actress. It had always been her dream to one day become a movie star. Here she met Dino de Laurentiis at a party . He offered her a role in a movie he was making, “Three faces of a woman” and 3 directors, Bolognini, Antonioni and Franco Indovina were to direct it. It was a complete flop. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHMPP3kJggM During the filming of the third part of ‘I Tre Volti’, which was subtitled Latin Lover, Soraya fell under the spell of the director, Franco Indovina. . An affair began between the two but the future was uncertain. Franco was married with two children. He told her that he would divorce his wife and they would have a new life together. (Autobiography of Soraya “Le ...
Dossier: a collection of papers containing detailed information about a particular person, what my parents would have called ‘parvandeh’. __________________________________________________________________ There was a spyware programme that was sold around the world in the 80’s called PROMIS. This is an old interview from 1993 conducted by Glenn Krawzcyk for the Australian magazine Nexus relating to that. The interviewee is Ari Ben-Menashe. Iranian born Mossad agent, who for various reasons decided to speak out in his supressed book: Profits of War (translated into Farsi as پول خون). PROMIS (Prosecutor’s Management Information System) is now ancient history but its legacy lives on. The Dossier Society The computer program we are talking about is called Promis, and its use presents the biggest threat to individual rights by any computer technology in use today. Not only that, it has given US Intelligence agencies access to extremely sensitive information stored in the databases of ...
جهان را سر به سر آیینهای دان به هر یک ذره در صد مهر تابان اگر یک قطره را دل بر شکافی برون آید از آن صد بحر صافی به هر جزوی ز خاک ار بنگری راست هزاران آدم اندر وی هویداست (Mahmoud Shabistari, Golshan Raz) This poem with its atom splitting imagery predates the Hatef Esfehani poem that the Iranian government is using as a slogan for its nuclear programme by 500 years: دل هر ذره را که بشکافی// آفتابیش در میان بینی and this one is from the 20th century: عارف به دل ذره جهان می بيند آنجا مه و مهر و کهکشان می بيند کوری بنگر که چشم دانشور عصر دست و سر کشتگان در آن می بيند Khalilullah Khalili, Rubaiyat
Stuck in an amalgam of anachronism, misery, bad luck, confusion, rage and despair. Why try to prove myself to the ones who purposely don’t wanna see me, and why struggling to hide from the ones who are following me under their magnifier?
An online story around Pakistan’s top diplomat in Canada has been circulating on facebook. Newspapers and magazines, posted the news on their websites that originated in blogs, alleging that Akbar Zeb was denied entry to Saudi Arabia because of what has been called his “porn star” name, which in Arabic could mean ‘‘the Greatest Penis’‘. Zeb’s name, perfectly innocuous in his native Urdu, is Persian in origin. زیب pronounced Zeeb, in Farsi and Zeib in Dari means the attribution of Beauty, like Aurang Zeeb the Moghul Ruler, but it has quite another meaning in Arabic, if pronounced as Zob. Meanwhile Zeb says the entire thing is a nonsense. “It must be someone playing a practical joke because I’ve never been appointed to Saudi Arabia and they’ve never asked for my agreement. It’s a prank that someone’s playing on the Internet.” The news initially appeared ...
Een ham meegozarad, it said. I put it up in the edit suite. Nima came in and in that authoritarian tone that we have come to know and love, said it was wrong. It should be Een neez bogzarad. I said it was the Afghan version, he looked unconvinced. Then Adel noticed it two days later. He said tentatively: Is it not wrong and should it not be Een neez bogzarad? I said it was the Afghan version, he looked confused. I heard that Amir Payvar had come to do a voice over. He had said why is this funny, should it not be a bit different, etc. etc. I thought to myself, This Too Will Pass. The calligraphy was made on the Maryam software by a Scottish friend. He was referring to a story by Attar in Idries Shah’s book, The Way of the Sufi. It describes a ...
I am so busy these days.Iam working on a documentary on violence against women.I have traveled to Brussels and Stockholm to interview some psychologists,women activists and university professors.I have also met Nahid Persson Sarvestani.An Iranian film maker who has made some interesting documentaries about women in Iran,Including ”Prostitution behind veil “and” Four wives one man“.The latter is about polygamy.Besides the interview Nahid cooked a delicious Ghorme sabzi for us and we really enjoyed it.I mean the camera man and I.I have also received some good books from Professor Mehrdad Darvishpour.He teaches sociology in Stockholm university and has written some books on women in Persian,Swedish and English.As we arrived at his house for the interview,he had completely forgotten about our appointment.Although embarrassed, he gave us a very good interview.I also met a writer in Brussels:Abolfazl Ordookhani.He is really something.You need to read ...
well it’s silly . I write only when I’m fucked up ! the last post was kind of exceptional in my whole life … now it’s all over again. Happiness never last long. I’m quite used to it, life has always forced me to give away every single thing or person that I was emotionally attached to, my family, my love, my home … and tonight … again … I’m back to my solitude … back to my miseries … no trace of love anymore
have never felt this much liberated open my eyes in the morning for the first time, time doesn’t matter nor the place for the first time gray sky of Saturday morning doesn’t make me feel blue and for the first time … I’m a woman