Internet

While Iran is a country with a reputation for being culturally repressive, a new development is bringing a wave of free thought and expression to the nation -- the internet. The sudden popularity of internet cafes in Iran have made the world wide web accessible to a wide range of citizens, from women who have been able to form online activist communities that couldn't exist safely in the real world to worship leaders seeking answers to theological queries from their peers. (This being the internet, there are also plenty of Iranian folks looking for love and sex on line, too.) Internet (aka Imamzadeh Internet) is a documentary from director Reza Haeri which explores the impact of online communication in Iran and how it at once reflects the nation's character and subverts certain governmental influences. Internet was screened in competition at the 2007 Rotterdam International Film Festival.