Cul de Sac (2010)
A feature film made by Ramin Goudarzi Nejad and Mahshad Torkan Iranian film directors based in London. The film is about breaching of homosexuals rights in Iran and their challenges when they flee from their home countries. This film focuses on the life an Iranian lesbian called Kiana Firouz who left Iran to avoid getting arrested and persecuted.
The news about this film and the fact that for the first time an Iranian lesbian decides to appear bravely in front of the camera to cry out her invincible right to live freely was spread over the world.
Both in her real life story and in the film, the Home Office denies Kiana's application for asylum , facing her with the prospect of deportation to Iran followed by flogging, execution or both. The kiana's case was a shock for many people around the world. Accordingly, we started a petition against the Home Office's decision , which was signed by thausands of people arround the world. To save Kiana Firouz's life by stopping her deport from UK
Many celebrities including LADY GAGA joined the campaign to save the life os Kiana Firouz.
One of the objectives of this film is to mobilize the international LGBT community to support other LGBT members of other communities that have less chance to fight for their civil rights.
Finally, Kiana Firouz was granted Leave to Remain in the UK on June 2010. Thank you all for your support!
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"Kiana Firouz's case is a test of the sincerity of Britain's new government.The Conservative Party promised in its equalities manifesto to change the rules so that gay people fleeing persecution were granted asylum." (The Times, 20 May 2010, Matin Fletcher) To read more click here
EVENING STANDARD: Lesbian actress says she will be executed if sent back to Iran ! GUARDIAN: As a gay asylum seeker, I was lucky ELLE MAGAZINE: Societe femme semaine kiana firouz THE INDEPENDENT: Islamists, their victims, and hypocrisy |
Cul-de-sac has been recognised by many International film festivals for outstanding contribution for raising awareness in human right issues Film Festival Hamburg 30 Sept– 09 Oct 2010 Refugee Week Film Festival Scotland 19th June 2010 Florence Queer Film Festival 26Nov-2 Dec
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RAMIN GOUDARZI-NEJAD (Director & producer) . The film was in the official selection of New York Short Film Festival (2008) and The International Exile Film Festival Sweden (2009). He is a multi skilled filmmaker who manages most of the technical and aesthetic aspect of the profession himself.
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MAHSHAD TORKAN (Co-director, writer and producer) She is a member of National Union of Journalists and also known as a human right activist. She has performed as a presenter and worked as a co-producer in GEMTV (London). She was awarded a scholarship in Arts and Heritage Management (MA) from London Metropolitan University in (2008) and graduated with Merit. Her experience and expertise in social inclusion projects and the affect of the recent uprisings in Iran led her to dedicate her recent works to the violation of human rights in Iran and in this case the homosexual asylums. Recently she has been involved in an anti-war play called " Tahmineh's Nightmare" as Technical Director.
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Cul-de-sac is a low budget production that has received no financial support or sponsorship form any governmental institutes or NGOs. We are independent filmmakers who have no affiliation to any particular political Parties or social groups.
We strongly believe in endorsing the human rights articles with no personal interpretation. We believe that the human rights prism itself is sufficient if it comes to practice in favour of securing every single human being’s right.
You can contribute to our projects in various ways. If you would like to help please contact us via: email: tel:
