Iran Video Project: Experimental Documentary

This summer I am going to Iran to shoot video for an experimental documentary. I will be giving people cameras and asking them to shoot video, while shooting video of my own experiences in the process.

I plan on sharing my experiences of Iran—my life and the people that I know there. I will be taping people I know and experiences of mine from Iran to people in other parts of the world. I will asking people that I know—as well as those that I have yet to meet—questions about their lives, such as:

What is life like for you (school, going out, friends, work, etc.)?
What do you feel have been some of the most influential experiences of your life?
What decisions do you feel have had the most influence in your life until now?
Do you feel that social pressures inform your decision making? If so, what kinds of social pressures?
How do you see and imagine your life in the future? What kind of a future would you like to have?

What kind of questions would you ask?

Right now, the plan is that I will be interviewing people, and then handing out small video cameras (people can use their own if they have one on their phones or camera with video-capability) to shoot approximately half an hour of their life—brief moments that show a bit of their world. A few minutes from school, work, going out, and all the different aspects of life that they are be willing to share—places they love, places they have to go to—things they have to do, etc.

I am interested in sharing my experiences, while giving others an opportunity to speak about their own lives. Last year I heard about a project called Born Into Brothels, that really stuck with me. Ths past semester I started teaching video, animation, and vide-blogging in an after-school program in the Bronx. This experience inspired me to do a project where I could hand out small video cameras such as this one in Iran.