I still can't stop thinking about "The Green Wave."

“Iran? Wait, that isn’t Iraq. Oh, it’s the big one next to it? I don’t know anything about it,” I thought as I purchased a ticket to The Green Wave. Until this movie, I’ve never seen a person get murdered. And I mean an actual person dying in front of my own eyes.

In early 2009, the youth of Iran (which is a large percentage of its population) organized into a massive movement. Attempting to challenge the political and social systems in place, the Green Wave (as they called themselves) found a unique and liberal candidate who promised change, Mir Hossein Mousavi. As the movement grew, it seemed impossible that his opponent, Islamic fundamentalist, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad even stood a chance at winning. When voting day came, something strange was going on. Ballots were almost incomprehensible and very confusing. Voting centers were allegedly running out of ballots early in the day, and many closed down. When the results came in, the numbers were the exact opposite of what the majority of Iranians predicted.

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After most movies at Sundance there’s a ten to twenty minute question and answer session with the director. I filmed the Q&A for The Green Wave. Director Ali Samadi Ahadi is joined by some of his crew as he answers questions from the audience. Enjoy.

“Green is the color of hope. Green is the color of Islam.” The Green Wave opens to animation of a young boy running down the street with the narrator talking about how his nation has been searching for its lost voice for over one hundred and fifty years. He talks about how for a few short weeks his generation felt like they were closer to that goal than they’d ever been before, but he is afraid that as it had been before, it was nothing more than an illusion. (more…)