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| A scene from Dog Sweat. |
By Don Simpson
Utilizing a guerrilla-cum-cinema vйritй aesthetic -- probably out of necessity and for style -- producer-director-editor Hossein Keshavarz documents the lives of several young people who are attempting to discover personal freedom within the confines of contemporary Iran. Misunderstood by their parents and family elders and feeling oppressed by conservative Islamic society, these young Iranians find ways to rebel against oppression while, at least for the most part, staying under the radar and making enough compromises to safely survive.
Iran is one of the most youthful societies on earth; over two thirds of its population is under the age of 30. This generation was raised to revere the ayatollahs and forced to abide by their parents’ fanatical religious ideologies; all the while they were exposed to American television and discovering ways to have fun while circumventing the moral police (President Ahmadinejad has reinstated the moral police to harass youth who hang out in mixed groups of boys and girls). Dog Sweat intelligently discusses the various clashes occurring in Iran: traditional versus modern cultures; the youth versus its elders; fundamentalists versus revolutionaries. Young people want and -- despite the corruption of the recent Presidential elections -- still demand change. As the youth of today see it, almost everything in Iran is screwed up. The youth want the freedom to follow their career goals and maintain the relationships that they desire. They also want to have fun. Guys want to drink alcohol and girls want wear make-up, dance and talk about guys; together they want to date and display their affections in public spaces.
Most importantly, via Dog Sweat western cultures are able to see that not all Iranians are like President Ahmadinejad. All of them do not want their country to develop nuclear weapons All of them do not all want to destroy Israel. Dog Sweat puts a human face on the youth of Iran, revealing the issues that they deal with every day of their lives.
A film like Dog Sweat could not come at a more opportune time -- as Israel and the United States continue to plot the best way to deal with a nuclear Iran. We may be told that Iran is our number one enemy, but we need to remember -- especially when the war hawks start singing “Bomb Iran” again -- that a country’s leaders do not always represent the opinion of the majority of its population.
