Film

Letters to the President

Lettere al presidente

Petr Lom was the only foreigner allowed to follow Iran's President Ahmadinejad during his populist trips to the rural areas. During his visits, the President receives many letters – the government claims ten million – from poor Iranians asking for help. Most of them believe that they will receive support and they have blind faith in the head of state. This confidence is sustained by occasional positive responses from the President, who sends a chador to an young girl or gives some of the families a few rial out of his own pocket. Nevertheless, the overall majority of the letters in wihich people ask for financial help end up in the hands of clerks at the Presidential Letterwriting centre, who simply fill
out a form without taking specific action. These letters are used as a narrative thread to illustrates the absurd populism of the Iranian president and the hypocrisy of the ruling regime.

Il regista / The Director

Petr Lom was born in Prague and grew up in Canada. He received his Ph.D. in political philosophy from Harvard University in 1997 and was an academic for seven years until he left his university career to become an independent documentary filmmaker. Entirely self-taught, he now produces, directs and edits his own films. He currently lives in Athens, Greece. His filmography includes Bride Kidnapping in Kyrgyzstan (2004), On a Tightrope (2007), You Cannot Hide from Allah (2007).

Edizione 2009
Panorama: Focus Diritti Umani - Panorama: Focus on Human Rights

documentario
Canada, 2008, 72'

REGIA/DIRECTOR
Petr Lom

TAGS:
DIRITTI UMANI E CIVILI - HUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS / SOCIETA' E POLITICA - SOCIETY AND POLITICS / IRAN