Maziar Bahari
Maziar Bahari | |
---|---|
Canadian | |
Alma mater | Concordia University |
Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, journalist |
Spouse | Paola Gourley |
Children | 1 |
Website | www |
Maziar Bahari (
Family and education
Bahari was born in
Career
He graduated with a degree in communications from
studied the modern history of the Jews and I was fascinated by the history of the Jews in North America. I took a course on Freud and religion and the professor talked a lot about early 20th century anti-Semitism in the U.S. and Canada. I had no idea that even up until the 1950s Jews were discriminated against in North America, so I wanted to explore that further. As an immigrant, I was interested in the history of Jewish immigration from Europe to America. So I looked for a story to combine all these elements and came across the story of the St. Louis.[10]
Later, while he was imprisoned in Iran the film "haunted" him, with his interrogators accusing him of being on a mission to work for
In 1997 Bahari began reporting in Iran and making independent documentaries, and in 1998 he became Newsweek magazine's correspondent in Iran.[12]
He has produced a number of other documentaries and news reports for
. In 2003, Harvard Film Archive praised Bahari's work:"In a country known for neorealist fiction films that focus on small events in the lives of individuals, the work of Iranian director Maziar Bahari is somewhat anomalous. Employing a traditional documentary style to explore more far-reaching cultural events, Bahari's films provide a glimpse inside contemporary Iranian culture as they reveal the human element behind the headlines and capture cultural truths through the lens of individual experience. Representing a new generation of young Iranian filmmakers, Bahari's trenchant looks at social issues in his country have brought both controversy and international acclaim."[13]
Bahari's films have won several awards and nominations including an Emmy in 2005.
Arrest, imprisonment, release
On the morning of June 21, 2009, during the 2009 Iranian presidential election protests, Bahari was arrested at his family's home in Tehran and taken to Evin Prison.[18] In July, while incarcerated, he appeared[19] in a televised confession (broadcast internationally by
His confession was dismissed by his family, his colleagues, and
On October 17, after 118 days[25] in jail and charged with 11 counts of espionage, Bahari was released on $300,000 bail. Bahari says he was asked to promise to spy on dozens of "anti-revolutionary elements" inside and outside Iran for the Revolutionary Guard and report to them weekly (a promise that he had no intention of keeping).[26] He was allowed to leave the country and return to London days before the birth of his daughter.[27]
Post-imprisonment
After his release, Bahari recounted his time in prison in interviews and writings. He appeared on a segment of the television news program
In interviews Bahari stated that his interrogator told him not to talk about what happened to him in prison, as the
Campaign for other jailed journalists in Iran
Upon his release, Bahari launched a campaign in support of other jailed journalists in Iran. The name of the campaign,
"You may feel safe in your modest house, protected by thousands of revolutionary guards. But beyond them the world is changing. Iran is changing. In 1978, as the shah was doing his best to stifle his people, Ayatollah Khomeini promised that 'in an Islamic Iran the media will have the freedom to express all Iran's realities and events.' Hoping they could realize that promise, Iranians rose up and overthrew the shah. Ayatollah Khamenei, those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it."[34]
IranWire
Bahari launched IranWire in 2014, "to empower Iranian citizen journalists by creating a forum in which young Iranians can discuss national and local news, providing training modules and putting Iranian citizen journalists inside the country in touch with professional Iranian journalists." Although the website is bilingual, only a fraction of the Persian articles are in English.
Press TV vs Maziar Bahari
After his release, Bahari launched a complaint against Iranian government's English satellite channel, Press TV, for filming and airing an interview with him under duress. In May 2011, Ofcom upheld Bahari's three complaints against Press TV. In the summary, Ofcom said Press TV's presentation of Bahari was unfair because it "omitted material facts and was placed in a context in which inferences adverse to Mr Bahari could be drawn". The media regulator also said that Press TV failed to get his consent and this "contributed to the overall unfairness to Mr Bahari in the item broadcast". Ofcom added that filming and broadcasting the interview without consent "while he was in a sensitive situation and vulnerable state was an unwarranted infringement of Mr Bahari's privacy".[20]
Upon the release of Ofcom's findings, Press TV launched a campaign against Bahari and Ofcom. Bahari was accused of being "an MI6 contact person". Press TV's failure to pay a £100,000 fine for showing Bahari's 'confession' was connected with the revocation of Press TV's licence to broadcast in the UK, via satellite, in January 2012.[36]
Awards and honors
- Oxfam Novib/PEN Award,[37] nominated for an Emmy for his film
Filmography
- Paint! No Matter What, 1999 (about artist Khosrow Hassanzadeh)
- Of Shames and Coffins (about Aids in South Africa)
- Mohammad and the Matchmaker (about an HIV+ man's search for love in Iran)
- Football, Iranian Style (about Iranian passion for soccer)
- And Along Came a Spider (about a serial killer in Iran)
- Targets: Reporters in Iraq (about post-traumatic stress disorder among journalists working in Iraq)
- Greetings from Sadr City (about life in the Baghdad suburb during the war)
- A Cult that would be an Army - Cult of the Chameleon (about the Mujaheddin Khalgh of Iran)
- The Fall of a Shah (about the history of the Iranian Revolution)
- An Iranian Odyssey (about the CIA-backed 1953 coup in Iran)
- Forced Confessions, 2012
- Rosewater, 2014 (about Bahari's 118 days of detention and torture in Iran's Evin Prison, screenwritten and directed by Jon Stewart, in which Bahari is portrayed by Gael García Bernal)
- To Light a Candle (about the persecution of Baháʼís in Iran and the Baháʼí Institute for Higher Education)[38]
- The Cost of Discrimination, 2017
- 82 Names, 2012
Then They Came for Me
Bahari wrote a prison memoir and family history,
See also
References
- ^ "Maziar Bahari Canadian scapegoat in Iran". The Globe and Mail. July 8, 2009. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
- ^ a b "Exclusive - Maziar Bahari Extended Interview Pt. 1 - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 06/06/11 - Video Clip | Comedy Central". Thedailyshow.com. June 6, 2011. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
- ^ a b "Newsweek: Journalist detained in Iran now in UK". Associated Press. October 20, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
- ^ a b "Newsweek Reporter Maziar Bahari Released in Iran". Newsweek. Retrieved October 20, 2009.
- ^ "#PaintTheChange". #PaintTheChange. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
- ^ Staff, Hollywood.com (February 2, 2015). "Maziar Bahari | Biography and Filmography | 1965". Hollywood.com. Retrieved October 19, 2017.
- ^ a b Dickey, Christopher (August 3, 2009). "100 Iranians on trial, one baby's future in the balance - The Daily Beast". Newsweek. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
- ^ Bahari, Maziar. "'Then They Came For' Journalist Maziar Bahari". NPR.org. NPR. Retrieved December 28, 2011.
- ^ "Maziar Bahari". www.concordia.ca. Retrieved 2016-01-25.
- ^ "118 Days in Iran's Evin Prison - Page 2 of 3 - Moment Magazine". Moment Magazine. 19 July 2011. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
- ^ Nadine Epstein (July–August 2011). "118 Days in Iran's Evin Prison". Moment Magazine. Retrieved June 30, 2011.
- ^ a b Stelter, Brian (2009-08-03). "Newsweek Steps Up Effort to Free Reporter in Iran". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ "Maziar Bahari - Harvard Film Archive". Hcl.harvard.edu. 2003-05-13. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ "Previous Finalists". The Rory Peck Trust. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ "Global Writers and Filmmakers Call for Bahari's Release". Newsweek. 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ "Free Maziar Bahari". New York Times. 2009-09-08. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ "2020 Elie Wiesel Award — United States Holocaust Memorial Museum". www.ushmm.org. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
- ^ "NEWSWEEK Reporter Arrested Without Charge in Iran - The Daily Beast". Newsweek.com. 2009-06-20. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ Gravshon, Michael; Magratten, Drew (2009-11-22). "Newsweek's Bahari Recalls Iran Detention". 60 Minutes. CBS News. pp. 2–3. Archived from the original on 2009-12-01. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ a b Sweney, Mark (23 May 2011). "Iran's Press TV censured for interview with arrested journalist". Guardian. London. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
- ^ a b Bahari, Maziar. "Newsweek Reporter's Ordeal in Iran". Newsweek. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2009-11-25. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ Erdbrink, Thomas; William Branigin (2009-07-01). "Iran's Leadership Cautions Against Protest After Certification of Vote Results". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- Canwest News Service (2009-10-20). "Journalist Maziar Bahari released from Iranian jail". canada.com. Archived from the originalon 2012-11-07. Retrieved 2009-12-01.
- ^ Christopher Dickey (2009-10-21). "Maziar Bahari's Ordeal in Tehran Prison - The Daily Beast". Newsweek.com. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ a b Dickey, Christopher (2009-10-22). "'Everyone Has Forgotten You'". Newsweek. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
- ^ Bahari, Maziar Then They Came for Me, A Family's Story of Love, Captivity and Survival, Random House, 2011, p.275-6
- ^ "Newsweek's Bahari Recalls Iran Detention". CBS News. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ a b "Preview: Witness – 60 Minutes". CBS News. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ Maziar Bahari (2009-11-21). "Newsweek Reporter's Ordeal in Iran". Newsweek. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ "Newsweek's Bahari Recalls Iran Detention". CBS News. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ a b "A Year Later, Journalist Reflects On Iranian Unrest". NPR. 2010-06-15. Retrieved 2010-07-08.
- ^ Bahari, Maziar Then They Came for Me, A Family's Story of Love, Captivity and Survival, Random House, 2011, p.310
- ^ CPJ Impact (2010-04-18). "CPJ Impact – Committee to Protect Journalists". Cpj.org. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ Bahari, Maziar (2010-02-10). "Let My Colleagues Go". The New York Times.
- ^ "IranWire". smallmedia.org.uk. Retrieved May 30, 2023.
- ^ "Iran's Press TV loses UK licence", BBC News, 20 January 2012
- ^ "Irakli Kakabadze among the recipients of the Oxfam Novib/PEN Award". ICORN. November 2009. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
- ^ ""To Light a Candle", A Documentary Film by Maziar Bahari". Hamid and Chistina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies, Stanford University. May 10, 2014. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2014.
- CNN.com. March 5, 2013. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
- ^ Saunders, Doug (2011-07-02). "Tossing information grenades over Middle Eastern walls - The Globe and Mail". The Globe and Mail. Toronto.
- ^ Scrivener, Leslie (2011-06-17). "Black comedy in an Iranian prison". The Star. Toronto.
- ^ Hamed Aleaziz. "Tales from a Torture Chamber". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
- ^ Nafisi, Azar (2011-06-07). "THEN THEY CAME FOR ME by Maziar Bahari, Aimee MolloyKirkus Book Reviews". Kirkusreviews.com. Retrieved 2011-12-28.
External links
Media related to Maziar Bahari at Wikimedia Commons
- Author profile at Newsweek
- Maziar Bahari on Charlie Rose
- Maziar Bahari at IMDb
- Maziar Bahari collected news and commentary at The New York Times