Directed by Persheng Vaziri and Kim Spencer

Cinema Encounters in Tehran, an original production of Link TV, is a 40 minute documentary that follows two young American filmmakers' journey to Iran.  Americans Yoni Brook and Musa Syeed travel to Iran for the 2007 Verite Film Festival, where they meet two young filmmakers Atefeh and Abbas, and decide to make a film together about carpets.  The film documents their efforts to overcome language and cultural barriers and use cinematic language and friendship to create a film.  In the end they find that the friendship and understanding they develop in a short time transcends the barriers of the national and political divisions that separates them.

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Watch more documentaries from the Bridge to Iran series

Learn more and see related programs at Link's Understanding Islam webpage

About Bridge to Iran

Bridge to Iran is a unique series on Link TV that showcases documentary films by contemporary independent Iranian filmmakers who live and work in Iran. This nationally-broadcast series will provide a fresh view of what ordinary Iranians are concerned about and the issues they grapple with. The series covers a wide-ranging scope of subjects: first-hand accounts by young girls facing womanhood within an Islamic society; religious pilgrims who risk their lives to visit a holy site in war-torn Iraq; rural life and political awareness; and an energetic and surprising exploration of Tehran as a mega metropolis.

This is the first time an American television channel has presented a series of documentary films about Iran by Iranian filmmakers. The result is a shattering of our preconceived ideas about a nation and culture that most Americans have little or no real knowledge or experience of. Documentaries in the series are introduced by Salome Azizi, the Bridge to Iran series host, with comments from each filmmaker, who will provide additional context and background.