The Green Wave
Ali Samadi Ahadi / Germany, Iran / 2010 / 80 min.
Last year's presidential elections in Iran aroused the nation from its lethargy. For the first time in years, the younger generation felt that there was a chance for change. Hundreds of thousands of them took to the streets in support of the reform candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Electrifying hope gave way to disappointment and general disillusionment over the clear electoral irregularities, which helped re-elect the conservative incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The massive wave of protests that followed was viciously suppressed by the regime, which did not hesitate to use the most brutal means of intimidation possible. All of these events are analysed by the film through the detailed perspective of exiled journalists and human rights activists, including the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize Shirin Ebadi. The personal aspect of the Iranian tragedy is captured by the fictional stories of two young Iranians - a young man called Kaveh and a young woman named Azandeh. Their stories, which are told using impressive animation, contrasts sharply with mobile-phone footage of street demonstrations, which were compiled from thousands of posts that appeared during the elections on Twitter and Facebook, as well as on Internet blogs. These messages from courageous Iranians contain shocking information about the unjust torture of detainees. With bleak persuasiveness, they also illustrate the feelings of Iran's younger generation, who feel like prisoners in their own country.