[wvns] Iran's Unlikely TV Hit
Show Sympathetic to Plight Of Jews During the Holocaust
Draws Millions Each Week
By FARNAZ FASSIHI
September 7, 2007; Page B1
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118912609718220156-Z0Iy3Ywp9pUdzCdCgf_4JU5QzP4_20071006.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top
Every Monday night at 10 o'clock, Iranians by the millions tune into
Channel One to watch the most expensive show ever aired on the Islamic
republic's state-owned television. Its elaborate 1940s costumes and
European locations are a far cry from the typical Iranian TV fare of
scarf-clad women and gray-suited men.
But the most surprising thing about the wildly popular show is that it
is a heart-wrenching tale of European Jews during World War II.
The hour-long drama, "Zero Degree Turn," centers on a love story
between an Iranian-Palestinian Muslim man and a French Jewish woman.
Over the course of the 22 episodes, the hero saves his love from Nazi
detention camps, and Iranian diplomats in France forge passports for
the woman and her family to sneak on to airplanes carrying Iranian
Jews to their homeland.
[photo]
Shahab Husseini stars in 'Zero Degree Turn.'
On the surface, the message of the lavish, state-funded production
appears sharply at odds with that sent out by Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly called the Holocaust a myth.
In fact, the government's spending on the show underscores the subtle
and often sophisticated way in which the Iranian state uses its TV
empire to send out political messages. The aim of the show, according
to many inside and outside the country, is to draw a clear distinction
between the government's views about Judaism -- which is accepted
across Iranian society -- and its stance on Israel -- which the
leadership denounces every chance it gets.
"Iranians have always differentiated between ordinary Jews and a
minority of Zionists," says Hassan Fatthi, the show's writer and
director. "The murder of innocent Jews during World War II is just as
despicable, sad and shocking as the killing of innocent Palestinian
women and children by racist Zionist soldiers," he says.
Mr. Fatthi, 48 years old, is a well-known director of historical
fiction for television. In the past, his work has focused on Iranian
history. But he also dabbles in comedy, winning international critical
acclaim two years ago for a hit feature, "Marriage, Iranian Style."
He says he came up with the idea for "Zero Degree Turn" four years ago
as he was reading books about World War II and stumbled across
literature about charge d'affaires at the Iranian embassy in Paris.
Abdol Hussein Sardari saved over a thousand European Jews by forging
Iranian passports and claiming they belonged to an Iranian tribe.
Mr. Fatthi says he chose the title because the world at the time was
in dire circumstances, offering few options for avoiding the terrors
to come. Shot on location in Paris and Budapest, the show stars
Iranian heartthrob Shahab Husseini and is so popular that its theme
song -- an ode to getting lost in love -- is a hit, too.
"It's captivating. No matter where I am or what I'm doing, on Monday
nights I find a television set and watch the show. So does every
Jewish person I know here," says Morris Motamed, the lone Jew in
parliament.
Mr. Fatthi enlisted the help of Iran's Jewish Association, an
independent body that safeguards the community's culture and heritage.
The association has criticized Mr. Ahmadinejad's comments about the
Holocaust but has praised Mr. Fatthi's show.
Iran is home to some 25,000 Jews, the largest population in the Middle
East outside of Israel. Iran's Jews -- along with Christians and
Zorastrians -- are guaranteed equal rights in the country's
constitution. Iran's Jews are guaranteed one member of parliament and
are free to study Hebrew in school, pray in synagogues and shop at
kosher supermarkets. Despite Mr. Ahmadinejad's statements, it isn't
government policy to question the Holocaust, and the country's supreme
leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hasn't endorsed those views.
While Iran makes it no secret that it considers Israel an enemy, it
has been extremely touchy about criticism of its treatment of Jewish
citizens. The show is seen as an effort by the government to erase the
image that it may be anti-Semitic -- both at home among Jews and
non-Jews, and abroad.
"In this show, you notice that a new method of political dialogue is
being promoted that is more in line with the modern world," says
Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a reformist cleric and former Iranian vice president.
The message appears to be grabbing the public. Sara Khatibi, a
35-year-old mother and chemist in Tehran, says she and her husband
never miss an episode. "All we ever hear about Jews is rants from the
government about Israel," she says. "This is the first time we are
seeing another side of the story and learning about their plight."
The show also pushes Iran's political line regarding the legitimacy of
Israel: The Jewish state was conceived in modern times by Western
powers rather than as part of a centuries-old desire of Jews for a
return to their ancestral homeland. In one scene, a rabbi declares it
a bad idea for Jews to resettle in Arab lands. In another, the French
Jewish protagonist refuses a marriage offer by a cousin, who is
advocating the creation of Israel.
Iran has long used TV to shape public opinion, where newspapers and
the Internet are seen as media for the elite. The state's control over
radio and television is enshrined in the constitution. Ayatollah
Khamenei, the supreme leader, is not only head of the armed forces and
the judiciary, but also the national broadcast authority.
"The regime appreciates the fact that to appeal to the masses, both in
Iran and the Muslim world, television is the most important outlet,"
says Karim Sadjadpour, an expert on Iran at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace in Washington.
On any given day, the country's seven state-run channels broadcast a
mostly drab offering of news, sports, cooking shows, soap operas and
religious sermons. Political propaganda is constantly fed into the
mix. Dissidents such as students or reformers are routinely paraded
before cameras to read confessions after stints of solitary imprisonment.
A slick documentary-style program recently aired long interviews with
two Iranian-Americans who were detained on allegations of working to
overthrow the regime. The interviews -- in which the pair blandly
admitted to meeting with Iranian scholars and dissidents, but not to
attempting to topple the government -- were intercut with provocative
scenes of demonstrations in Ukraine, where the U.S. encouraged groups
that eventually staged the successful Orange Revolution in late 2004.
In July, Iran launched a 24-hour English-language satellite news
channel called Press TV, joining the ranks of the BBC, CNN and Al
Jazeera. Its Arabic news channel, Al Alam, has been broadcasting news
with an Iranian slant in the Arab world for several years.
Episodes of "Zero Degree Turn," broadcast in Farsi, can be seen
outside of Iran on the Internet, either streaming live or downloaded
at tv1.irib.ir/barnameha/sharhefilm.asp?code=0011109036106. It is also
broadcast with English subtitles on the state-controlled Jameh Jam
satellite channel, which is available on Europe's Hot Bird satellite
network. Mr. Fatthi also says Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting
has been contacted about selling the show to networks in other
countries, but he doesn't know which ones.
Write to Farnaz Fassihi at farnaz.fassihi @ wsj.com
Corrections & Amplifications:
Press TV, a 24-hour English-language satellite news channel, was
launched by Iran in July. An earlier version of this article
incorrectly called the channel Pars News.
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