Leading Iranian filmmaker Rakhshan Bani-Etemad

After the 2009 presidential elections and the vast demonstrations in favour of the green movement in Iran, 113 Iranian documentary filmmakers published a three minutes video declaration on YouTube.

The declaration points out the principles of documentary filmmaking which are linked up with the freedom of opinion and of expression, with the human rights. The declaration refers to current and historical aspects and states that the principles of documentary filmmaking cannot be found with with the national television controlled by the Iranian government.

The video declaration is read by Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, the most prominent Iranian woman filmmaker. Both her documentaries and her feature films are of outstanding artistic and human quality. During the election campaign in 2001 she made the documentary "Our Times". (rr)

Link to the video declaration on YouTube