Sunday, March 29, 2009

Neither Here Nor There, But...

I encourage you to watch a documentary called Arusi Persian Wedding, airing these days on PBS's Independent Lens show. Check listings to see if it's playing again in your area. It follows the visit of an Iranian-American man and his American wife to Iran to meet/visit his family.

I know one of the writers/producers, and it reminds me of my own trips to Iran, now 9 and 10 years ago. (!) The scenes from Esfahan strike such a nostalgic chord with me - I've been to every place they have filmed there.

In a subtle way, my own visits to Iran played a role in my de-conversion, if only in the exposure to a people largely unfamiliar with Christian tenets. Subconsciously, it became harder to hew to a conservative theology after spending time with warm, hospitable people considered heathens (at best) and terrorists (at worst) by certain Christian groups.

2 comments:

jennypo said...

I haven't been able to locate this online, (except 4 clips and a trailer on googlevideo), and I don't have a TV. If you come across it anywhere on the web, please let me know - I'd LOVE to watch it.

Slapdash said...

Hi Jennypo,

There may not be much more online than that... did you find the page for it on PBS?

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/arusipersianwedding/

I'll ask my friend if there are plans to release it online or on DVD.