Resistance on Film: NASRIN
Join us for a screening of the documentary NASRIN, about Iranian human rights lawyer and political prisoner Nasrin Sotoudeh, whose portrait is included in the exhibition Peter Sacks: Resistance.
The film is a revealing portrait of Nasrin Sotoudeh, one of the world’s most courageous human rights activists and a political prisoner in Iran. In the courts and on the streets, Nasrin, a human rights lawyer has long fought for the rights of women, children, LGBT prisoners, religious minorities, journalists, artists, and those who face the death penalty in her native Iran. She was arrested in June 2018 for representing women who protested Iran’s mandatory hijab law, and she was sentenced to 38 years in prison plus 148 lashes. Even from prison, she has continued to challenge the authorities. The film features acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, journalist Ann Curry, exiled women’s rights activist Mansoureh Shojaee, and Nasrin’s equally courageous husband, Reza Khandan.
NASRIN Director, Producer, and Writer Jeff Kaufman and Producer Marcia Ross will introduce the film and, following the screening, will participate in a Q&A moderated by Shahla Haeri, Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology at Boston University.
WATCH THE TRAILER
NARSIN, 2020.
ABOUT THE PARTICIPANTS
Jeff Kaufman is an American film producer, director, writer, and illustrator. He directed, produced, and wrote the Emmy-nominated American Masters documentary Terrence McNally: Every Act Of Life (2018) featuring Angela Lansbury, Meryl Streep, Nathan Lane, Christine Baranski, and Bryan Cranston. His other documentaries include The Savoy King: Chick Webb and the Music That Changed America (2012), The State Of Marriage (2015), and 40 Million: The Struggle For Women’s Rights in Iran. Kaufman has also contributed cartoons and illustrations to The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times, wrote/illustrated several children's books, and hosted a live daily radio talk show.
Shahla Haeri is a Professor of Anthropology and a former director of the Women's Studies Program at Boston University (2001-2010). Dr. Haeri is one of the pioneers of Iranian Anthropology, and has produced cutting-edge ethnographies of Iran, Pakistan and the Muslim world. Her landmark books include her classic ethnography, Law of Desire: Temporary Marriage, Mut’a, in Iran (1989/revised edition, 2014) translated into Arabic and reprinted frequently, highlighting the tenacious but secretive custom of temporary marriage in Iran; No Shame for the Sun: Lives of Professional Pakistani Women (2002/2004), making visible lives of educated and professional Muslim women. Her latest book, The Unforgettable Queens of Islam: Succession, Authority, Gender (2020) is among the handful of books on Muslim women and political authority. The book foregrounds the extraordinary lives and legacies of a few remarkable women sovereigns from across the Muslim world who have worn the crown in medieval Muslim societies, or elected to the office of Prime Minister or President in contemporary ones. Dr. Haeri’s academic and creative oeuvre include producing and directing a video documentary, Mrs. President: Women and Political Leadership in Iran (2002) focuses on six women presidential contenders during the Iranian presidential election of 2001. She is the recipient of many fellowships, grants, and postdoctoral fellowships.
Marcia Ross is a casting director and producer. Ross produced the Emmy-nominated American Masters documentary Terrence McNally: Every Act Of Life (2018) featuring Angela Lansbury, Meryl Streep, and Bryan Cranston. Ross’s other projects include The Savoy King: Chick Webb and the Music That Changed America (2012), The State Of Marriage (2015), 40 Million: The Struggle For Women’s Rights in Iran (2020), and Father Joseph (2015). She has a three-decade career as an independent casting director and executive, serving sixteen years as EVP for Casting at Walt Disney Motion Pictures and five years as SVP for Casting and Talent Development at Warner Brothers TV. Her film and television credits include Clueless (1995), Thirtysomething (1987–1988), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Princess Diaries (2001), Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion (1997), Reign of Fire (2002), and Enchanted (2007).
This program, organized in conjunction with the exhibition Peter Sacks: Resistance, on view through December 30, 2022, is supported by the Edie and Lew Wasserman Fund, and a grant from the Wolf Kahn Foundation.