About this project
$66,105
443
THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Anyone who wishes to support the release of THE IRAN JOB after our Kickstarter deadline passed can still make 100% tax-deductible contributions here:
++++++++++https://market.ifp.org/newyork/fiscal/Donation.cfm++++++++++
Your support will contribute to the success of this release. Every additional dollar raised will help bring THE IRAN JOB to a wider audience!
Thank you so much for your support!
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What people are saying about it:
"Exceptional in its storytelling!" -- Los Angeles Times
"Intriguing, surprisingly timely" -- New York Magazine
“You will be on the edge of your seat” -- Indiewire
"Spellbinding!" -- ESPN Magazine
"As entertaining as life itself!" -- Gloria Steinem
“Full of funny moments” -- The Washington Post “Extraordinary” -- Huffington Post “A must-see film for the whole world” -- Culver City Observer “Kevin is a bundle of enthusiasm and humor” -- The Hollywood Reporter“Celebrating warmth, humor and tough, complicated humanity.” – VarietyWho we are:
Hi everyone! Sara and Till here from Brooklyn. Nine months ago we launched a Kickstarter campaign to complete our film, THE IRAN JOB. It was like giving birth... Now we’re back, and guess what: we brought the baby with us!
Thanks to the support of so many of you the film has been completed – now we must help the baby walk!
Our Goal:
We want to distribute the film as widely as possible. This costs money. In fact, distribution often costs more than making the film itself. While this may be a surprise for many of you, it’s a real challenge for independent filmmakers like us. Hollywood can spend millions to promote and release a film, which is why you know that Toy Story 23 is opening next week but you don't know that a cool film from Iran is playing too. We’re not going to let that stop our baby. We need to raise at least 60K to release THE IRAN JOB in movie theaters in the U.S. and hopefully beyond. It takes a village to raise a child. It takes a global village to distribute an independent film!
Why Now:
With tensions over the Muslim world - and especially Iran - looming large, and with many citizens bracing for conflict, it’s time to take a fresh look at Iranians. We may just discover that we have a lot more in common than we think...
Theatrical Release:
THE IRAN JOB opened in L.A. September 28, and has been playing in New York since October 12 for three weeks and counting. That’s a great start. But our dream is to expand the release to cities like Washington D.C., Houston, Atlanta, Chicago, Seattle, Boston, San Francisco and others. Eventually the film might find its way to international theaters, in the U.K., Germany, France, and other countries, perhaps even in Israel and Iran!
What's the film all about:
THE IRAN JOB is a labor of love, over 4 years in the making. After Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the destruction of Israel, we had a Skype call with Kevin Sheppard, a flashy point-guard from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Kevin was about to start a basketball contract in the Iranian Super League. A minute into the conversation he had us rolling on the floor laughing in spite of the prospect of playing in a country that's supposedly full of illegal nukes and Islamic terrorists. We decided to start filming, even without a budget. Till (husband/director) filmed Kevin in Iran over several visits, until on his last trip - in the run-up to Iran’s 2009 election - he was informed that he had made it onto a "black list," and was put in detention in a kind of "hotel-prison" inside the glitzy new Tehran airport. Sara (wife/producer) was at home, 5-months pregnant, while Till was in Tehran hand-shredding some not-so-cool-documents-when-you’re-stuck-in-Iran and flushing them down the toilet. He was sent back to New York on the next plane. We were very fortunate to get the 200+ hours of footage (and Till...) safely out of the country, which we then used to edit the film and tell…
The Story:
American basketball player Kevin Sheppard accepts a job to play in Iran. With little knowledge about the country but plenty of charm Kevin embarks on an eye-opening journey that challenges his perceptions of life in one of the world's most feared countries. As tensions run high between Iran and the West, Kevin leads his rookie team to the Iranian play-offs. Along the way he forms an unlikely friendship with three outspoken Iranian women. Thanks to these women, his apartment turns into an oasis of free speech, where they defy social norms and even the law as they speak freely about everything from politics to religion to gender roles. Kevin is forced to reconcile the warped view of Iran and Iranians that is widely perpetuated by the Western media, and eventually his season in Iran culminates in something much bigger than basketball.
With a soundtrack that features the most cutting-edge Iranian rap and hip-hop artists, including Shahin Najafi, Jadugaran, and ZedBazi you will be treated to a film that obliterates cultural barriers.
THE IRAN JOB premiered at the L.A. Film Festival in June to much applause.(Reviews at http://www.theiranjob.com/news/press/). The film has since been invited to cultural institutions and think tanks such as the Skirball Center (L.A.), Carnegie Endowment for Intl. Peace, and the U.S. Institute for Peace (Washington).
How to support the release of THE IRAN JOB:
- Make a 100% tax deductible contribution through our fiscal sponsor today! Click here to make a contribution. Any contribution, no matter how small or large, will make a big difference!
- Tell your friends, family and social networks to buy tickets for the theatrical releases, e.g. currently in NYC. That way the film will also come to other parts of the country, and hopefully the world!
- Ask your local theater to book The Iran Job for a theatrical engagement
- Ask you college, university, school, church, community center etc to screen The Iran Job
- Please share our website - www.theiranjob.com! "Like" us on Facebook, Twitter, email, and blog! And please encourage others to do the same.
- If you have other ideas how to help please contact us!
- If you'd like to purchase the DVD or purchase a community screening with a Q&A with us please visit our website www.theiranjob.com or contact us.
Thank you very much for helping us complete the journey!
With much love and gratitude,
Sara Nodjoumi & Till Schauder
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Funding period
- (60 days)