Head Wind (directed by Mohammad Rasoulof)

I love my Netflix.. Even though they don’t have a lot of movies that I want to see, they also have a ton of films I do want to see - which makes me and all Netflix users pretty lucky. Freedom to a large variety of cinema is of course not something all folks across the world, especially not in Iran, as Mohammad Rasolouf’s new documentary Head Wind points out. In the film, Rasolouf paints small portraits of the people and communities that are working to bring outside images sounds and cinema to the people of Iran, where they are currently banned by the government.

From the men that install illegal satellite dishes to a man names Omid, a Netflix on foot of sorts, the folks of Iran are working to fight the system and bring the outside world into their homes. Rasolouf does a good job of keeping neutral on the idea of the benefit of Western images and their proliferation in Iran, while still providing us access to the underground media system.

For me, the concern comes in that for the most part it appears that US images are in the images dominating the illegal television screens and on that note I too would argue the quality and benefit of those images. Were I to see the citizens of Iran reaching out for films from across the world, I would feel better about their cause and their fight against the Islamic restrictions. Of course though, people should have the right to choose the images they have access to and without the illegal systems there seemingly isn’t one at all.

I can’t help but think of Kiarostami and his assertion that the long term influence of American media and movies will be more dangerous than the long term influence of the American military…

That may be a large claim, but there is definitely some truth in it.

takepart to learn more about Iranian cinema and Kiarostami and stay tuned for more Silverdocs 2008.