Bridge to Iran

BRIDGE TO IRAN is Link TV's unique series of documentary films and engaging conversations which carries viewers into the lives of Iranian citizens and into the heart and soul of Persian culture. BRIDGE TO IRAN presents memorable characters, confronted with a wide range of obstacles and opportunities as they navigate their lives through a changing social and political landscape.

BRIDGE TO IRAN is a direct response to the cultural misunderstandings and political tensions that have developed between Iran and the US since the Iranian revolution. The series fills a knowledge gap by providing Americans with informed, insider's views on modern Iranian society, through documentaries made by Iranian directors, living both inside Iran and within the Iranian diaspora. The series avoids simplistic categorizations and stereotypes about Iran to provide new insights and understandings of a nation, a people, and culture that most Americans know so little about.

Each program in the new series is introduced by BRIDGE TO IRAN series host Parisa Soultani, who adds layers of meaning through personal interviews with each filmmaker. Audiences throughout the US are enriched as BRIDGE TO IRAN opens new windows on a largely unknown but vibrant society at a critical point in world history.

Siah Bâzi - The Joy Makers
Directed by Maryam Khakipour

Siah Bâzi theater troupes -- similar to Commedia dell'arte -- traditionally performed at weddings and parties led by men and women in full harlequin garb making impromptu skits peppered with subtle commentary on current events and politics. When Tehran's troupe faces the closing of their 400-year-old theater due to changing cultural shifts, the performers face uncertain futures as truck drivers and tea-servers.

Siah Bâzi - The Joy Makers offers a look at how folkloric entertainment is challenged by modern political and economic changes in Tehran.