The Iran Job

It is an amazing movie. An American basketball player arrives in Iran with misconceptions and returns to the United States with a transformed image.

A great unknown among westerners is Iran. Yes, their government and western governments are at odds. But what I am talking about is the country--not the government. What is it like? What are the people like? Well, I cannot answer that first-hand (though I'd like to go there to visit one day), I do know that by glimpsing at the country through films that it isn't really all that different from us. The people, like any people, have similar hopes, dreams and humanity-- something you miss when you watch the news on TV. Try watching some of Majid Majidi's great films like "Children of Heaven" or "The Color of Paradise" and you'll see this humanity.

In the case of "The Iran Job", however, you have a documentary--not a staged film--in order to get a glimpse at life in Iran. Through the course of the film, you travel with Kevin Sheppard as he leaves the familiarity of life in St. Croix (the US Virgin Islands) and moves to Iran to play for one of their teams. Surprisingly, he is NOT treated like an outcast even though the official government position is clearly anti-American. I was shocked how much he bonded with the team and vice-versa and the film gives you glimpses into the way young women are dealing with a harsh Muslim climate as well as the country as it nearly plunged into civil war following their hotly contested election.

All in all, a very well made film that works on many levels (heck, I even liked the rapping in Farsi that is much of the soundtrack). It helps that you genuinely like Sheppard and his teammates but it also gives a rare chance to see folks as folks--and it's a real treat that, unfortunately, too few people will end up seeing.

I am making comments on this film in reaction to a previous review I saw which completely slammed it on very little basis. Firstly, I didn't think the 3 Iranian women in the documentary came across as having "no other worries other than becoming an actress or getting married" - anything but - they were strong women prepared to speak up about the political situation in Iran and the position of women. I'm not surprised they are in trouble with the authorities and my one criticism of the film makers is that they effectively encouraged them to reveal their identities in one scene on the understanding that the film was not going to be seen by those inside Iran. The most important outcome of the film for me was Kevin's (The US basketball player's) comment that he now thought he understood and respected the point of women on a deeper level since knowing these women in Iran.

Iranians in the film didn't come across as "hopeless idiots" nor did Iranian culture as "shallow and ridiculous". I wonder if we saw the same film really? A clue to this hopelessly negative review, however, might be the reviewer's statement: "It was unfortunate that I wasn't informed about this movie's exceptionally low quality beforehand, so I figured I do my share of informing those who haven't spent their time and money on it yet". I'm always wary of people who look to be "informed" of a film's low quality beforehand - who would do the informing? Someone with exactly the same views as yourself, I suppose. Most people prefer to make their own minds up.

Also, by the way, it is a difficult, if not totally unfair, task to compare a fictionalised blockbuster Hollywood drama like "Argo" with a very small budget documentary like "The Iran Job". Personally, I admire Argo as an exceptional film but you only have to know a few Iranians to know how controversial Argo is to them. Many regard the portrayal of the Iranian characters in it as just as stereotypically idiotic as you claim those in the Iran Job to be.

Viewed at the Los Angeles Film Festival, LAFF, June 15, 2012. The eye-opener of the first weekend was a feature length documentary entitled "The Iran Job" made by German-American director Till Schauder and produced by his Iranian-American wife Sara Nodjoumi. On the surface this is the story of a year in the life of an Afro-American basketball player recruited to revitalize a second rate Basketball team in Iran and get them into the playoffs -- but it soon becomes evident that the sports story is merely the framework for a slam-dunk penetration into the paint of society in the Islamic Republic described by President Bush as part of an Axis of Evil. In 2008, the crucial political year in which Obama became president, Kevin Sheppard signed up to play in Iran. His fiends all advised against such a move but Kevin felt he wanted to try something completely new so he signed a year contract to play in Iran. Soon after his arrival he realizes that politics is a touchy if not dangerous subject in Iran so he resolves to steer clear as much as possible. His relations with colleagues and other friends soon enmesh him whether he likes it or not and the whole film becomes one revelation after another of the extent to which average people resent the repressions forced upon them by the fundamentalist Islamic Government. All this set against news clips from CNN regarding the edgy tension between the USA and Iran.

Only seconds into the film we get a clip of President George Bush to set the mood: Says Bush: "The notion that the US is about to attack Iran is ridiculous ... However, all options are on the table (Audience chuckle). This is followed by a clip of president Ahmedinajad of Iran ranting against Israel and calling for its extermination. The riposte to this is a clip of Hilary Clinton, then a potential presidential candidate, saying: "If Iran attacks Israel we will attack Iran -- and we have the means to obliterate ...!" -- In all exterior shots Schauders roving camera picks up gigantic images of Khomeini and the Ayatolas looking down from walls all over the city. No commentary, but those who know Iran know that this is the Big Brotherhood watching over everyone all the time. It is obvious that the average Iranian is favorably disposed toward Americans on the personal level but one of the first images we see is a wall with a sign saying "Down with USA". The party line and the personal line are in constant clash -- Kevin is convinced that Iranians are especially fond of Black Americans, but when people expect him to be especially supportive of newly elected president Obama on the basis of color, he takes a Wait and See attitude. His doctor says now you have a black president and its your turn-- "You need a black house instead of a White House" -- a joke that Kevin takes with a grain of salt. Along the way Kevin does help the weak Shiraz team make the playoffs but this is incidental to his relationship with three young women who befriend him and, with disarming candor, reveal their dissatisfaction with the regime. Hilda is his assigned physiotherapist but soon becomes his confidante outside of work. Laleh, a friend of hers is a thoroughly outspoken critic of the regime and will later be arrested. Elaheh, Kevin's driver, is strikingly beautiful, wants to be a movie star and looks every bit the part. All speak good English but need help with words like "pissed off". As for the wearing of head scarves, all agree that everyone hates it but have to go along with it because of the law. It is illegal for women to visit mens apartments, illegal for women to travel in cars with men who are not husbands or close family, illegal for men and women to sit in the same stands at a basketball game(!) --at one point women are banned from sports attendance altogether -- it is more and more obvious that the average people, especially the female population, are not very happy to be living in an open air religious prison. The peak of religious fervor comes during the celebration of the Martyrdom of Husein, grandson of the Holy Prophet. Out on the seething streets with his friends, Kevin asks why they are celebrating all this with mourning --wouldnt it be better to celebrate the Life of Husein rather than his death -- the kind of question one does not ask in this rigidly religious society. The tension mounts until the 2009 election where popular liberal candidate Mousavi speaks out against the oppressive regime but is "defeated" in a rigged election. As the film ends it looks like things can only get worse. Neda, a women protester killed is a new martyr. Laleh has been arrested. The only ray of hope, maybe -- is that beautiful Elaheh has been given permission by her father to move to Teheran and perhaps pursue her movie star dreams.

We are informed by end titles that Kevin went back for two more seasons of basketball in Iran, but there is not likely to be a sequel to his story. Director Schauder was blacklisted and very lucky to get out of Iran alive with enough smuggled footage to put together this remarkable film. If a regime change ever does come there "The Iran Job" will undoubtedly become an Iranian liberation classic. Meanwhile the filmmakers are trying to drum up the funding needed to get "The Iran Job" as widely seen as it needs to be, to help clear the currently muddled air between the US and Iran. One of the director's stated purposes is not so much to dramatize the politics of Iran as to show Iranian people in a more human light so that they are not demonized along with their government.

This movie isn't slick enough to win any big awards, but what the filmmakers accomplished is incredible. It's the story of Kevin, a college basketball star from the US Virgin Islands whose career as a journeyman international basketball player takes him to one of the least likely places for an American to end up: Iran. Despite his concerns about the country, he agrees to be brought in as a ringer for an upstart team. He needs to justify the substantial investment the team made in him by leading them to the playoffs, but in order to do so, Kevin will need to do more for the team than simply being its best player.

This story serves as the substrate for a fascinating on-the-ground view of Iranian society, behind the walls created by feuding governments. You see that despite living under an authoritarian regime, the real Iranian people have desires and dreams not unlike their Western counterparts. You see much about their society that is admirable, even as people struggle against the constraints of tradition and an authoritarian government.

One can't help feeling that the world would be a much more peaceful place if ordinary people simply got to know one another. Any movie that can produce such a feeling is worth a watch.