Die Sittenwächter zensurieren HUMUS for HAMAS

ZENSURIERT! vom moralischen Wächterrat in Teheran Das ist die Originalsequenz aus dem Film “HUMUS for HAMAS”  mit den ausgelassenen Teenagern am Strand von Gaza vom 8.Mai 2005. Es las sich alles wie im Alten Testament: “…und Gott schuf Eva aus den Hüften von Adam” und etwas später dann die Vertreibung aus dem Paradies als Folge der Verführungen von Eva. Doch die Beachboys zeigen wie es ist und immer war: “Sandy Eve” ist eine Erschaffung der Männerwelt. Ironie des männlichen Schicksals, dass auch nach zweieinhalbtausend Jahren nach der Vertreibung aus dem Paradies die Fantasie der Teenager von Gaza die attraktiven Formen des weibliche Körpers – einmal mehr – erschaffen und diese etwa zeitgleich – ebenfalls einmal mehr – von den Sittenwächtern in Teheran zensuriert werden.

Apropos: IRANISCHE ZENSUR / Die Weltwoche Ausgabe 40/2010

Liebe WELTWOCHE,

zuerst einmal möchte ich mich bedanken für Ihr Interesse an den 11th MOQAVEMAT International Film Festival in Teheran, keine

"Mister buy Sunglasses? RayBan very good!" At the Bazar, Tehran, 24. Sept. 2010

Selbstverständlichkeit, steht doch der Iran in der Öffentlichkeit und in den Medien im Regen. Was ist denn das für einer, der nach Teheran reist und dazu noch an einem staatlich unterstützten Filmfestival teilnimmt? Das ist doch alles Propaganda!

Ich bin hingereist, um zu sehen, wie es sich als offizieller Teilnehmer anfühlt und wie die Realität auf der Strasse, in den öffentlichen Verkehrsmitteln, im Bazar und im Gespräch mit Menschen unterwegs ist.

Die Weltwoche Ausgabe 40/2010

Zensur der iranischen Moralbehörde:...eine weibliche Figur mit Brüsten gemacht...

Zurück zu den Tatsachen: Das zuständige Kommitee in Teheran, das HUMUS for HAMAS auswählte, hat die Szene an der Gaza Beach mit den Knaben, die eine der ihren im Sand eingegraben  und aus ihm wie Gott, der aus Adam die Eva geschaffen hat, eine weibliche Figur mit Brüsten gemacht und “sich an den selber kreierten Brüsten ergötzt haben” ohne mein Wissen herausgeschnitten. Ich habe die Zensur erst bemerkt als ich mir meinen Film mit Farsi-Untertiteln im 100 Stühle fassenden, Saal ohne Zuschauer mit zwei meiner Kollegen angesehen habe. Die Aufforderung, “Ich müsse mir meinen Film nicht ansehen, wenn ich keine Zeit hätte”, ging der Besichtigung voraus, meinen Protest zur Zensur habe ich deshalb erst im Nachhinein anbringen können. Ein Lächeln war die Antwort, “Ah so? Ist das wirklich so, was, nur 12 Sekunden? Ja, ich habe davon gehört, sind ja nur 12 Sekunden, sehr kurz, nicht wahr? Zensur habt ihr doch auch im Westen?” Dieser Satz: “Ich habe davon gehört”, ist eine dieser ominösen Bemerkungen, die verschleiern soll, wer “Das Moral-Kommitee” ist.

Der weite Bogen von: “Die Repression im Iran kennt keine Grenzen…” zu…”Das musste jetzt auch der Schweizer Videomacher Jurg Davatz erfahren” ist mir zu ungenau.

Die sowietstyle Diktatur ist nicht etabliert, der innere Überwachungsstaat, die Kontrolle der Famili

Shopkeeper in the Bazar – Cucumbers like Bullets

e durch eigene Spitzel, die anders denkende Familienmitglieder an den Staat verraten, ist nicht in Funktion. Es gibt in Iran keinen Archipel Gulag wie in der damaligen Sovietunion, wo Millionen von Menschen zu Tode gekommen sind. Das ist Repression ohne Grenzen.

Könnte man in der WELTWOCHE nicht einen grösseren Artikel daraus machen mit einem Interview? Zu oft wird das Thema Iran mit politisch-religiösem, voreingenommenem Clichedenken  abgehandelt.

Auch aus folgendem Grund wäre es angezeigt, einen grösseren Artikel zu schreiben: Ahmadinejad holt sich mit seinen Auftritten und den Reaktionen der Staatschefs und der internationalen Presse in der Öffentlichkeit die Zustimmung von Millionen von Menschen in Südamerika, Arabien und Südostasien. Seine Auftritte sind ein beliebtes  Melodrama für die, welche Groll und Missgunst gegen Amerika und im weiteren Sinn gegen den Westen hegen. Für diese Menschen ist es nicht so wichtig, was er sagt, sondern DASS und WIE er es sagt, dass er tüchtig in die politischen Waden beisst. Melodrama! Gerade damit kann er seine angeschlagene Position im Inland aufwerten. Ahmadinejad wird dadurch zum starken Mann für Arme, Analphabeten, Kleinhändler und einen Teil der aufstrebenden Mittelklasse in Iran und vielen anderen Ländern. Wäre es nicht angezeigt, diese verhängnisvolle Verquickung zur Sprache zu bringen?

HAIRCUT in TEHRAN

Haircut in Tehran

In every country I travel I try to get a haircut. I wanted one in a neighborhood, not in the center of Tehran, one for three Dollars. We drove what looked like aimlessly through the streets till Ali suddenly stopped. It was a small barbershop with two chairs. He went inside but couldn’t cut a deal, he said it was 7 Dollars. “No problem, let’s do it.“ The haircut was great and I got shaved  too. When I went to the owner to pay another guest waiting for a cut got up and said: “I took care of it, you are my friend.“ I was stunned. I accepted, thanked him and we drove away.

Some minutes later I realized how stupid I was and told Ali to turn around and go back. My benefactor was still there, already sitting in the barber chair. “I would like to make foto with you.“

Hairdresser – My Benefactor – myself

He smiled. I said: “Thank you“ and we left. Next morning, when Ali picked me up at the hotel, he mentioned, he had met my new friend around midnight at the airport while waiting for the arrival of new guests. No, he thought the man was not a driver. He had his fon number. That was my chance and I immediately called him. We arranged for the evening in the lobby of my hotel.

He came at 8:30pm. He had a brand new white Hyundai 4×4. We talked politics in the lobby but as more people sat down across from us, I realized he felt uncomfortable and we left for a late night dinner in the city.

Shah's carriage drawn by four horses, at his Palace in Tehran

Shah's carriage at his Palace in Tehran

“We have a saying in Iran: It’s better to have a pain in the eye than to be blind. When we got rid of Schah Reza Pahlavi we all believed that things would change quickly for the better. The Shah was a pain in our eyes. Many of us would prefer the pain in our eyes back but now we are blind. We have learned the hard way, that any change must come slowly. First the change must take hold in us. It takes time. We cannot rush change.“

I was told that the poor and illiterate voted for Ahmadinejad. I asked him, if he could confirm that? Yes, he said, the president promised them more money before the election but after the election they did get nothing. Now they realize that it was all an election gimmick. I think in all of Iran there are no more than 15% for the president.

The Boycott hurts us

The Boycott really hurts the wrong people in Iran. Why? It makes life and business very difficult. I’m responsible for the installation and service of equipment for two large European companies. We cannot get original spare parts from Europe. I must buy parts from China or somewhere else but they don’t fit, we spend weeks to adjust them. We also have  many problems with Banks. Payment goes now over many contacts. To do business gets much more expensive.

People just try to make ends meet, they are busy with their daily life, they have no more energy left – and the government can do with us what ever it wants. The Dubai hotspot hurts us much more than the government.

Our president is the best salesman for US business! The Gulf States, Kuwait, Saudiarabia ($60 billion defence deal) are scared to death and buy arms for billions of dollars from America because of his talk about 9/11, Genocide, Israel must be wiped off the map, the nuclear bomb. The media and the whole world listen to him. What do you think would happen if he would keep his mouth shut?

Discussions at a Teehouse

7 out of 10 want to leave Iran

"NO", he said, "It's 9 out of 10".

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad supports a less strict Dress Code

I had talked to students. 7 out of 10 said they wanted to leave the country. They felt depressed. He said  it would be more like 9 out of 10. But the fire of the Green

Alive

At the Bazar

Movement is not extinguished, it is simmering under the ash.

Who was really beating and killing the demonstrators? Not only the “Basij“, it was also “The Unkown Soldiers of the 12th Imam“. They were found by Khomeini and Khamenei was put in charge of them, it is this secret force that is behind it all up to today.

Scare and intimidation was their tactic. And he told me the following story. It had happened in the small cities and villages. There, everybody knows each other. At the time of the mass protests following the June 2009 presidential elections they came to the neighborhoods at 02:00 am in the early morning hours. With loudspeakers in the streets they warned everybody not to go to the windows and watch. Then they entered the houses of these kids who had taken part in the demonstrations and beat them up very badly in front of their parents. The screams could be heard everywhere. Afterwards they dragged them out of the houses into waiting cars and drove them off to prison. Why do you think they told the neighbors to stay inside and keep the curtains shut? Because they precisely wanted them to watch! They wanted them to see with there own eyes that this could happen to them too. It was a warning. In small cities and villages that worked. The demonstrations died down. They only needed a few brutal men to get the job done.

View from the Cable Car

In Tehran that was different. They could not

View from the Hills

identify the individual. They arrested them randomly. One girl told me of her girlfriends who were handcuffed, taken to prison and raped several times. Some disappeared. Another one told me of a girlfriend’s boyfriend who got arrested and raped. After 30 days, he was released and committed suicide. The stories went on. The students were totally fed up, they wanted to leave and never come back.

My friend listened attentively. He said, do you understand now, why our president cuts himself a profile on the international stage? He has a poor reputation at home. But on the international stage he comes out on top, he looks like a winner. He is not as dumb as he seems to be. By going against the US, millions of people in the Arab world, in South-East Asia, South America and other parts of the world admire him who also bear grudges against the West but would never dare to say it openly. It’s the “David versus Goliath“ story. People love the underdog and he plays the game so well!

“Actually it’s a Melodrama he is playing at the international stage. But it’s not the Melodrama we know from the Bollywood films. It’s Melodrama Iranian style: aggressive, with threats, distortions, defamations and worse. And it works! The West believes every word our president says – and Israel loves it because it can play her own game.

In a Barbershop with Two Chairs

I agreed that the EU has a blind spot: She is not really in the business of punching at all. She never learned the art of bluffing and threatening. The EU is absorbed by itself. The West is busy with Human Rights, Afghanistan and economic crisis.

“And you know what? The Chinese keep quiet, they don’t say a word – and take over! The markets and shops in Tehran are full of Chinese goods, they also buy your oil.”

I had met this man, let’s call him Ahmed, in a barbershop. We could have gone on till the early hours. But the restaurant closed, I called for the bill. Ahmed said “NO“ once more. “I have been born poor and I will die poor, but in between I want to enjoy my life!“ He paid the bill and drove me to my hotel. It was raining in Tehran.

Roudaki Hall Opera House in Tehran – FINAL ACT

Artists, Filmmakers, Actors filled the Opera – we could not make contact with any of them

The only Swiss – with Scarf for Palestine – under his beloved Swiss Flag

We were told to put the scarfs for Palestine on which they had given us together with other material upon arrival and get ready for the last act of the festival. The award ceremony was to take place in the Roudaki Opera House on a grand scale. When we arrived at the opera hall with our group bus many actors, artists, writers, filmmakers also from other parts of the country were already waiting outside but we were quickly led into the Opera House which was still empty. No contact was possible. The big Hall slowly filled with the most

The most Important People sat upfront

important people 4 or 5 rows in front of us. By the time the show started, the House was totally full up all floors on the gallery. Probably 800 people had come for this final act of the 11th Prize Award Ceremony.

Alberto – Participant and Awardwinner from Spain

The opening was a mix of religion, prayer and disco, telling how the prophet created Adam and Eve, underlined with the sound of constant explosions reminding me of war situations. Time went by with the distribution of awards for Iranian artists with most prizes going to male filmakers and directors. The jury was composed of males with one or two exceptions, changing from award to award. When it came to the international participation (Alberto Arce from Spain and Maisa

Saddam Hussein, Archenemy

Novikova from Russia in the background), we were addressed in Farsi. Our group was generously decorated with prizes. (though almost no spectators had ever sat in one of our films).

Intermittently war scenes were played, one with a mother and her son stretched out on stage telling her story that she had lost 3 sons in the Irak-Iran war and that she would give away even her apples, all she had left. They rolled out of her basket.

The International Jury of Competition of Feature Films announced the prize-winning films.

Some of the Prizewinners with a local Boy in the Middle

In the intermission we were whisked away, the prizewinners got the cash while I waited for them in the corridor. Again there was little chance to mingle with the people but whenever it was possible they came immediately forward to exchange a few words and let their children stand between us for a shot. Whenever the situation arouse, people showed a lot of interest.

Ilaria, interpreter, Uli, Jürg, Masja, Alberto

Back in our five star hotel questions came up why we were not introduced to any of the Iranian writers, filmmakers, actors and other important people. Why they would arrange for an international jury but no spectators had visited our films. When I put it to our translators one of the answer was that the decision for international participation was taken in a hurry only two month ago and advertising was done poorly. This didn’t quite satisfy us because the program was organized in a way that Iranian and International films would overlap which made it less likely, that viewers of Iranian films, that were often packed, would switch to our films. Where was the curiosity? Somebody else mentioned that young people would stay away from anything that smelled of government supported cultural activity. It was also mentioned that on TV people were constantly fed with war movies about the Irak-Iran war… . It was also said that international filmmakers were for the first time included in the Filmfestival.

prison for People with Diploma

I am on the road with my driver

Ali my driver

into the hills of Tehran. Suddenly he opens the window:“Look, this is prison for People with diploma.“ I turn around “you mean for intellectuals? Yes for artists, journalists, all bad people from university.“ Then he continues with a mischievous look: “This is prison for Kharrubi and Mousavi!“ I gasp for air. “And your President?“ Ali shifts gear, we ascend steeply. “My President is very good man, because he is very poor, not have Mercedes before, not have villa in center of City, he has poor background, he understands country people, they like him, he is kind, he takes money from rich people and gives to the poor. We have 30% poor people and 8% illiterates. He is good for the country! When Katami was President, he was nice man but done nothing for the poor. The cities are problem for my President, 70% in Tehran not like him, all cities are like that but cities are not the country! He keeps driving uphill to the cable car above Tehran. The cable car is only running on weekends (Thursday/Friday). We have a gorgeous view of the 14 mio. Megacity.

CENSORED!

HUMUS for HAMAS was CENSORED between 26:48 till 27:00! 12 seconds have been cut of from the original film by the censor of “The 11th MOQAVEMAT International Film Festival“ in Teheran.

Sequence censored by Committee to protect Public Morality

CENSORED Like Eve made from the Hips of Adam

The sequence shows Palestinian boys burying one of their friends on the Gaza Beach.

Sequence censored by the Committee to protect Public Morality

CENSORED Only the Head sticking out

Only the head sticking out of the sand.

Sequence censored by the Committee to protect Public Morality

CENSORED Engaging with the Female Body

They fit him with female-like curves, carefully shaping the breasts and getting very excited about the result. Sand games for boys

Sequence censored by the Committee to protect Public Morality

CENSORED 5 Boys take Care...

who lack the real contact.   I was not told, that the film was liable to censorship.

Sequence censored by the Committee to protect Public Morality

CENSORED ...getting very excited about sandy Eve

I never imagined something like that could happen! I sat with two of my filmmaker friends and only one other spectator in a theatre of 90 seats, ready to show them the funny clip. In vain as I found out. The 11th MOQAVEMAT had censored 12 seconds of 52 minutes movie. The film was fitted with farsi subtitles going into great detail but nobody attended the film.   Of course we discussed this at every meal. I was even told I didn’t have to see my movie if I didn’t want to, that I was not obliged to attend. But I wanted to see Humus for Hamas with Farsi subtitles

and have questions asked from the audience!

It happened to all of us: No attendance. Did they not inform the wider public about the international participation or did the moviegoers boycott government organized film activities? How come then that Iranian movies had full house and a staircase higher in the same building the foreign films were running in front of nobody? Our interpreters were clearly embarrassed and the organizers didn’t show up to face our questions.

Let’s call them HILLARY and Adriano…

HILLARY and Adriano came to the Film Festival as Director of a film and Partner of a Filmmaker. As they arrived independently, not related with each other, they hardly talked to anybody. I thought they may have a jet lag or suffer from some other inconveniences, flying long hours and arriving in the best of early morning sleep, joining “Das Fähnlein der Aufrechten“ at the breakfast table. But I was proven wrong. As they were attentive readers of  the international Press such as newspapers and carefully following the TV News they assumed that behind every letter of A-h-m-a-d-i-n-e-d-j-a-d were hiding two spies. They arrived in a preventive, paranoid mood, expecting a worst case scenario which also was supported by their own friends at home.

And yes, I had experienced the same when I told my friends and colleagues that I would go to “11th MOQAVEMAT International Film Festival“ in Tehran with a film of mine.

11th MOQAVEMAT International Film Festival

Some asked me if I had a bodyguard with me, others warned me to keep my my mouth shut. One wrote in an email: Hallo Jürg, wem glaubst du hilfst du damit ausser deinem Ego? Others were afraid, I would land in prison. A friend of mine even mentioned the case of two persons who had participated in a similar event a year ago in Iran. They obviously had felt being used by the Iranian media and upon return were criticized and stripped of their self respect in an article of a well known swiss newspaper relating to their participation. He warned me indirectly and feared I could loose “Kopf und Kragen“. Others felt pity, “Does Jürg really have to do that?“

Of course I had to go to Iran. What was my greater worry: Israeli bombs falling on the Nuclear Reactors in Esfahan,

Iran's Nuclear Plant at Esfahan

Regisseur Panahi in Iran zu sechs Jahren Haft  verurteilt

Regisseur Panahi in Iran zu sechs Jahren Haft verurteilt

Natanz and Qom or me getting otherwise in trouble? It was none of both. What really cost me the first five minutes of my sleep at night was the following: What was I going to do, in case my film HUMUS for HAMAS got a prize? What was I going to do with that money? Give it to charity? Refuse the prize?

Hand it over to the Iranian Directors whose projects were cut the other day and had goverment funding refused or got imprisoned like Jafar Panahi or Mohammed Rasulof?

Iranische Filmemacher zu Haft verurteilt

Or get drunk? Not so easy in Iran, you have to have very good friends to get liquor. Going on a shopping spree? Well, 95% of all the goods in the shops in Tehran are “Made in China“ – I had just returned from that great land and had bought more than I could carry home… .

Der langen Rede kurzer Sinn: I was the only one of the foreign filmmakers who did not get a prize! And now I go to bed and enjoy the first five minutes of my sleep again!

Als Bettgeschichten lese ich noch: Headlines IRAN NEWS September 25, 2010

  • Enemy has become weaker than before
  • Russia scrapping S-300 Missiles to Iran
  • Thyssen Krupp halting its Iran Business
  • Turkey: Iran-Sanctions Ban on Bank Transactions is “MISTAKE“
  • Iran hails Anti-Israel UN Resolution
  • Hamas detains “MANY“ suspected Israeli Spies in Gaza
  • Ahmadinejad calls for Scrapping of Veto Power in Security Council
  • Nobody can harm Tehran – Havanna Ties

THE RUSSIAN FILMMAKER SAID…

Masja, Participant from Russia

Masja, Awardwinner from the Wolga

The Russian filmmaker said, the first day was awful. They went to the Film Festival but there were only 2 persons in the auditorium with 200 seats. She was clearly disappointed. And in the evening they had a press conference. The war movies, presented by several directors, were clearly glorifying the horrors of war.

There were problems, sound distortions first of all and of format, some films were presented 4×3 but were 16×9 and vice versa, never mind that some projectors had not enough lumen.

For the Iranian films the attendance improved considerably, people came and left, some stayed for 10 minutes, others discussed their private matters or talked on the mobil, whole families attended with their children, mothers in black with their babies. Most of the Iranian movies were war related, very often concerning the Irak-Iran war.

At all the International films, the audience was nonexistent. The director of the international section, had put together a very good International Film Program but some films were “hot poatoes“, too hot to touch it seemed, to be presented to a any audience at all. After

Uli Stelzner – an Exceptionally Courageous Guy

Uli Stelzners “La Isla – Archives of a Tragedy“ questions could have come up easily about the situation in Iran after the tragic crackdown of the Green Movement, the dead and the disappearance of so many young people which are unaccounted for till today. But nobody was in the audience. Questions could also have been asked, what had gone so terribly wrong in the Palestine Territories after the voting 2005/06: why all attempts to a dialogue had gone nowhere between the different factions. Why power sharing between Hamas and Fatah was not possible. Why always one wanted to usurp power at the top. Why distruction and deceit had taken over on all levels between Hamas and Fatah. Why Fatah and Hamas did not learn to cooperate. Who’s interest was it that powersharing was not an option, not for Fatah and not for Hamas?

From Dubai to Tehran

From Dubai to Tehran two end-of-teenage girls sat beside me from head to shoes in black. “End of vacation?” I asked one of them. “We are just back from Malaysia with my uncle and my other cousin. Oh, so go back to school? We finished two weeks ago. Where will you study? That’s why we were in Kuala Lumpur, we looked for a house. A whole house? Yes, my uncle will come with us and my mom too. This is my mom!” Her mother looked even younger than she, so I asked her age. “My mother is 34 and I am 19. We will all go to Malaysia, 7 all together. Malaysia is cheaper than Tehran, University has little tuition, we don’t need visa. We came back for two weeks for a big goodbye party, then we enroll for a 3 year course at the State University in Kuala Lumpur. And your father? He is in Parliament and my brother has a beauty business, they must stay. You speak Arab? No! I don’t like Arabs. I had Arab in school but I don’t speak it, I like English.” Then she continued: “What do you think of Iran? Do you really want to know? Yes very much so! I think there are three main contestants for power, Khamenei and the Mullahs, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with his confidant Esfandiar Rahim Mashai and the Green Movement, but the first two are clearly more at each others neck.” “Yes”, she said and then she said: “No,  I have no interest in politics.”

Arriving in Tehran at 04:00am, long lines at the passport control, waiting for my bag till 05:00am and my transfer, checking into five-star Espinas Hotel at 05:45. At 06:15 I’m in my room to check my latest email and opened my site www.davaz.com.

I called her THE SPHINX

I met my interpreter at 09:00 in the lobby. “I cannot shake hands… my name is Afareen”, she warned me, I shouldn’t be forthcoming. But that’s just what I wanted. So I asked Afareen if she could accept that I shake hands with the Russian Filmmaker standing beside me, and she would then shake hands with her. A big smile was all over her face, yes she said, that would conform. And if I wanted to give her three french welcome kisses, could she accept that I kiss the Russian Filmmaker in the elevator (for her) and she

Masja from the Wolga with THE SPHINX from Iran

would then kiss her in the lobby (for me). “No”, she said and pointed to the elevator, “It’s transparent, it’s made of glas, everybody could see you. Use the elevator for the staff.“

Outside it was 30°, I wore my sleeveless Adidas T-shirt. “Oh,by the way“, she continued,“when we leave the Hotel, please change, put on a T-shirt with short sleeves.“ She felt embarrassed – and I too.

Afareen – THE SPHINX

I asked Afareen if the dresscode was strict for her.

She said it was very much so and the rules,  how girls were expected to behave and to dress were changing almost daily. “How do you pick it up, in the newspaper, from TV? Most often at the workplace. I feel it, when I enter the office in the morning. I get a dirty look from one of my female workers.“ That would do, she said, and she would adapt.

But Mohammad worked wonders

Dear family and friends,
you remember HUMUS for HAMAS? The only film that exists about the first local election in the Palestine Territories, the election rally in Beit Lahia and the elections in Rafah the following day. It marked the beginning of the rise of HAMAS and at the same time the demise of Yassir Arafat’s FATAH movement. HAMAS, at that time, was just better organized,  winning the hearts of the people with popular welfare programs. There was an authentic urge in the Gaza Strip, to do away with the all pervasive corruption and cronyism of the powerful few that took over after Arafat’s death. The people in the Gaza Strip were enthused to be able to vote for an alternative. For a minute or two, let’s say for some long weeks, the main enemy had ceased to be on the other side of the border. It all had turned into a vote for a better future instead of more of the same. Suddenly, the enemy was within the system. For the very first time, people had a choice without guns, they could promote change by putting their finger in red ink. For many Palestinians it was just mind boggling – as it was for me too – that change could come with a fingerprint. Men and women of all ages, handycapped and disabled, so many went to register and vote. HUMUS for HAMAS captured  that moment when people decided that red ink on their finger was better than blood. I was there with my camera, shooting from morning to evening. And because four eyes see more than two, I hired a

Mohammad worked Wonders

young Palestinian as a second cameraman from a local TV Station in Gaza City to come with me.

Some weeks ago, as I prepared my bag to go to Greece, I had an email on my desk, inviting me to present HUMUS for HAMAS at the 11th MOQAVEMAT Intenational Film Festival in Tehran from 20-24 September 2010. Time was short, just one day before my departure, Mohammad, the director from the Festival told me to send them a DVD copy to Tehran immediatly and gave me the code for DHL whose courier picked it up some hours later at their expense. To get a visum for Iran is no easy matter these days. But when you sit in a small fisher village in the East of the Peloponnes with only one old passport foto and unable to sign the visa application it looks remote.On top of it they told me it takes at least 3 weeks to get the required visum number from the Foreign Ministry in Tehran and I had only one week left.

 

 

But Mohammad worked wonders, within a few days he mailed me the code with which I had to apply  for the visum in Bern, Switzerland. A couple of  thousand km away from Bern and my visum I contacted Riahi Travel in Zurich and asked if Mr. Riahi could work another wonder. Well he said, times were short of wonders but he would do his very best. I scanned my old and crumpled passport foto with my iPhone 4 and mailed it to him. I guess, I don’t have to continue, Mohammad, Mr Riahi and the Iranian Embassy worked many more wonders… and I’m on my flight to the 11th MOQAVEMAT Film Festival in Tehran as an invited filmmaker with HUMUS for HAMAS.