Iranian Alliances Across Borders (IAAB) is pleased to announce the fifth anniversary of Camp Ayandeh, IAAB’s Iranian-American leadership camp for high school students, to be held at Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California, July 6 -12, 2010.  

Through a positive and inclusive environment, Camp Ayandeh allows campers to develop leadership skills, foster strong friendships, and gain a deeper understanding of culture and identity as the youth of the Iranian diaspora community. The Iranian-American community is diverse and vibrant, a characteristic that Camp Ayandeh represents, embraces, and celebrates. Campers leave with a stronger sense of self, lifelong friendships, and the necessary skills to lead both within and outside of the Iranian diaspora community.

“The camp’s programs are designed to promote and utilize campers’ creative energies and critical thinking skills,” IAAB’s Executive Director Mana Kharrazi explained. “Our activities focus on leadership abilities such as decision making, active-listening, and communication, that assist campers in becoming the community’s leaders of tomorrow.”

“To watch these students grow over the course of a week, and leave with not only a stronger sense of self, but the skills necessary to become leaders in their communities, is a truly inspiring experience,” shares former camper and camp counselor, Tara Safaie. Among the camp’s cultural activities are lessons on and exposure to Iranian language, music, poetry, films, and history. Through the guidance of Iranian-American camp counselors drawn from an array of American universities, Ayandeh campers are also encouraged to reflect on what it means to be a hyphenated Iranian-American with peers who serve as role models and identify with the realities of Iranian-American teenage life.

Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is located just south of San Francisco, California and has recently been named one of the top tier universities of the western region by U.S. News & World Report rankings. As an influential university in the Bay Area, IAAB chose its lush and accommodating campus as an ideal location for this celebratory fifth installment of Camp Ayandeh.

“This year’s Camp Ayandeh is going to address fresh ideas with new perspectives in order to continue empowering and inspiring the youth of our diaspora community,” shares Pantea Faed, a member of IAAB’s camp planning committee. “We’re excited about the West Coast debut; Camp 2010 will be one to remember.”

Camp Ayandeh is a non-political and non-religious camp, and is open to high school students of all backgrounds. No prior knowledge of the Persian language is required.

For more information on Camp Ayandeh 2010, including camper and counselor applications, please visit http://iranianalliances.org/camp.

Campers are encouraged to apply early as application fees will increase after April 5th, 2010.

Contact: Leyla Serway, Public Relations
Iranian Alliances Across Borders
public_relations@iranianalliances.org
iranianalliances.org

February 4, 2010, Washington, DC – Now at 19 partners and counting, the coalition was formed to ensure maximum and consistent participation by Iranian Americans in the 2010 U.S. Census. The addition of new organizations strengthens and expands the coalition’s outreach and penetration, providing it with more resources and a larger platform for educating Iranian Americans nationwide and encouraging their participation in the Census.

The census is a count of everyone living in the United States. This includes people of all ages, races, and ethnic groups, as well as both citizens and non-citizens. Like many ethnic groups, Iranian Americans have traditionally been undercounted; the 2000 Census count of our community was only 338,000. This is a problem as it undermines our access to a variety of social services. The only solution is for us to register our Iranian origin, and to be counted by the Census Bureau.

The Iranian American 2010 Census Coalition is taking a proactive role to try and ensure that our community’s statistics are accurately reflected and that it has access to key services and an enhanced political voice.  With that in mind, the coalition has assembled an informational and instructional pamphlet, available both in English and Persian, to answer questions about the U.S. Census.   

Simultaneously, the coalition is developing customized messaging and communication tools specific to the Iranian American population to be rolled out nationally over the coming weeks, to help raise awareness about the U.S. 2010 Census campaign among all of the Iranian American households and communities nationwide.

Stand Up and Be Counted

The Iranian American 2010 Census Coalition includes both national and regional Iranian American organizations that have united under the common objective of educating Iranian Americans about the 2010 Census. Specific goals of this project include reaching every Iranian American household in the country to educate them about the importance of participating in the 2010 Census, to assure them that the information provided to the Census Bureau will by law be confidential, and to urge them to respond to questions relating to race, ethnicity, and national origin in a consistent manner.  In order to assure maximum outreach, the Census Coalition has hired full-time consultants to both reach out to the Iranian American community and coordinate with the U.S. Census.

For more information or to join the Iranian American 2010 Census Project contact any of the coalition partners:

Andisheh Center: www.andisheh.org

Association of Iranian American Professionals (AIAP): www.aiap.orgindex.shtml

Bay Area Iranian-American Democrats (BAIAD): www.baiad.org

Bay Area Iranian-American Voter Association (BAIVOTER): www.baivoter.org

Empowered Women United: empoweredwomenunited.com

Farhang Foundation: www.farhang.org

Iranican: www.iranican.com

Iranian Alliances Across Borders (IAAB): www.iranianalliances.org

Iranian American Bar Association (IABA): www.iaba.us

Iranian Psychological Association of America (IPAA): www.myipaa.org

Iranian Studies Group at MIT: www.isgmit.org

National Iranian American Council (NIAC): www.niacouncil.org

Network of Iranian American Professionals of Orange County (NIPOC): www.nipoc.org

PARSA Community Foundation: www.parsacf.org

Persian Center www.persiancenter.org

Persian Cultural Club www.persiancenter.org  

Persianesque Magazine: www.persianesquemagazine.com

Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA): www.paaia.org

Shabeh Jomeh: www.shabehjomeh.com

U.S. Census Bureau: www.census.gov

Nader Davoodi, Untitled

Nader Davoodi is an award winning artist, photographer, photojournalist and publisher.  His work has at many times captured the zeitgeist of contemporary Iran.

Nader Davoodi’s latest works visualise the poetry of the Mo’jjam History by the 13th century A.D. Iranian poet Ghazvini.  The compilations in the Mojj’am History chronicle Iran’s Shahs (kings) from the reign of Kioumars Shah, whose reign coincides with the beginning of the epic Shahnameh (book of kings), through the end of the reign of Anushiravan Shah.

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We are pleased to announce that the festival committee has extended the deadline of the 2nd Annual Farhang Foundation Short Film Festival to Monday, February 22, 2010.

This year, filmmakers from all walks of life, Iranian and non-Iranian, are invited to create a music video (less than 9 minutes).

A music video is a short movie or animation that is accompanied with music of any style or genre (contemporary, pop, classical, folk, Iranian, non-Iranian, etc.). The music may be with or without lyrics and in any language. The music and the lyrics may be original or pre-existing.

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Ana Lily Amirpour is working on her next project, a short film called KETAB, about a lonely young guy in Tehran who goes to buy a book.  On the surface it appears to be a very basic story, but as it unfolds, a more intricate world is revealed, one that touches on the current dichotomies faced by Tehrani youth and their fight for basic freedoms.  The film will star Sam Golzari who debuted as the star of American Dreamz and 21.  Co-stars include exciting up-and-coming Persian talent like comedian Max Amini and actress Sheila Vand, as well as veteran Iranian actor Marshall Manesh who has appeared in dozens of films and television shows including Year One, True Lies, How I Met Your Mother, Will and Grace and Entourage, among many others. 
 
“KETAB is actually a scene from my feature script THE STONES. I plan to use this short film to show the industry that a foreign film about Iranian youth is not just important and topical, it’s also a fun ride as well… with what’s going on in Iran today, it’s never felt more necessary to tell these types of stories.” Amirpour says.

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Candlestar is delighted to present photographs by Iranian artist Fataneh Dadkhah.

Fataneh Dadkhah is a pioneer of stage-photography as an artistic discipline in Iran. She has documented the rebirth of Iranian theatre since the 1979 revolution, and in 1983 she published Theatre Photography, in association with the Dramatic Arts Centre in Iran. Since 2001 Dadkhah has travelled extensively inside and outside of Iran taking snapshots of her experiences, and has exhibited nationally and internationally.

The two photographs presented by Candlestar are part of Dadkhah’s beautiful Balouchi Bride series taken in Balouchestan, Iran, and can be commissioned exclusively from Candlestar as limited edition prints.

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L to R: Maziar Bahari (Photo by Hossein Salehi Ara), Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Photo via Makhmalbaf.com)

The Freedom to Create Prize is pleased to announce that renowned human rights advocate Bianca Jagger will present the main award at its prize ceremony on Wednesday 25 November 2009 at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London.

Two Iranian creative and intellectual minds are amongst 1,015 artists from 110 countries who entered the lineup to receive the reward estimated at $125,000 USD. Politico-artist Mohsen Makhmalbaf and photographer/journalist/playwright/film-maker-extraordinaire, the recently released from Evin prison after 118 days for having covered an “illegal election”, Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari.

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Starbucks, Eric Robert Parnes

Washington, DC – The Fridge DC is pleased to present its November 2009 exhibition I RAN Home (In America), running November 5 through November 29, 2009. (Opening Reception: Thursday, November 5, 2009, 7:00-10:00 pm.)

Iranian artists have become players in the national and international contemporary art scene, but too often, this genre is tied to politics.  In reality, Iranian-American artists are multi-faceted with different and conflicting identities and influences.  Their work may be affected by political realities, but not decided by them.  In I RAN Home (In America), these diverse influences unite in profoundly personal artworks which strive to achieve acceptance and understanding from all viewers.  Moreover, the genre educates the American public about Iranian culture and reveals the effects of Diaspora on community identity.

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L to R: Neda Dana-Haeri, Fereydoun Ave

Sistani Gallery is pleased to present the second in its series of exhibitions featuring contemporary Iranian Artists.  On first examination, the works of Neda Dana-Haeri and Fereydoun Ave appear to be compositionally very different.  However what draws the artists together is their deep spiritual understanding and the sensitivity of their work.  Both are influenced by their Persian heritage and culture and both have found their own individual way of reinterpreting this in a totally contemporaneous manner.

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For Immediate Release:

San Francisco (August 27) – We are delighted to announce the 2nd Annual Iranian Film Festival – San Francisco set for September 19-20, 2009.

The festival theme this year is about Iranian Women and Iranian Women Filmmakers. We dedicate this year’s festival to all the great women of Iran, anywhere on the planet, for their extraordinary role they play in the Iranian society.

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L to R - Actress Emily Deschanel (Bones), Tribeca Film Institute CEO Brian Newman, Ana Lily Amirpour, and founder of the Adrienne Shelly Foundation, Andy Ostroy

As part of the Adrienne Shelly Foundation’s mission to aid in the advancement of talented women filmmakers, the foundation has teamed with the Tribeca Film Institute to form the TFI Adrienne Shelly Foundation Screenwriting Fellowship. 

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Los Angeles, California — May 2, 2009 — Iranian-American filmmaker Justin Mashouf will be screening his feature-length documentary, “Warring Factions,” on May 2nd as a part of the 3rd Annual Noor International Film Festival—the largest Iranian film festival in America. After screening the 70-minute documentary, Mashouf will speak about his experiences in Iran, his detention by Homeland Security and the confiscation of his video footage on suspicion of terrorism.

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