''Forbidden Iran'' is a 2004 Frontline/World

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

based on

Jane Kokan Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name including list of persons and characters with the name * Jane (surname), related to the given name including list of persons and characters with the name Film and television * ''Jan ...

's investigation and report on

Zahra Kazemi Zahra "Ziba" Kazemi-Ahmadabadi (; 1948 – 11 July 2003) was an Iranian-Canadian freelance photojournalist. She gained notoriety for her arrest in Iran and the circumstances in which she was held by Iranian authorities, in whose custody she wa ...

's murder and opposition movements inside Iran. Kokan travels undercover to Iran in order to investigate the clerical government's crackdown on the Iranian students, journalists and dissidents. One of the film's interview subjects, Confederation of Iranian Students co-founder Arzhang Davoodi, was subsequently arrested for his criticism of the government in the film as well as assisting in its production. He was tried in 2005 by the

Islamic Revolutionary Court Islamic Revolutionary Court (), also known as the Revolutionary Tribunal (''Dadgahha-e Enqelab''Bakhash, Shaul, ''Reign of the Ayatollahs'', Basic Books, 1984, p.59-61) is a special system of courts in the Islamic Republic of Iran designed to try ...

for "spreading propaganda against the system" and "establishing and directing an organization opposed to the government". The court found him guilty and sentenced him to 15 years' imprisonment and 75

lashes Lashes may refer to: * Lashes, a form of Flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, Birching, rods, Switch (rod), switches, the cat o' ni ...

; as of August 2012, the latter part of his sentence had not been implemented. A segment from Forbidden Iran was broadcast on

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

’s Persian-language program News and Views.

References

External links

Forbidden Iran
* {{IMDb title, 0487064, Forbidden Iran 2004 television films 2004 films Iranian documentary films Human rights abuses in Iran Documentary films about Iran 2004 documentary films 2000s English-language films English-language documentary films