Director of "The Lizard" to make Iranian campaign ad

May 25, 2005 7:38 AM

Kamal Tabrizi, Iranian director of "Marmoulak" (The Lizard), has been hired by to make a campaign ad for presidential candidate Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
posted by 445supermag (6 comments total)

Iran cleric uses rebel filmmaker for election ads

funny with all this talk about deomcracy spreading in the middle east due to US military intervention, it is easy to overlook that in axis-of-evil iran the president is elected for a four year term by the people.

in the last election in 2001 there were 10 candidates for president, khatami won with 78.3% of the vote - a mandate if there ever was.
posted by three blind mice at 8:51 AM on May 25, 2005

And here, ladies and germs, is an example of Progressives Using The Media Properly.

It's interesting that in Iran it's progressives who use the 'net, TV, movies, etc. to great effect, whereas in the U.S., it's 'conservatives'.
posted by By The Grace of God at 9:28 AM on May 25, 2005

if you haven't seen the Lizard, do, it's great.
posted by johnny novak at 9:52 AM on May 25, 2005

I think that should read, "the President is elected* by the people."

*After the candidate list is vetted and selected by the Mullahs eliminating all but the most acceptable choices.

Incidentally, I have not seen Marmoulak (I will though) but the plot description sounds awfully similar to an Islamic version of the DeNiro/Penn flick We're No Angels or Whoopi Goldberg's Sister Act. I'm not judging, just sayin' is all...
posted by Pollomacho at 10:03 AM on May 25, 2005

pollomacho, amigo i'm not going to try to defend persian democracy, but compared to the hereditary monarchies and dictatorships all around them, they do appear somewhat progressive. i suspect most red-staters (who have been fed the "democracy good, iran bad" story line) would not expect to see the words "iran" and "election" in the same sentence.

btw, nice post 455supermag.
posted by three blind mice at 10:25 AM on May 25, 2005

As soon as that persian democracy gets started, let me know!

Incidentally, Iran has as many republics around it as anything else. Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey... Yes, they do actually hold "elections" in which the people are permitted to participate, but it is far from a democracy. It's more like an old Soviet election with no candidates on the ballot. Progressives in Iran are Mullahs that don't beat women for exposing their hair. Sure, its no Saudi, but its not even a democratic system on the level of Ukraine either (though Ukraine actually seems to be improving)!

I do have to agree with your last sentence though. Having grown up deep in Red-state country in and Ameican-Iranian-American family (American ex-pats, re-patted by the revolution) I'd be surprised if they can imagine "Iran" and "human" in the same sentence.
posted by Pollomacho at 11:58 AM on May 25, 2005