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Beyond the electronic curtain

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Beyond the electronic curtain

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Content BEYOND THE ELECTRONIC CURTAIN

by

Tara Kangarlou

A Professional Project Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF ARTS
(BROADCAST JOURNALISM)

May 2012

Copyright 2012 Tara Kangarlou

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Table of Contents

Abstract…………………………………………………………….…………………... iii
Beyond The Electronic Curtain Script…..……………...……………………………… 1

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Abstract

Just over two decades ago, a large part of the world lived behind an Iron Curtain. The
Soviet Union, in its effort to shield its people from the outside world and potentially any
outside influence, placed a massive internal security apparatus, all available surveillance
technology, and imposed severe limitations on movement, press, speech, assembly, and
association—taking away the fundamental human rights to freedom of speech and
expression.

After decades of such repression, the most vivid symbol of the Iron Curtain—The Berlin
Wall—came down at the hands of people on both sides of the barrier.

Iran today, a country once recognized for it’s rich culture, enchanting tourism, and
glorious history, is facing the exact isolation—except this time, behind an “Electronic
Curtain”.

Under the Islamic regime, Iran ranks first in violation of Internet freedom, free flow of
information and imprisonment of journalists and political activists—only the latest in a
long record of repression of Iranian society. Since the 2009 presidential elections, more
than 50 publications have been shut down by the Islamic regime. The country also has the
highest execution rate in the world.

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The documentary recounts the horrific story of Omid Memarian, a journalist who was
imprisoned in Iran’s notorious Evin prison for simply doing his job. Through intimate
details, Memarian begins his tale. From the beginning moments when two gunmen took
him from the newsroom, to the torturous days he spent next to convicted murderers, to
the morning he accidentally saw his mother in the hallways of the Supreme Court,
Memarian’s story provides a glimpse into a country that is governed through severe
censorship.

His tale depicts a real-life slice of this oppression in today’s Iran—not only to evoke
people’s sympathy toward a youth dominant society, but also to educate the international
community of the crimes of the Iranian regime. His story is told as experts: U.S.
Diplomats, Iranian Parliamentarians, Human Rights Activists and U.S. Government
Officials guide the audience through details of the regime’s strategies, policies, and fears
in maintaining this Electronic Curtain.

Among the experts, Mr. Ramin Asgard, U.S. Diplomat and former Director of Voice of
America Farsi, authored the policy: “Beyond the Electronic Curtain” in 2011. The policy
was just recently passed into President Obama’s foreign policy strategies—where much
effort will be put in aiding Iran to overcome this electronic curtain and its current
censorship.

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Over the past five years, Iran has employed one of the most sophisticated filtering
systems in the world. It controls Internet service providers, hunts activists via the Internet
police, and uses thousands of operators to monitor web content, and can slow down or
shut down the Internet and any satellite broadcasting when needed—in an effort to
control ideas, ambitions, and opportunities of a society who at any moment, aspires to
rise for an alterative government.

The documentary reflects on Memarian’s melancholy, but also reflects on the viral affect
of such censorship in all avenues of the Iranian society. Memarian’s frustration is not
solely specific to journalists and political activists. Rather, the regime’s repression affects
people from all walks of life. From students, teachers, doctors, physicists, scientists,
businessmen, artists, filmmakers and lawyers, the electronic curtain takes away the basic
access to freethinking and free speech.

Ultimately, through Memarian’s tale as well as the experts’ in-depth knowledge of the
Iranian history and policies, the documentary aims to portray the Iranian society in it’s
entirety; what they aspire to be and what they are constantly deprived of—it portrays the
innocence and humanity that’s imprisoned beneath this curtain and the dangers that result
from this isolation, not just for the Iranian people, but also for others who lack or enjoy
this fundamental right—freedom of speech, expression and life.
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Beyond The Electronic Curtain

TRT: 25:00

Track
CU—Omid’s hand typing,
His fingers, keyboard

CU—Omid’s face, eyes

Collage of Omid working in the newsroom

From his Face we go to the CU shots of
protestors—CU of other youth

CH—of Omid’s hands typing

Pan of a newspaper kiosk in Tehran
CU of a paper titles “Country faces severe
political sensitivity”

ONE AFTERNOON, A YOUNG
JOURNALIST WALKS INTO HIS
OFFICE IN TEHRAN—HE IS
IMMEDIATELY ARRESTED BY
INTELLIGENCE OFFICERS—WITH
GUNS.
OMID IS A SON, A FRIEND. HE IS ONE
OF THE MILLION OTHER IRANIAN
YOUTH WHOSE ABILITY TO SPEAK,
TO THINK, AND TO ACT FREELY IS
UNDER SEVERE CONSTRAINT BY
THE ISLAMIC REGIME.
OMID WAS ARRESTED, DETAINED
AND TORTURED, FOR SIMPLY
DOING HIS JOB.
Omid Memarian —On Camera

CU—Omid’s hands typing
They told me that I’m not in a situation to
ask them any questions and I should know
what shit I have done in my life and my
career and I should just follow them.

Omid Memarian —On Camera

Omid shows picture of him working in the
office—with his colleagues
I remember everyone in the office was so
terrified; I tried to calm everyone and said
lets go downstairs and see what’s
happening, but once I went downstairs I
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never came back to my office again.

Omid Memarian —On Camera

Omid continues to shows picture of him
working in the office—with his colleagues
Two Basiji men followed me to my
apartment, my mom was terrified—they
confiscated everything. My mom was
shaking and crying, but I told her make me
Pasta mom, I’m going to come back
tonight…but I think she knew that I’m not
coming back…that night.

Omid Memarian —On Camera

I actually thought I might be back…I was
very careful, I was not a radical writer, I
never wanted to be in trouble.
TRACK

CU of the article Omid wrote
CU Omid’s eyes
BUT A FEW DAYS BEFORE, IN
DEFENSE OF HIS COLLEAGUE—
ANOTHER DETAINED JOURNALIST,
HE SPOKE HIS MIND.

Omid Actuality—Reveal on Omid
explaining he was careful
CU of his face and then go down to the
article he’s quoting—the article he wrote
before the day he was arrested.
Very profound title, profound sentences on
screen.

Collage of arrested journalists, activists,
Omid’s friend who was arrested before him

In one of the paragraphs I wrote: “arresting
the purest kids of this nation doesn’t bring
any pride for the government…I wrote if
you arrest journalists, bloggers, if you
arrest ordinary people it doesn’t bring
anything to the government, but only
increase the hatred of the youth toward this
regime.”

SOT—Hadi Ghaeimi
On Camera
Founder—The International Campaign for
Human Rights in Iran

Sequence on boys playing guitar in the
park

These Iranian youth that comprises 70
percent of its population, which were all
born after the revolution, have quickly
recognized the hypocrisy and the emptiness
of government claims.
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SOT—Greg Sullivan
On Camera
CG: Senior Advisor, Strategic
Communication on Iran
U.S. Department of State

CU shots of the boys with guitar and other
kids in the park

The Iranian youth, being the voice that
says, we deserve more, we are a great
civilization, we have a capacity that many
other countries lack, and we’re being held
back by the policies of our own regime.
SOT—Ramin Asgard
On Camera
CG: U.S. Diplomat
Senior Advisor to U.S. Central Command

Young girl taking picture of boys, kids in
park having fun

CU of young people faces-smiling, looking
modern

What the young people in Iran which
represent the large majority of the
population want is that they want a future,
they want to be connected with the outside
world, they want to have what they see
what other people in other countries have,
they want hope, they want opportunity,
they want to be able to express themselves,
they want to be able to enjoy life.
And the Iranian government has never
given them the opportunity as to what is a
bright future for them.

SOT—Hadi Ghaemi
On Camera
Sequence of boys with guitar ends with a
wide shot of them in the park
Another shot of kids playing in the park
Very happy boys and girls
They are very ambitious and recognize that
as a community they have great potential,
and that potential is right now, year after
year being prevented from being realized.

SOT—Ali Vaez
On Camera
CG: Director of Iran Project
Federation of American Scientist

CU guitar with boys continue. Smiling
faces

WS of Tehran sky
They all want to have fun, want to have a
good education, want to play sports, want
to access information, want to have a good
future. There’s no difference between
Iranian people in that sense, than other kids
all over world.
TRACK

WS—Tehran and walking shot of hill side
as young people walk together

Still photo of a young boy and girl sitting
together on that same hill
THIS IS IRAN AND THESE ARE ITS
YOUTH—AN IMAGE THAT THE
WORLD RARELY SEES UNDER THE
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REGIME’S OPPRESSIVE SHADOW.
SOT—Greg Sullivan

Still photo of a boy and girl similar to the
previous still picture—except this time in
protest

WS—protest shot

Greg On-Camera
It bears repeating that the events you see in
the region right now, this Arab awakening,
or the Arab Spring, arguably began in Iran
after the 2009 election; but it was brutally
repressed. It was repressed not only
through bloodshed, not only through
repressive tactics, but by simple things, like
telling internet providers to turn in
information as to who’s accessing
information from the west.

SOT—Hadi Ghaemi
On-Camera

MS—protest people getting beaten up

WS—video of “Basij forces and protestors
in conflict”
In summer of 2009, The “Basij” were
given as much as 180 dollars to attack
these protestors, to attack them with
anything they could get, like even metal
pipes, in order to make up for the shortage
of government polices to confront these
protestors.
The “Basij” are government owned militia;
they are the majority youth from
disadvantaged parts of the country.

SOT—Ali Vaez

Protest young people continues—“Where
is my Vote sign”

Some people wanted government change
and some people just wanted their votes
back.

SOT—Ali Mousavi Khoeini
On-Camera
CG Former Member of the Parliament
Sixth Parliament of Iran
Detained While Serving in the Parliament

CU—of faces beaten and bloody

And directly, because of what they said and
what they raised their voices for, the
regime detained them, condemned them
and imprisoned them for—Which is
extremely mournful and sad.

SOT—Hadi Ghaemi

Sequence continues on the video from
previous shot, protests, people on street.
These kids after the 2009 election, we
remember all those images taken by these
kids, these average people, the government
has been hunting these individuals one by
one and has been issuing death sentences
against them.

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SOT—Greg Sullivan
On Camera

Protest shots, women and children getting
beaten up
It was the seizure of cell phones and the
examination of cell phone records to see
who was using Bluetooth technology to
figure out who was communicating with
others.

SOT—Ramin Asgard
On-Camera

Still shot: Girl very pretty, blond
Video: hangings, executions
Still: two women very beautiful
Video: executions
Children witnessing these executions
Still: Young pretty Iranians
Video: person getting beaten up

One of the ministers was speaking about
the idea of how you can keep this many
youth so tightly bound without expecting
them to rise against you. The minister’s
response was very indicative, he said:
“well, in ten years or fifteen years or so this
huge youth group has grown older and will
have been more or less broken and they
will no longer be energetic enough or
optimistic enough to even care anymore.

Omid Memarian—On Camera

At one point they told me to lay down on
the floor of the car and I said why, aren’t
we going to the court to see the judge? And
they said No!

SOT—Ramin Asagrd

Photo and video collage of beautiful young
people and the brutalities that the regime
brought in 2009
So the thinking was, if you choke them
hard enough, they’d just give up trying to
resists.

Omid Memarian —On Camera

Police beating protestors
So I lay down and a soldier put a blanket
over my head, over my body and then put
his foot on my neck and then I realized
they are taking me somewhere that they
don’t want me to know.

SOT—Greg Sullivan

Green Movement taking it’s height in
video

There is great innovation and change going
through the region and the place where it
was most brutally suppressed was Iran.
SOT—Ramin Asgard
On-Camera

Iranian Nationalist Song—Nat Sound Full
By in large, what the Iranian people
desperately want is to be part of a global
community
TRACK
Song—Nat Sound Full
AFTER THE IRANIAN PEOPLE WENT
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Sequence continues—WS of Tehran with
the buildings
WS—People walking on the hill side with
a background of the city

Sky is very gloomy and people are walking
More distant from one another than before

Song—Nat Sound Under
UP AND ARMS FOR A GLIMPSE OF
FREEDOM AND HUMANITY, THEIR
VOICES WERE SMOTHERED, AND
MORE THAN BEFORE, GOVERNMENT
REPRESSIONS BECAME TURBULENT
Omid Memarian
On Camera

In three to four hours since I was arrested I
was in solidary confinement in Tehran.

Omid Memarian

Nat-Sound under (Rafsanjani’s sermon)
Nighttime street shot of people listening to
a video of one of the high-profile clerics on
a wide screen in the middle of a street in
Tehran

The video has a very depressing ambiance
corresponds with what Omid is saying
about the prison experience
One time I went to bathroom, where I saw
one of my colleagues and I learned that
there are other journalists and bloggers in
that detention center and the person told me
that Omid, I just learned that you have
come to this detention center. You know,
just bear the beatings, it’s not going to take
more than 10-15 minutes, and it’s going to
be over soon—just bear the few minutes.
Omid Memarian —On Camera

We could hear every sound. I remember
going to bathroom, seeing people’s blood
on their faces and on their knees, at first I
didn’t know who they are, or who were the
se people that are being under such
pressure. I was terrified, because at any
moment you might be the next person.

Collage of stills from different political
prisoners in front Evin Prison, where Omid
was held

Back to the night sequence and the clerics
sermon ends underneath

Nat-Sound Under
We were extremely isolated from others,
but were kept with those who were ready to
be executed, and you could feel the
environment of death.
I remember one night that one person was
taken to be executed, I could hear him
begging the agents who were taking him
out of the cell; and that was the most
painful thing to witness.

TRACK

AND THE YOUTH IN IRAN GROW UP
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Nat-Sound Under

Night scene continues zooms in the clerics’
face…

Faces and people disappear in the neon
lights that were put up for the clerics
sermon—in the middle of the street
IN THIS ENVIRONMENT…IN A DUAL
LIFE: ONE THAT CENSORS EVEN THE
MOST MINUTE ELEMENTS OF THEIR
LIVES, AND THE OTHER, THE DESIRE
TO BELONG TO THE GLOBAL
COMMUNITY.
SOT—Ali Vaez
On Camera

Beauty shots of Iran—scenery in Isfahan
(historic city in Iran)
Iran has Seven-Thousand years of history
and Two-Thousand years of state history,
government history.
SOT—Gerg Sullivan
On Camera

Beauty shots of people continuing to walk
in the main square in Isfahan
There are narratives that go back to the age
of Cyrus—narratives that say we are a
great civilization. We’re a civilization that
brought the first recorded instance of
human rights and gave it to the rest of the
world. We are at cross roads of civilization.
That’s a narrative that has always belonged
to the Persian people.

VO: Hadi Ghaemi
On-Camera

CU shots of young boys playing in the
middle of the square
The first Persian king, Cyrus of the
Achaemenid Dynasty, he wrote the first bill
of rights in a way that he realized that as a
conqueror he’ll be ruling people of
different religions, ethnic groups, and he
wanted to make them all feel integrated in a
nation.

SOT—Ramin Asgard

Reveal shot of the square with horse and
carriage and the fountain

WS of blue sky—beautiful shot of fountain
Iran and Iranian culture, is one of the
world’s greatest cultures and civilizations;
cutting if off from the outside world is
damaging to world civilization as well as
Iranian society.
TRACK

WS of Tehran—gloomy sky people
walking
THAT WAS THEN AND THIS IS
NOW—AND THAT TRADITION HAS
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GIVEN WAY INTO AN ELECTRONIC
CURTAIN.
Nat-Sound under Quran Chant
SOT—Ramin Asgard
On Camera

The electronic curtain is the regime’s
efforts to build a curtain of containment
stopping information to get in and out of
Iran, the same way that the Soviet Union
had an Iron curtain that stopped the flow of
thoughts and information coming in and
out of the Soviet Union and the Eastern
Block back in the Cold War.

SOT—Hadi Ghaemi
On Camera

If you take internet out of a society you
have taken out its entire form of
expression.
SOT—Ali Vaez
On Camera

Iranian government has a lot of motivation
to misguide the Iranian Nationalism; by
censoring the information and by not
providing free flow of information.

SOT—Greg Sullivan
On Camera

In an effort to ensure them that the only
source of information that goes to the
Iranian people, is the information that goes
through the Iranian government media
entities. And in so controlling the free flow
of information from in and out, they try to
control ideas, creativity, perceptions that
people form.

SOT—Ramin Asgard
On-Camera

Beautiful shot of doves in cage
It’s a very limiting lifestyle, which very
much shortens their horizons of what they
believe could be their potential and that’s
really robbing them from what the youth
really have, which is dreams and hope—
they are very hard to sustain in today’s
Iran.
Omid Memarian —On Camera

CU of the doves
Reveal of the cage area—WS of a mosque

One day I remember going from the
detention center to the prosecutors’ office
and in the hallway I saw my mom sitting
on one of the chairs.

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Omid Memarian
CU—of Arabic writings on the mosque
wall

On Camera

CU—Doves in the cage
Mosque reveal

The soldier I was with was kind enough to
let me speak to my mom, even though I
was not allowed to talk to any body. In that
short time, I told my mom to talk to the
media and tell them my condition that I
was beaten and tortured inside prison.
It was really hard for me to tell her those
things; I knew it could kill her. But I knew
that in that kind of situation I need to send
some information out.

SOT—Hadi Ghaemi
On Camera

Reveal of a sunny bright sky
Independent and Critical minds are really
what the Iranian government is afraid of.
SOT—Ramin Asgard

Reveal of a ski resort

Iranian government is very keen to
preserve its political and economical
power.

SOT—Ali Vaez

Beautiful young Iranian boys and girls
skiing

This regime is not bound to any moral
values that would prevent it from
oppressing its people and for its survival
it’s ready to do anything.
SOT—Ramin Asgard

Reveal of the ski resort again
Snow, very white, light hits the snow as
young people come down slides
They know that if their society is subject to
alternate ideas or in economic sense,
market shares, their monopoly and power
over politics and economy of Iran will
erode and eventually disappear.

SOT—Ali Khoeini
On-Camera

CU of the young kids faces, laughing,
smiling,

Their biggest fear is that people and
specially the young generation find out
about what’s actually going on in this
country, and what decisions are being made
for them.
Omid Memarian—
Actuality with Omid and President
Khatami

Omid at his laptop showing a picture of
him and Khatami and explaining this.

I went to a seminar and asked the former
president, Khatami about censorship, he
died it bluntly and said it’s only for
pornography sites. I told him no, and you
know it, and he replied: those are internal
issues we have in the country and there are
no reasons for others to know this…in a
way he ignored the entire concept of
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Video of Khatami’s sermon that
corresponds to what Omid is talking about

censorship.
SOT—Ramin Asgard

Continue of Khatami’s sermon

Back On Camera

Continues to Khatami’s sermon
WS of the audience—young students
As an experiment, a satellite platform set
up two different channels and alternated the
broadcasts to see what is it that the Islamic
regime is really afraid of.
One of the channels was pornography and
the other was a major international news
channel. When the pornography was sent
through the Islamic republic allowed it
through, but when the international news
was going through, the government
jammed the signals and blocked the
satellite signals; this is very indicative of
what the regime sees dangerous.

SOT—Hadi Ghaemi
Hadi Ghaemi back on Camera

Khatami finishing with an aggressive
message

The whole purpose is to create a
submissive population that is so fearful and
has experienced persecution and execution
that would not dare to challenge the
authorities.
TRACK
Nat-Sound of Khatami’s sermon continues

WS of a group of young kids at what looks
like an old rusty over-crowded Farris
Wheel
AND THESE ARE THE CHILDREN,
THE YOUTH AND THE FUTURE OF A
COUNTRY—THE HOPES OF AN
UNCERTAIN TOMORROW.
Omid Memarian —On Camera

I was devastated to see my mom, she was
very sick and she couldn’t move but I
heard that she would come to the court
every single day.

Omid Memarian –--On Camera

I realized people are actually following my
case, because my Interrogator said no one
cares about you, you’re so alone, and no
one is after your case and that you’re going
to stay here for a long time.

Omid Memarian — On Camera
Articles that go back to the date he was
After a few weeks I learned that we could
be released soon, because of the pressures
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arrested
Profound Headlines
Picture of his mother with the lawyers

from international organizations, human
rights groups outside.

SOT—Ramin Asgard

Back to the sequence with kids and the
Farris Wheel.

After a second or two you can tell they are
all from economically-disadvantage
families

The issue goes beyond journalists, virtually
anyone who expresses an opinion or any
activity which the Iranian government find
objectionable on very vague grounds,
essentially that they are not sufficiently
Islamic enough or don’t comply by their
very vague rules are subject of sever
persecution by the government.

SOT—Hadi Ghaemi
On Camera

CU of the same kids asking the teenager
for money

We find out that they are all beggars who
pushed that older kid for money

The teenager opens up his wallets—CU of
the kids eyes
If they want to engage in economic
dialogue and policy, they are targeted, if
they are film makers and artists who want
to make products that are imaginative, that
may not even touch on anything tangible,
but just because those censors don’t
understand them, they will therefore be cut,
and won’t get permit and won’t be allowed
to go on.

SOT—Ramin Asgard
On-Camera

Collage of photos of professionals who
were detained in the last decade
People trying to do their work as lawyers
find themselves in these situations find
themselves persecuted, people who write
about people who have been arrested are
persecuted, even independent professionals
who are physicians who engage in
activities which the government finds
objectionable might be arrested.

Omid Memarian —On Camera
Nat-Sound
Intelligence official’s denial of charges on
national TV

Saeeid Mortazavi was accused of murder
in the high profile case of “Zahra Kazemi”
(Iranian-Canadian journalist) who dies in
the Evin prison.

There was a discussion that we were
tortured, so the President at the time,
“Mohammad Khatami” established a truth-
finding committee for us to tell the truth.
But immediately that same day “Saeeid
Mortazavi” Tehran’s prosecutor, called us
in his office and said if you go to that
meeting and tell what happened to us inside
prison, you can say goodbye to a safe life
in Iran. I remember specifically he said to
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Video of Saeed Mortazavi Press conference

Collage of some of the more well-known
activists (journalists, photographers,
filmmakers, etc…) who were detained,
imprisoned and/or killed in Iran.

us: “remember that everybody in this
country can have an accident, lawyers,
doctors, members of the parliament,
butchers, farmers, teachers, everyone can
have an accident and die and that you are
no exception—so be careful of what you
do.

Omid Memarian —On Camera

Actuality talking through Nasrin
Sotoudeh’s Photos

Intimate shots of Sotoudeh in Evin Prison
My Lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh is now in jail,
she has been sentenced to six years in
prison. She was one of the most
courageous lawyers in Iran. I knew she was
one of the few people who could stand up
to the authorities, judiciary and the
intelligence and help me go through this
case.

Omid Memarian –Actuality

CU of Nasrin Sotoudeh photos in prison

Because of her, after five years, the
authorities couldn’t find any evidence in
my case and they dropped all the charges.

Omid Memarian —On Camera

Actuality Omid CU on hands and eyes
Looking at Nasrin’s pictures

For her it was not just a job, it was a
responsibility, it was a mission. They risk
their lives for people like me and I think
that was phenomenon that, that basically
changed my entire life.

TRACK

WS—of Tehran

Some powerful protests shots (short shots)

Gloomy sky and the city

THREE YEARS HAVE GONE BY
SINCE THE 2009 UPRISISNGS, BUT
THE IRANIAN PEOPLE STILL
CONTINUE TO ASPIRE FOR
FREEDOM; WITH A POIGNANT
REMINDER THAT EVEN BEHIND THE
THICKEST CURTAINS, THEY STRIVE
TO JOINE A GLOBAL
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CONVERSATION.

SOT—Ramin Asgard
On Camera

Reveal of a sun-setting sky at Caspian Sea

Remember that the Iron curtain was
brought down through several years, but
things move more quickly in the electronic
age—that requires people knowing that it
exists—and making use of technology
when available in assist in breaching

SOT—Ali Mousavi
On-Camera

Back to the sun-setting shot of sky
Reveal of the Caspian Sea
One of the most important things that the
Iranians want and fear to lose to the Islamic
Republic, is the fight for freedom of
speech. They are fighting to have the
opportunity to have their voices, needs,
ideas, and mindsets heard worldwide—and
are also desperately hoping to seek
investments globally that could create
technologies that could help them fight
these barriers.

SOT—Hadi Ghaemi
On-Camera

Nat-Sound water and kids laughing

Two boys in the water and a girl wearing a
scarf watching

On a matter of principle, all the
governments have the responsibilities to
uphold human rights values and to promote
human rights values. It is then the
responsibility of the countries that have this
technology to help promote international
human rights values.

Omid Memarian—On Camera

Sequence of Omid-black and white video
of him walking toward a building

CU of Omid’s face

When I first walked out, and saw the blue
sky and saw the people and saw my mom
and dad, everything seemed normal. I still
think that it was like a dream, a very bad
dream.
Still everything was normal outside and
people who were walking outside had no
idea that in that society, those people who
were torturers, those people who were the
sickest people on earth, those people might
have been their neighbor, their parent, their
father, their husband.

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TRACK

Beautiful pictures of Omid, Nasrin, Zahra
Kazemi, Neda Agha Soltan (and some
other photos of the recent executed and
imprisoned individuals in Iran)

Pick up from the previous sky shot
MEMARIAN AND SOTOODEH ARE
TWO EXAMPLES OF A WITHERED
BLOSSOM—ONE FLED ITS
HOMELAND, ONE STILL IN JAIL FOR
DEFENDING THE OTHER.
SOT—Ali Vaez
On Camera
Nat-Sound Under
waves, kids laughing

If the Iranian people are given the chance
of choosing what system they want, who
they want to have govern, then that for me
is a free Iran.

SOT—Ramin Asgard
On Camera
The electronic curtain is a comprehensive
system that was created over the years, the
counteracting system may take sometime,
but would need the same amount of
comprehensiveness, so that the people in
Iran are not cut off, are not strangled, are
not silenced, but are able to communicate
with the outside world.

SOT—Hadi Ghaemi

WS of the big red sun in the sky
Nat-Sound Full kids laughing and
screaming from happiness

Iran is one of the largest countries of that
region, one of the largest resources of oil
and gas that affects much of the world’s
economy. It has one of the largest
populations in that region; they are highly
educated. So whatever happens in that
country would somehow directly or
indirectly touch us here in America and the
rest of the world.
Omid Memarian —On Camera
Actuality looking at Nasrin’s photo that’s
in prison, talking to her husband and
daughter behind a glass window—she is
very frail

Challenging the government has become a
holy war in Iran, not just for activists, or
journalists, but even ordinary people.

Omid Memarian —On Camera
Zoom out of on Nasrin’s photo.
Setting Sun—Caspian Sea
And that’s the beauty of this struggle in
Iran that people believe in what they do, no
matter what the cost is…

Abstract (if available)

Abstract Just over two decades ago, a large part of the world lived behind an Iron Curtain. The Soviet Union, in its effort to shield its people from the outside world and potentially any outside influence, placed a massive internal security apparatus, all available surveillance technology, and imposed severe limitations on movement, press, speech, assembly, and association—taking away the fundamental human rights to freedom of speech and expression. ❧ After decades of such repression, the most vivid symbol of the Iron Curtain—The Berlin Wall—came down at the hands of people on both sides of the barrier. ❧ Iran today, a country once recognized for it’s rich culture, enchanting tourism, and glorious history, is facing the exact isolation—except this time, behind an “Electronic Curtain”. ❧ Under the Islamic regime, Iran ranks first in violation of Internet freedom, free flow of information and imprisonment of journalists and political activists—only the latest in a long record of repression of Iranian society. Since the 2009 presidential elections, more than 50 publications have been shut down by the Islamic regime. The country also has the highest execution rate in the world. ❧ The documentary recounts the horrific story of Omid Memarian, a journalist who was imprisoned in Iran’s notorious Evin prison for simply doing his job. Through intimate details, Memarian begins his tale. From the beginning moments when two gunmen took him from the newsroom, to the torturous days he spent next to convicted murderers, to the morning he accidentally saw his mother in the hallways of the Supreme Court, Memarian’s story provides a glimpse into a country that is governed through severe censorship. ❧ His tale depicts a real-life slice of this oppression in today’s Iran—not only to evoke people’s sympathy toward a youth dominant society, but also to educate the international community of the crimes of the Iranian regime. His story is told as experts: U.S. Diplomats, Iranian Parliamentarians, Human Rights Activists and U.S. Government Officials guide the audience through details of the regime’s strategies, policies, and fears in maintaining this Electronic Curtain. ❧ Among the experts, Mr. Ramin Asgard, U.S. Diplomat and former Director of Voice of America Farsi, authored the policy: “Beyond the Electronic Curtain” in 2011. The policy was just recently passed into President Obama’s foreign policy strategies—where much effort will be put in aiding Iran to overcome this electronic curtain and its current censorship. ❧ Over the past five years, Iran has employed one of the most sophisticated filtering systems in the world. It controls Internet service providers, hunts activists via the Internet police, and uses thousands of operators to monitor web content, and can slow down or shut down the Internet and any satellite broadcasting when needed—in an effort to control ideas, ambitions, and opportunities of a society who at any moment, aspires to rise for an alterative government. ❧ The documentary reflects on Memarian’s melancholy, but also reflects on the viral affect of such censorship in all avenues of the Iranian society. Memarian’s frustration is not solely specific to journalists and political activists. Rather, the regime’s repression affects people from all walks of life. From students, teachers, doctors, physicists, scientists, businessmen, artists, filmmakers and lawyers, the electronic curtain takes away the basic access to freethinking and free speech. ❧ Ultimately, through Memarian’s tale as well as the experts’ in-depth knowledge of the Iranian history and policies, the documentary aims to portray the Iranian society in it’s entirety

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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

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Asset Metadata

Creator Kangarlou, Tara (author)

Core Title Beyond the electronic curtain

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Journalism (Broadcast Journalism)

Publication Date 05/02/2012

Defense Date 04/01/2012

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag 2009 Iran election,Ahmadinejad,censorship,Foreign policy,green movement,Hadi Ghaeimi,human righta issues,Iran,middle east media,OAI-PMH Harvest,Ramin Asgard

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Birman, Daniel H. (committee chair), Saltzman, Joseph (committee member), Seib, Philip (committee member)

Creator Email kangarlo@usc.edu,tara.kangarlou@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-25510

Unique identifier UC11290302

Identifier usctheses-c3-25510 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-KangarlouT-731.pdf

Dmrecord 25510

Document Type Thesis

Rights Kangarlou, Tara

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA