As with all our projects, this documentary has a social action campaign providing ways for viewers to get involved in creating positive social change around the issues in the film. The social action campaign for “I am the Water, You are the Sea” focuses on two primary social issues which we, here in the United States, are grappling with today – U.S. policy towards Iran (diplomacy, use of sanctions, and the threat of war); and gay rights, primarily around marriage and immigration equality.

During our work preparing the campaign to address U.S. policy towards Iran, I came across a great article by Huffington Post contributor MJ Rosenberg. The article reviewed Trita Parsi’s book “A Single Roll of the Dice,” discussing what happened with the Obama administration’s efforts to engage in diplomacy with Iran immediately following the U.S. presidential election of 2008. The book also includes a fascinating account of Iran’s attempt to approach the Bush administration in 2003, as well as the effects and aftermath of Iran’s controversial 2009 elections on diplomacy.

NIAC President Trita Parsi is interviewed by The Daily Show's Jon Stewart

If you’ve been following the progress of the film, and would like to learn more about the history and current state of U.S. policy towards Iran, I encourage you to read the book, as well as get a quick summary of the issues by watching Trita’s interview by Jon Stewart on the Daily Show.  You can also learn more about the current work being done to address U.S. policy towards Iran by checking out the NIAC website.

Also, please check out the film on Facebook, give us a “Like,” follow the film on Twitter, and tell your friends that we’re filming the reunion of Alex and Ali in just 29 days!

1.  Motivated by the company’s mission to create positive social change
2.  Experience supervising teams of between 1 and 25 people (or more)
3.  Team-focused collaborator
4.  Experience as a director of photography, with samples of one’s work as a DP
5.  Thorough knowledge of Canon DSLR workflows, including cameras, lenses, external audio capture, and basic lighting
6.  Experience with Final Cut Pro and DSLR post-production workflows
7.  Excellent verbal and written communication skills
8.  Experience with budgeting for projects
9.  Ability to travel nationally and, if required, internationally
10.  Strong storytelling ability, with samples demonstrating this ability

Additional but not required skills and/or experience include:  experience with camera stabilization systems such as steadicam, glidecam, or similar equipment; experience with RED camera workflows.

The Director of Commercial Production will manage all aspects of Left Brain/Right Brain Productions’ commercial projects, which are defined as projects in which an outside party contracts or hires the company to create original video content.  Sample clients include Ashoka, Entrepreneurs’ Organization, Social Venture Network, Steppenwolf Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, Environmental Defense Fund, Interfaith Youth Core, and the Rule of Law Initiative.  Responsibilities will include project budgeting, supervising the Production Manager and other crew members, identifying and hiring crew such as other producers, directors, writers, composers, camera operators, production assistants, etc.  During the course of any given project, the Director of Commercial Production will routinely operate as a “Producer,” “Director,” “Writer,” “Director of Photography,” and/or other roles as is appropriate given a project’s budget and parameters, in addition to the time required by other projects.

The Director of Commercial Production will routinely work directly with clients, and so must demonstrate the utmost professionalism and competency in communicating with clients via email, on the phone, and in person.  The Director of Commercial Production must also demonstrate the ability to negotiate and manage conflict in stressful, fast-based, high-stakes environments and workflows.  Consistent follow-through on tasks and communications is a must.

The Director of Commercial Production will report directly to the President and Chief Operating Officer of Left Brain/Right Brain Productions, and will work in collaboration with the Director of Marketing and the Director of Social Action and Advocacy.

This is a full-time salaried position with regular project bonuses.

To apply, please send an email with cover letter to HR@LBRBProductions.com

What I admire about the work of IFYC is how inclusive it is, without asking for participants to water down their beliefs in order to get along. Their mission – making interfaith cooperation a social norm – requires that participants bring everything about who they are to the table, rather than leave those parts that are perceived as being at odds at the door. And what’s exciting is that when everything is brought to the table, people find out just how much they actually have in common. Much more so than the things which divide!

Maura remarked at how vibrant and expansive the conversations are, with very little judgment. The fact is, no one in the world can possibly get by only interacting with people who are just like them, who believe exactly what they believe. So by normalizing interaction with people of different faiths – by bringing these young leaders together from all walks of life, giving them concrete ways of interacting, allowing them to learn from one another – learning how to speak, play, collaborate, even debate – that behavior becomes normal. Instead of thinking that religion breeds conflict, THEIR experience shows that religion brings people together, unites them through shared values, and provides a way of making the world a better place. Like their campaign says – we’re “better together.”

In September, I was privileged to witness and film the Entrepreneurs’ Organization gathering in Amsterdam.  The energy and optimism in the hallways, and from speakers such as Kofi Annan, Slava Rubin, and Dr. Muhammad Yunus stands in contrast to much of what we hear today.  The world is not just falling apart.  There are people creating positive change through business across the globe.

Over 500 entrepreneurs signed a manifesto declaring their commitment to making the world a better place, and so can you.

Photo by Dowat - House of Munroe

A metropolis of 30,000.  Rolling hills, uninhabited – beautiful, but desolate.  Skirt suits.

If you had asked me exactly a year ago where I would be on October 7, 2011, I would have painted the description above.  Upon entering my senior year of college, I thought I was destined to put my journalism degree to good use in Boise, Idaho, or somewhere in North Dakota.  Local news, I believed, was the only way to begin my career as a journalist.

Luckily, I got involved with my school’s nightly newscast and quickly realized that the route I presumed I had to take was a one-way ticket to a life of therapy and sedatives (not necessarily in that order).  My empatheic nature was a fault in the newsroom.  Caring showed subjectivity, the number one sin of a reporter.

Suppressing my disdain for the injustices in my community to ensure objective reporting could only last a semester.  It was time for a new plan (that conveniently needed to be drawn up in 2 months – my poor parents, I know).   Through a fortuitous series of events (meeting my mentor, paying attention in my Social Entrepreneurship class, studying theory of social enterprise, etc.) I got my head on straight.

And that is when the fateful Google search “social change production company” led me to where I am now.  Left Brain/Right Brain Productions.  Drawn to the company because of it’s mission to enact and promote positive social change through visuals, it instantly became a perfect fit.  I would be road-tripping from Arizona to Pennsylvania in June, and Chicago easily could be on the way.  On a whim, I reached out to Malachi asking if he had interest in hiring a recent graduate.  Needless to say, it all worked out.

This new stage of life combines visual story telling and saving the world.  No longer do I have to report on a family whose house is in foreclosure, pack up my equipment, give a, “good luck!” and never turn back.  I have the ability to stand up for oppressed and speak for those who cannot do so themselves.   The ethics I had to painstakingly abide by in the newsroom have transitioned into the ethical life I wish to live. And, most importantly, my nightmares of wearing matching pants suites have ceased.

Left Brain/Right Brain Productions is fantastic place to work, grow and thrive.  The scope of what we do and the clients we are so fortunate to work alongside of are remarkable.  This 22-year-old has found her home in Chicago and her place with the Left Brain/Right Brain family.  I look forward prospering with and assisting in expanding our business and thank all who have been and will be a part of that.

As an artist and thinker, Tiffany holds a number of tensions.  She is director of The Moxie Institute, an organization that creates films, discussion programs, theater experiences, and Internet experiments around social issues using emerging technologies.  At the same time, her new film, Connected, highlights the possibilities of new technology while revealing how it can destroy our connectedness.  She advocates a National Day of Unplugging.

These seeming paradoxes make for a great documentary filmmaker, as Tiffany is able to see multiple perspectives (visually and intellectually).  Tiffany’s films are a fusion of documentary and narrative and are known for their whimsical yet provocative approach to unraveling complicated subjects like politics, cultural identity, technology and science. Her films include “Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness” about reproductive rights in America, and “The Tribe,” an exploration of American Jewish identity through the history of the Barbie doll, the first documentary short to become the #1 on iTunes. She recently made, “Yelp: With Apologies to Allen Ginsberg’s Howl,” about our addiction to technology and the importance of occasionally “unplugging,’ which was selected as finalist for Guggenheim Museum & Youtube’s YouTube Play: A Biennial of Creative Video and for Sundance 2011.

“Why do we need to know that they are “lovers” [referring to Alex and Ali]? Couldn’t we just be very happy for such good friends to be reunited?”

The link is to the Facebook page for what’s known as “W.I.S.H.” – the “World Invocation of Sexual Privacy.”  The purpose of “W.I.S.H.” is the following:

“To promote the idea that the sexuality and sexual activity of any individual is at its most beneficial for everyone when it is a private matter, and to counteract psychological and social intrusion by outsiders on the sanctity of personal eroticism; ~ To safeguard genuine friendship by endeavoring to protect it from any and all damage that can be done to it by sexual activity.”

Although my initial inclination was just to delete the post (because I disagree with it), I figured why not explore it instead?  A central component of the social action campaign for “I am the Water, You are the Sea” is about breaking down barriers.  I think this means proactive, open engagement and discussion with those who disagree or oppose the change we seek to create.

Although the author of this comment isn’t advocating the criminalization of “gay”, I do have a problem with what sounds like “Put it back in the closet.”  I have a problem with anything that sounds like “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  It’s a slippery slope.  I mean, disagreements about religion can cause an awful lot of damage, too.  Along with politics, nationality, etc.  So should we hide our religious identities, political affiliations, and anything else which could cause disagreement or conflict?  ”Don’t ask, don’t tell” about other components of our lives?

Yeah, right.

I think what’s “most beneficial for everyone” is the ability to live – and love – freely in an open and fair society, without worrying if your government or your neighbor is going to oppress, persecute, imprison, punish, or kill you for it.  Why hide what you are?  Why push it down and out of sight?

Back to the Facebook poster’s question:   ”Why do we need to know that they are “lovers”? Couldn’t we just be very happy for such good friends to be reunited?”  Sure, we can be happy for good friends being reunited.  But this isn’t about people who are just ‘good friends’, and it isn’t about “needing to know” that they’re lovers – it’s about simply being honest with the situation.  Here are two lovers who have been separated for nearly 34 years, one of whom lives in a society whose government condones the execution of gays and lesbians!  They’re two human beings who – through their love and FOR their love – are overcoming every obstacle which has been thrown in their path to be together once again.  Why on earth would we ever want to push that back into the closet?  Why would we ever want to promote the idea that we shouldn’t ask and shouldn’t tell?

My hope is that, through this film, the world will see these lovers – the world will see their great love – and embrace the belief that it doesn’t matter if you’re American, Iranian, Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Christian, gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender – we ALL are water and sea. Beautiful, religious, passionate, political, sexual creatures.  Billions of individuals, one beautiful ball of Human Kind.

It was also enjoyable to just continue to spend time with Alex since he’s my uncle.  We had breakfast each morning together, went to the Portland farmers’ market, and attended Portland’s 12th annual Iranian Festival.

On Sunday, our last day in Portland, I took Alex to a bench nestled in a beautiful stretch of little parks on the Portland State University campus.  There I interviewed him about how he and Ali are feeling at this point, and was so moved when he spoke of the sound of Ali’s voice on the phone.  When they used to speak on the phone, Alex said that Ali often had a tone of depression or sadness.  It would eventually dissipate throughout their conversation, but it was often there.  Now, Alex says, the new life that he hears in Ali’s voice is palpable.  Since their decision to reunite, he hears the unmistakable sound, gets the unmistakable feeling, of hope, energy, vitality, confidence. Joy.

Alex discusses how he and Ali are feeling about their upcoming reunion.

It made me think about one of the answers to the questions I had asked Alex during the last 2 years of our work compiling and documenting the story of their love together in Iran in the 60’s and 70’s.  When they knew they couldn’t be together any more, Alex told me the story of the sound Ali made… (it’s hard to even write this without tearing up)

I just can’t imagine the sound of two souls being torn apart.  There aren’t words to describe it.  Alex heard it once that day.  Primal, sad, grieving, human.

Then I began to wonder what it sounds like when two souls, separated for 34 years – separated by 1000’s of miles, by revolution, by cultures, religion, politics – what does it sound like when these two souls overcome it all, climb higher and farther than anyone or anything can reach, and reunite?  What does it sound like when they once again collide?  Will it sound like thunder?  Like the crashing of waves in the sea?  It must be one of the most beautiful sounds the universe can make.

In the love letter Ali wrote to Alex, from which I took the title of this film, he spoke of their love being something which was inevitable.  Something which, once it began, could not be stopped.

What’s awesome – truly awesome! – is that, this fall, we’ll be there to capture that moment, that sound, of these two souls coming back together.  Two souls, never to be separated again.

Alex jumped at the opportunity to talk about Ali’s heart, and the sacrifices he has made for people he loves.

We would love some footage of the two of them together! But that’s not going to happen until the filming begins. Please help us reunite this couple and tell their story.

Teenagers Atafeh, and her best friend, Shireen, are experimenting with their burgeoning sexuality amidst the subculture of Tehran’s underground art scene when Atafeh’s brother, Mehran, returns home from drug rehab as the prodigal son. Battling his demons, Mehran vehemently renounces his former life as a classical musician and joins the morality police. He disapproves of his sister’s developing intimate relationship with Shireen and becomes obsessed with saving Shireen from Atafeh’s influence. Suddenly, the two siblings, who were close confidants, are entangled in a triangle of suspense, surveillance, and betrayal as the once-liberal haven of the family home becomes a place of danger for the beautiful Atafeh.

The trailer looks beautiful, and we appreciate Keshavarz using storytelling as an impetus for dialogue and change.