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Letters to the President 2009

Highly Recommended

Distributed by LomFilms
Produced by Peter Lom
Directed by Petr Lom
DVD, color, 72 min.



Sr. High - Adult
Political Science, International Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Religious Studies

Date Entered: 05/26/2010

Reviewed by Justin Cronise, University at Buffalo, State University of New York

Letters to the President is an excellent and engaging documentary that offers an illuminating look at Iranian government and life. In his home country, Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is considered a populist and an advocate for the poor. This film, in premise, highlights the presidential letter program, which calls for ordinary Iranians to write letters to the president telling of their individual problems and asking for help.

The filmmaker was allowed to accompany the Iranian press corps on several of Ahmadinejad’s trips to the Iranian countryside, where massive crowds of supporters greeted him and thousands of letters were handed to him directly. An Iranian official involved with the program says that they had received 10 million letters and that they responded to 76% of them.

The letters are often desperate, however, and indicative of great national suffering. The film footage and interviews further display a people struggling with crippling inflation and skyrocketing prices for basic commodities. The film also evidences an ever-growing division between the rich and the poor; between central governmental plans and local/regional actions; between the urban and the rural. At the same time, religion is inseparable from politics and governance.

What makes this film great is how it objectively captures so many different aspects of contemporary Iranian life: the poverty, fear, and governmental hypocrisy that Western viewers might expect, as well as the fierce patriotism, the deep spirituality, and – amazingly – the hope displayed by the Iranian people. Anti-U.S. and Israel rhetoric is present, but so are some intimate moments of Ahmadinejad sincerely and compassionately interacting with the poor and desperate rural Iranians.

Letters to the President includes English subtitles and is filmed mainly in an observational verité style, with no narration or commentary. Letters to the President is highly recommended for general public and college library collections. This film may be of particular educational interest to high-school and collegiate viewers, being most appropriate for collections supporting studies in comparative politics, international relations, and the Middle-Eastern region.

    Awards
  • Best Documentary Film, Batumi International Art House Film Festival, 2009