'Culture, joy, openness, and love of freedom': Organizer of Iranian film festival in Israel highlights shared cultural values

Dana Sameah is an Iranian Israeli and working to connect the two cultures close to her heart. As an Israeli born to immigrants from Iran, Sameah is by no means alone.

Though some might be surprised to hear of a Farsi speaker in Israel, there are well over 300,000 Persian Israelis. Jews living in Iran had to flee for safety, along with many other Jews living in the Middle East, and most ended up in Israel. 

Sameah described what it felt like to be a bridge between peoples that seem a world apart in an interview with YNet. 

“I was raised with two identities – Persian and Israeli,” she said. “My parents wanted very much to be Israelis, so Iran was almost absent from our lives. When my father spoke Persian to my mother in public, she’d nudge him and say, ‘Speak Hebrew!'" Sameah recounted, adding ironically, “though she said it in Persian.”

“During my army screening, I didn’t even mention that I spoke Persian,” recalled Sameah, 42. “In university, I studied Middle Eastern studies and took a class in Persian reading and writing. A whole world of rich culture and history opened up to me. That was the spark that reconnected me to my roots.”

Sameah, now the spokesperson for the Bnei Shimon Regional Council, founded Israel’s first Iranian Film Festival in Sderot, seeking to present the Iranian people and culture to Israelis in a positive way. 

Each November, Israel marks the expulsion of 850,000 Jewish people from Muslim lands, making this month a perfect time to highlight the Iranian Jewish community in Israel. 

The very thought of Iran can elicit negative responses in Israel, after a long war on seven fronts fighting multiple tentacles of the “octopus” which is the Iranian regime. Yet it was ironically during Operation Narnia and the attempt to destroy Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility that triggered Dana Sameah to start planning the event.

“I had a dream of showing Israelis what daily life in Iran looks like,” she said. “I had all my lectures ready – I just needed a little push.”

“It took an entire air force to get me to finally go public with lectures about everyday life in Iran,” she added, referencing the dramatic military operation which spurred her into action.

Sameah wants to present Persian people and their culture as separate from their oppressive regime. “What Israelis don’t know is how similar Iranians are to us – in culture, joy, openness, and love of freedom,” she said.

The Nowruz Iranian film festival will be held in Sderot in a bid to counteract the death and destruction that happened there in 2023. “It’s about bringing life back to the western Negev and hosting a cultural event for the soul – not just about October 7 – while drawing audiences from outside the region,” Sameah explained.

In addition to screening 5 award-winning movies portraying life in Iran (including “Persepolis,” “A Hero” and “The Salesman”), there will be live music from Persian artists Liraz Charhi and Hezi Fanian, and plenty of Persian food on offer. Awards will be presented to those who have played a significant role in connecting the two cultures in a special ceremony as part of the two-day event.

As warm and bold as the initiative may seem, the truth is that connecting the two cultures is fraught with danger and difficulty. Sameah was hoping to show a secretly filmed movie, “It Was Just a Minor Accident,” which won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival, but it became impossible. “Showing it here could endanger its creators,” she told YNet.

This fact makes it all the more moving that the Persian-language opposition channel “Iran International” which broadcasts from London, are planning to attend and broadcast live from the event in Israel. 

“In the end, we’re extending a hand to the Iranian people, separating them from their government,” said Sameah, noting that “many celebrated” during Israel’s attacks on the regime. Still, she added, “They want change to come from within, without foreign intervention.”

Sameah does her best to keep in touch with the zeitgeist among Iranian people on the ground, with what they are thinking and feeling, especially about Israel: “They tell me how much they wish for peace and how tragic it is that the regime prevents it – wasting billions on terror instead of helping its people. Eventually, the regime there will fall, and the more we get to know the Iranian people now, the better the foundation for a wonderful future relationship,” said Sameah.

The Iranian Cinema Festival will be held Nov. 24–25 at the Sderot Cinematheque.