If you read and watch entertainment news, you know that an Iranian filmmaker, Asghar Farhadiis, is racking up the Hollywood awards for A Separation even in a climate of US-imposed sanctions. And if you're paying attention to most media coverage, you're well aware of the nuclear issue. But other than that, do we have a lens into the lives and stories of Iranians? Does this kind of cultural lens matter as we settle into our perspectives about Iran? Yes. Without showing the lives, struggles and culture of everyday people living and working in Iran, we in the West have a potentially skewed image of Iranians.

In 2006, Link TV developed a documentary TV series, Bridge to Iran, to provide a window into the lives and struggles of everyday Iranians -- to respond to the cultural and political tensions that have developed between Iran and the US since the Iranian Revolution.  Over the years, Bridge to Iran has covered a wide range of social and political issues in modern Iran, including the experiences of young girls facing womanhood and uncertain futures, religious pilgrims who risk their lives to visit a holy site in war-torn Iraq, rural life and political awareness, an exploration of Tehran as an urban metropolis, and Iranian women's participation in the election process.

The new season premieres on February 14. In each of the four episodes of Bridge to Iran, in-depth discussions between host Parisa Soultani and top Iranian filmmakers provide a unique lens into some of the challenges and realities facing Iranians during a time of increased instability -- including censorship, sanctions and safety concerns.

Here are the details about the films and when to catch the episodes, on Link TV or online:

• Iran: A Cinematographic Revolution, directed by Nader Takmil Homayoun, explores the history and politics of Iran through its rich filmmaking tradition; premieres on February 14 at 7:30 pm ET / 4:30 pm PT and February 16 at 10:00pm PT. Watch online starting February 14.

• The Queen and I, directed by Nahid Sarvestani, documents the filmmaker's complex relationship with the exiled former queen of Iran; premieres on February 21 at 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT and February 23 at 10:00pm PT. Watch online now!

• We Are Half of Iran's Population, directed by Rakhshan Bani Etemad, looks at women's participation in the controversial 2009 elections; premieres on February 28 at 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT and March 1 at 10:00pm PT. Watch online now!

• Siah Bazi (The Joy Makers), directed by Maryam Khakipour, traces the demise of a popular form of irreverent street theater; premieres on March 6 at 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT and March 8 at 10:00pm PT. Watch online starting March 6.

Bridge to Iran offers a diverse perspective on a country on the receiving end of a torrent of media attention -- but with a lens that's inclusive of the people and the art found within Iranian borders. We hope you'll tune in and tell others.

* * *

Caty Borum Chattoo is a producer and communication strategist with Link TV, assistant professor in the School of Communication at American University in Washington, DC, and media fellow with the AU Center for Social Media.

[Ed Note: This article first appeared as a guest blog post on MediaRights.org]

Can social-issue documentaries play a role in helping to end global poverty?

Link TV thinks so.

Almost one year ago, the nonprofit global affairs media organization and broadcast network launched a project based on the idea that documentary storytelling, combined with social actions and the latest news, could make a meaningful contribution to the challenge of global poverty. The idea became ViewChange.org, an online portal built on the foundation of semantic Web technology that connects documentary stories to news and social actions in global poverty. In other words, in one place, people can watch character-driven stories, read the latest news about issues covered in the films, and then connect directly to action campaigns around each social issue. It’s a site and tool that’s primed for grassroots awareness and action.

The ViewChange.org platform is now a curated documentary hub with more than 400 short- and long-form character-driven documentaries from around the world – and all of them illustrate real progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals, which together comprise the world’s “blueprint” for ending global poverty. The portal site now includes the best stories from top global development organizations and filmmakers around the world.

I work on the project in a kind of hybrid role that combines documentary producing, communication campaign strategy and partnership cultivation with top global development organizations, including Devex, InterAction, Save the Children, UNICEF, PSI, Global Health Council, ONE, Comminit, Bread for the World and more. And thanks to the expertise of these groups, combined with the amazing repository of films now licensed to ViewChange.org, we’ve started producing half-hour TV specials in partnership with several top global development organizations – the ViewChange TV series. For each show, the narrative is informed by the expertise and objectives of the partner organization, and the main story and outreach campaign are developed simultaneously against the backdrop of the group’s organizational (and sometimes advocacy) objectives, creating a powerful campaign-style approach.

But one key to the project is simple and so powerful for those in the social-justice community to organize around specific issues – the fully-sharable/embeddable formatting of the acquired films and the final jointly-produced shows. By giving the videos, films and global development shows to groups and blogs to embed and share for their own purposes, we’re offering a tool that’s useful not only in our own campaign outreach, but for others to use in theirs. Interested in raising attention about the connection between climate change and drought in developing nations? Want to support innovative hunger relief programs in poor areas of the world? Need a documentary story that can be used in your own awareness/activist campaign to organize for purposes of advocacy or other goals? Navigating through the ViewChange.org tool provides all of these opportunities.  

Just last week, one of these jointly-produced documentary specials premiered on Link TV (Friday, August 12 and 16) and on ViewChange.org. Working closely with Bread for the World, an anti-hunger advocacy organization, the “ViewChange: Challenging Hunger” documentary special combines filmmaking from Bread for the World itself, along with short films from Oxfam and the Sundance Institute. In this particular show, the organization’s advocacy goals – to use foreign aid more effectively to help poor and hungry people – provide the narrative thru-line.

The call to action is urgent: With more than a billion people suffering from chronic hunger, the timing of potential budget cuts would be particularly devastating to developing nations. And the special debunks a key foreign assistance myth and provides new insight into the ripple effects of chronic hunger: Most Americans believe that about 25 percent of the U.S. budget goes toward foreign assistance, but, in fact, less than 1 percent supports crucial foreign assistance programs—including anti-hunger programs and food aid. The funding is vital to the continued development and management of innovative programs that provide long-term solutions to hunger.

The outreach includes a grassroots campaign to reach out to Bread for the World’s network of thousands of individual members, churches and denominations around the country, as well as reaching out through its college-age hunger activists group. Teams at both Link TV and Bread for the World are working jointly in an integrated strategic communication campaign model that includes traditional media outreach, blogging, sharing the show via embeddable links, outreach to top global development influencers, and social media.

To support Bread for the World’s work directly, check out its fact sheets and advocacy opportunities on its site: Tell Congress to create a circle of protection around funding for programs that are vital to hungry and poor people in the US and abroad.

Follow ViewChange on Twitter @ViewChange and at Facebook.com/ViewChange.

You can watch and share the full show here:

Thirty years after the CDC confirmed the first cases of HIV, millions have died, particularly in developing nations. But there's hope. Innovative HIV prevention programs -- including a peer education program from hair stylists in Zimbabwe and a media campaign promoting male circumcision in Africa -- are contributing to a decrease in the global rate of new HIV infections.

These and other stories of effective programs on the ground in developing nations are showcased in a new TV documentary, ViewChange: HIV Prevention - Looking Back & Moving Forward, that premieres on Friday, July 29, from Link TV and international global health organization PSI (Population Services International). Debra Messing, actor and PSI ambassador, narrates the half-hour show.

You can view ViewChange: HIV Prevention - Looking Back & Moving Forward online at www.viewchange.org.

You can also watch the documentary on Link TV (DIRECTV channel 375, DISH channel 9410) at the following times:

We hope you'll join us in marking this key milestone, and that you'll spread the word about what's working in global HIV prevention.

Each Mother's Day, I celebrate the two most miraculous, deliriously happy days of my life -- the days I gave birth to my two children. What I counted on during my birth experiences: health care, a safe and sanitary environment, and supportive and trained birth personnel. What would have never occurred to me, a resident of the United States having a baby in a very typical way in a wealthy nation: the day I become a mother is the most dangerous and deadly day I will face.

But in many parts of the developing world, the day a woman becomes a mother is a day too often obscured by terrible tragedy and danger. She will face losing her baby and losing her own life - on a day and occasion that we commemorate with cards and flowers here in the United States as Mother's Day.

According to international development organization, Save the Children, "around the world, more than 350,000 women die each year from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, and millions more develop some kind of disability. When a mother dies, her children are much more likely to be poor, to drop out of school, and to die before age five." The ripple effect is dramatic.

To take a deeper look into the lives of the world's mothers, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work with independent non-profit broadcaster, Link TV, and Save the Children to co-produce a new half-hour documentary that takes viewers on a global tour of the best and worst places in the world to be a mother. (Conspicuous plug: You can view online at www.SavetheChildren.org/world-mothers or www.ViewChange.org beginning on May 3, or watch the broadcast on Link TV on Friday, May 6 and Tuesday, May 10. Check time and channel info.)

Based on Save the Children's just-released 2011 "State of the World’s Mothers" report, the special -- ViewChange: The Mothers Index -- takes viewers on an international journey to learn what it takes for global mothers and their children to thrive, introducing us to young moms and spotlighting programs that are changing the odds. In a unique collaboration in "global development storytelling," the show -- part of Link TV's ViewChange.org project that combines global development progress stories and direct action -- includes stories from the ONE campaign's Living Proof series.

WATCH "THE MOTHERS INDEX":

So, what's the data behind the stories? For its 2011 report, Save the Children conducted a comprehensive study of 164 countries, and compiled a "Mothers' Index." At the top of the index, women have access to excellent health services, skilled health workers, and opportunities for education and advancement. But the gap between the top and bottom-ranked countries is dramatic. At the bottom of the list, one in three children suffers from malnutrition, and one in 30 women will die from pregnancy-related causes. (See the full report at www.savethechildren.org)

When you watch, you’ll be struck -- as I was -- when you hear the story of one young mother who had buried eight babies and prayed that the ninth would live to see his first birthday. And you’ll hear from a 19-year-old mother in Nepal, nine months pregnant, as she matter-of-factly states, "My last baby was breech-born, and this time, I just might die."

But the terrible odds are not the whole story. The real story is the incredible strength and spirit of these mothers around the world -- and the importance of institutional solutions and government programs that are changing the statistics in preventable scenarios.

For example, we learn about the commitment from Sierra Leone’s government, which has just implemented a new program to provide free health care for pregnant women and children under five.

In Malawi, grandparents and village elders are now being trained as community health workers -- a tremendous program that's contributing to Malawi's breathtaking success in under-five child mortality over the past 20 years. Since 1990, Malawi has cut its under-five mortality rate in half thanks to its government’s commitment to programs like this -- a feat that seems even more remarkable considering that 40 percent of the Malawi population lives in poverty.

In rural Bangladesh, empowering girls through education will change the cycle of poverty, creating a ripple effect over the generations. And in India, one mother observes that "if you are uneducated, it is as if you have only one eye." The simple act of giving bicycles to girls -- to allow them to travel to school -- is changing the lives of young women in some of the poorest parts of the country.

What's the hope and mission of a project like this? To learn, of course, and to be inspired by the universal strength of mothers in all parts of the world -- and to take action and support programs that are working. For more info and actions you can take, visit www.ViewChange.org, click on the show, and consider the actions in the "take action" section of the player.

Happy Mother's Day.   

* * *

Caty Borum Chattoo is Assistant Professor at American University’s School of Communication in Washington, D.C.  As a documentary producer and strategic communication consultant, she collaborates with Link TV and ViewChange.org.