Interviewer: Lyna Ouandjeli (Researcher and Head of Collaborative Projects at EISMENA)
Guest: Sepideh Farsi (Iranian film maker)
In this interview, Iranian filmmaker Sepideh Farsi reflects on the long history of protest in Iran, from the women’s demonstrations of 1979 to the most recent nationwide uprisings. She discusses state repression, internet shutdowns, media distortion, foreign intervention, and the political narratives that shape how Iran is seen from the outside. A sharp, necessary conversation on protest, memory, and truth.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction
00:58 Why the current protests matter
02:11 1979: women’s protests and the first ruptures
05:00 1981: repression and the consolidation of the regime
07:30 1988: prison massacres and political trauma
09:00 Students, unions, minorities, and later protest waves
13:35 From economic revolt to nationwide uprising
15:00 A movement spreading across generations and regions
18:45 Media distortion and over-mediatization
20:00 Why foreign military attacks strengthen the regime
24:00 Persian-language media, diaspora channels, and political bias
28:30 Inflated numbers, misinformation, and the struggle to verify
31:57 Internet shutdowns and the fragmentation of collective memory
33:31 Nationalism, foreign attacks, and regime propaganda
37:31 Families pressured to lie about the dead
43:31 Arrests, disappearances, and hidden detention sites
46:30 The wounded, hospitals, and missing evidence
50:12 Final message: put the Iranian people first