Posted on 11/26/2005 8:36:40 AM PST by F14 Pilot
FOR years, Massoud Dehnamaki was known widely as the feared enforcer of conservative rules that restricted freedom for women and society.
In recent years, however, he has emerged as Iran's Michael Moore, having directed a documentary on the taboo issue of prostitution and another forthcoming film on soccer as a metaphor of political struggle.
Reformists and conservatives alike harshly criticized Mr. Dehnamaki for making the first movie, "Poverty and Prostitution." Conservatives were furious that one of their own had not only highlighted an un-Islamic social pathology but seemed to sympathize with the prostitutes. Reformists believed he deliberately exaggerated the problem to make a case against easing Islamic law.
In an interview in his basement office in downtown Tehran, Mr. Dehnamaki said both camps had gotten it wrong, and denied that his views had undergone a radical transformation.
"I was always concerned about justice in society," he said. "There was a time that I believed that the people were the problem. But that was a mistake. The real problems are our rulers, who have become used to corruption and cannot fulfill the promises of the early days of the revolution about social justice and equality."
Film critics have pointed to the countless professional shortcomings of the movie, Mr. Dehnamaki's first. Not surprisingly, it was never granted a license to be distributed. Instead, bootleg copies have circulated widely and parts of the film were broadcast by opposition television on satellite channels.
In the movie, Mr. Dehnamaki interviews more than a dozen prostitutes and many of their customers. All the women tell the same story of poverty and the need to provide for their families.
"We are two sisters working, and we can hardly earn enough to buy food and pay our rent," says a sobbing woman, whose face was covered to hide her identity.
"I sometimes dream of having chicken, or good food, at least once a week," she goes on, wiping away tears. "I have worked at homes where they had so much money that they threw food in the garbage. I always envy people who can eat well."
A woman clad in the traditional head-to-toe chador, who introduces herself as the mother of the two sisters, says she has thought of killing herself and her daughters several times because of the hardship of their lives but she could not find the courage.
Another young woman tells of her sick father who needed surgery. His four daughters had decided to choose lots to see which would go to Dubai, where prostitution pays far better, to earn the money to pay for the operation.
The job fell to the youngest sister, who returned from Dubai shattered. A woman who loses her virginity before marriage in a traditional family in Iran loses her honor and with it her chances of a good marriage. In the car with Mr. Dehnamaki, who is driving her home from the airport, she bursts into tears, saying that she feels betrayed by her sisters.
TO convince the women he was not a threat, Mr. Dehnamaki changed his conservative appearance, shaving his beard and replacing his baggy, long sleeved shirts with T-shirts. He also began driving a taxi as a way to find his subjects.
"Once one woman said she wanted 200,000 rials [$22] for her services," he said. "I said, what if I give you one million rials and you tell me your story instead." She agreed, and introduced him to a few of her friends, too.
Mr. Dehnamaki, 36, believes Iran needs to modernize, within the confines of a strict Islam, but not Taliban-style.
"If we are against the Islam that the Taliban introduced, we must be able to offer a good model of the Islam that we believe is the source of compassion and kindness," he said. "But it has to be according to the needs of today so that it would be acceptable to our youth."
Like many in his generation, Mr. Dehnamaki fought for three years in the 1980-88 war with Iraq and was scarred by the experience. He was wounded three times and saw many of his comrades die. Trying to do justice to their sacrifice remains his driving force.
Mementoes of those days are still the only decorations in his simple office. The crutches he once used hang from a bookcase, alongside framed photos of him with comrades who were killed in the war and posters of bodies on the battlefield.
AFTER the war ended in 1988, Mr. Dehnamaki helped found the extremist Islamic militia force Ansar Hezbollah, which is best known for its attacks on pro-democracy demonstrators. But he grew increasingly disenchanted with the course the revolution had taken, and quit the group after eight years.
Many formerly stalwart supporters of the 1979 revolution have moderated their views over the years. Most became reformists and joined the movement of President Mohammad Khatami, who favored increasing political and social freedoms.
But not Mr. Dehnamaki, who remained critical of both the conservative and reformist camps. Two weekly journals he had founded remained outlets for conservatives to rail against political and social reforms, women who were not covered from head to toe and the pernicious effects of Western cultural influences. Both journals were shut down last year as part of a crackdown aimed primarily at reformist publications.
"I spoke in those two newspapers of a generation who had been betrayed," he said, referring to his fallen comrades from the war with Iraq. "They gave their lives for ideals that never materialized."
Still, doubts lingered about the sincerity of the transformation of Mr. Dehnamaki's beliefs, particularly after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a religious conservative, was elected president last June. But those doubts were eased when Mr. Dehnamaki wrote an open letter to the president warning him against his "fundamentalist and backward supporters," those people "who reduced promotion of virtue and prevention of vice to fighting against women's dress, and ignored justice in society."
There is little question that Mr. Dehnamaki has come a very long way from his days as an enforcer. One university professor, Sadigh Sarvestani, called him "a man whose name was once affiliated with the ugliest violence and has now become an artist dealing with the most delicate aspects of art."
It bears mentioning that Mr. Sarvestani was speaking at a conference at Tehran University about Mr. Dehnamaki's movie and was quoted in Mr. Dehnamaki's new magazine. The magazine has published just three issues but already has some high-profile advertisements - a sign, many here say, that he remains well connected.
Mr. Dehnamaki said at the same conference that he had made the film because he was tired of hearing "how officials generalized the country's problems."
"I did not have the wisdom I have today 10 years ago," he said, explaining his past association with Ansar Hezbollah. "I am becoming a middle-aged man now, and whatever I did in the past was because I did not want to betray my killed comrades."
ping
"AFTER the war ended in 1988, Mr. Dehnamaki helped found the extremist Islamic militia force Ansar Hezbollah"
He's a real sweetheart
Ansar was responsible for detention of thousands of girls and boys through out Iran in early 90s and they were the major law enforcer during the 1999 Student uprisings!
"I did not have the wisdom I have today 10 years ago," he said, explaining his past association with Ansar Hezbollah. "I am becoming a middle-aged man now, and whatever I did in the past was because I did not want to betray my killed comrades."
Oh, Okay. No problem. We'll just all forget it and pretend like it never happened. NOT!!
'One university professor, Sadigh Sarvestani, called him "a man whose name was once affiliated with the ugliest violence and has now become an artist dealing with the most delicate aspects of art."'
Yeah, and I recall the little corporal with a moustache, the vegetarian animal lover artist who unleashed The Third Reich and WW2 upon the world.
OK, Massoud. What say you just fall on your sword, and in the ensuing years, we can contemplate your change in consciousness. We can take our time, as you did, to appreciate the consequences of your actions. Seems more than fair to me.
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