Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Gratitude - Love - Peace - Beauty - Art
'Now that
all your worry
Has proved such an
Unlucrative
Business,
Why
Not
Find a better
Job.'
'Because' by The Beatles from the Album LOVE
Friday, October 3, 2014
Deutschland - Das Land der Dichter & Downer (Uhm 'Doener')
25 years ago marked Germany's symbolic reunification when the Berlin Wall fell.
I was two years old, when we moved to Germany. Growing up I always felt more German than Iranian until I realized that I was denying my foreign roots. All I remember is that I was extremely angry but I didn't understand why.
It took me a while to realize, that assimilation is not sustainable. At it's worst the desire to belong simply represses your need to be.
I am grateful for the loving friends, the well-rounded education and the profound culture Germany has enriched my life with. Yet on this day I'd like to point out: unity does not equal homogeneity.
Am Tag der Deutschen Einheit liebe Gruesse in meine dt Heimat - das Land der Dichter & Doener !
(Funny enough, when I first typed 'Doener', the Berlin-Turkish sandwich creation, autocorrect wanted me to write 'downer'- So Germany, don't be such a downer ! Embrace your diversity!)
Monday, April 1, 2013
Review about The Yellow Room by Cynthia Singer
Prof. Dr. Cynthia Singer, the Chair of the Faculty at Union County College has recently written a really nice review about the Yellow Room and about A Day in Eden.
Thank you to UCC and to Prof Singer for inviting us to your campus!
Thank you to UCC and to Prof Singer for inviting us to your campus!
'The Yellow Room
A short but focused film on a matter of personal conflict that is evolving both in The Yellow Room and, as we later understand, elsewhere as well, as evidenced
by a phone call that “comes too late”. This film captures the harsh reality of how women, no matter what the cultural context, too often have no recourse but to turn to using desperate means to resolve an inconvenient pregnancy. The Yellow Room metaphor is interesting because yellow often conjures up a warm image, yet in
this case it appears as an impersonal and emotionally cold environment, reflective of the emotional detachment that the young woman engages in, so that she can follow through with her bounded decision. The music, the images and the dialogue appear impersonal, marginalizing the young woman and her ethical dilemma. Beautifully filmed and emotionally stirring. One is pulled into the unspoken hypnotic deliberation that her face expresses throughout the film, only to be stirred by a phone call that “comes too late”. The message you are left with is that such decisions are a woman’s to make.
A Day in Eden
This film, which feels like it is filmed through a sheet of gauze, lulls the viewer
into a conflict between religious doctrine and the basic responsibility that humans have for each other in times of crisis. Arriving to simply share some music with residents of nursing home, a young female musician, bounded by religious doctrine, is confronted with a human dilemma that requires her to reach into herself to manage and reconcile the crisis. She rises above her religious constraints when confronted with the desperate needs of one of the more difficult residents, turning to what really makes us all equal, compassion and empathy, setting aside her religious convictions. The primary dialogue is delivered in the music, the face of the young woman and the emotional outburst of the patient. As in The Yellow Room, one is swept into the dilemma, moving emotionally with the main character as she struggles with the conflict that has unexpectedly unfolded before her. On so many levels she is challenged by this crisis. Her human driven response makes the viewer reach into oneself, asking, what would I have done in this situation. The message you are left with is that no one can speculate what one would do in such a situation until actually emotionally engaged by such circumstances.
General comment....To capture such dilemmas and the emotional conflict that accompanies each of them in a span of only 8-10 minutes, causes me to want to think of this filmmaker as a “film poet” ....... Or poetry through film......' (Prof. Dr Cynthia Singer, March 2013)
A short but focused film on a matter of personal conflict that is evolving both in The Yellow Room and, as we later understand, elsewhere as well, as evidenced
by a phone call that “comes too late”. This film captures the harsh reality of how women, no matter what the cultural context, too often have no recourse but to turn to using desperate means to resolve an inconvenient pregnancy. The Yellow Room metaphor is interesting because yellow often conjures up a warm image, yet in
this case it appears as an impersonal and emotionally cold environment, reflective of the emotional detachment that the young woman engages in, so that she can follow through with her bounded decision. The music, the images and the dialogue appear impersonal, marginalizing the young woman and her ethical dilemma. Beautifully filmed and emotionally stirring. One is pulled into the unspoken hypnotic deliberation that her face expresses throughout the film, only to be stirred by a phone call that “comes too late”. The message you are left with is that such decisions are a woman’s to make.
A Day in Eden
This film, which feels like it is filmed through a sheet of gauze, lulls the viewer
into a conflict between religious doctrine and the basic responsibility that humans have for each other in times of crisis. Arriving to simply share some music with residents of nursing home, a young female musician, bounded by religious doctrine, is confronted with a human dilemma that requires her to reach into herself to manage and reconcile the crisis. She rises above her religious constraints when confronted with the desperate needs of one of the more difficult residents, turning to what really makes us all equal, compassion and empathy, setting aside her religious convictions. The primary dialogue is delivered in the music, the face of the young woman and the emotional outburst of the patient. As in The Yellow Room, one is swept into the dilemma, moving emotionally with the main character as she struggles with the conflict that has unexpectedly unfolded before her. On so many levels she is challenged by this crisis. Her human driven response makes the viewer reach into oneself, asking, what would I have done in this situation. The message you are left with is that no one can speculate what one would do in such a situation until actually emotionally engaged by such circumstances.
General comment....To capture such dilemmas and the emotional conflict that accompanies each of them in a span of only 8-10 minutes, causes me to want to think of this filmmaker as a “film poet” ....... Or poetry through film......' (Prof. Dr Cynthia Singer, March 2013)
THANK YOU Sarah Seltzer and RH Reality Check for writing about THE YELLOW ROOM!
http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2013/03/27/the-yellow-room-illegal-abortion-as-feminist-gothic-horror-film/
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Thank You Essex Community College
The production and promotion team of The Yellow Room warmly thanks the students and staff at Essex Community College for an awesome screening of The Yellow Room, today. It was a great experience. This was the first college campus that hosted a screening of the film and it was such a success! The students enriched the discussion session of the event with their thoughtful questions and active participation. We all look forward to working with ECC again next semester with a screening of Assal's next film, A Day in Eden.
THANKS AGAIN ESSESX COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR A GREAT SCREENING!!
THANKS AGAIN ESSESX COMMUNITY COLLEGE FOR A GREAT SCREENING!!
The Yellow Room Screening at Union County College
The Yellow Room, released in 2012 by Assal Ghawami Productions, will be screened at Union County College on Friday March 15th at 4pm in the Roy Smith Theatre on the Cranford Campus. THIS SCREENING IS FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC...and the production team of The Yellow Room invites members of the community to attend!!!
Union County College Cranford campus:
1033 Springfield Ave
Cranford, NJ 07016
Roy Smith Theatre is located across from the athletic department and SGA office, near the cafeteria and commons. NO TICKETS NEEDED!
***The Yellow Room is about a young Pakistani woman, Sanaz, played by Sabba Hussain, who seeks help from a Hispanic medicine woman, Teresa, played by Yvette Mercedes, at her obscure tenement home.
A special bonus short film will
also be screened, followed by a discussion/Q&A session with Assal and
the audience. There will also be a special appearance by actress Ivette Mercedes, who played Teresa in The Yellow Room.
Union County College Cranford campus:
1033 Springfield Ave
Cranford, NJ 07016
Roy Smith Theatre is located across from the athletic department and SGA office, near the cafeteria and commons. NO TICKETS NEEDED!
***The Yellow Room is about a young Pakistani woman, Sanaz, played by Sabba Hussain, who seeks help from a Hispanic medicine woman, Teresa, played by Yvette Mercedes, at her obscure tenement home.
Sanaz seeks Teresa's help when she finds she is pregnant and decides to end her unplanned pregnancy with a centuries old herbal remdey--Ruda. As Sanaz struggles with the internal conflict of ending ending her pregnancy, she must deal with the conflicting personality of Amy, played by Alexandra Manzano, who shares her secret in Teresa's tenement home.
To follow all the updates about this screening please visit:
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