Directors' Commentary
»The topic of this project – the worldwide non-violent resistance and peaceful protest against the oppression by dictatorships or other repressive systems – is a great concern for us, especially because of our own history as a refugee family. Our parents fled Iran in the early 1980s – at that time we were still children – due to political persecution by the regime. At that time, our parents also demonstrated with peaceful means against the growing oppression and the lack of basic human rights in Iran – and thus promptly put themselves in danger of their lives.
According to the creative diversity of non-violent resistance, which in principle excludes only one method of resistance, namely any use of violence, the creative possibilities are almost infinite. Already Mohandas Ghandi and after him peaceful freedom fighters like Martin Luther King or Nelson Mandela recognised the powerful effect of non-violent resistance. Today's activists continue this struggle with dedication and passion, and in keeping with their creative boundlessness, "Everyday Rebellion" is also an undogmatic film that is open in content and form.
Emotional, observational moments are combined with reflexive and essayistic elements. The result is an unconventional dramaturgy that gives space to both theory and practical tactics in the film. The emotional scenes are mainly inspired by the perspective of the activists and their actions. We accompany them on their non-violent way and make their feelings and motives tangible and tangible for the audience. In addition, their creative protest methods are visualized with different cinematic means.
The theoretical backbone of the film is formed by some of the most important scientists and theoretical activists of the scenes, such as Erica Chenoweth or Srdja Popovic. The tension between personal confrontation and universal resistance thus gives rise to a profound reflection on political society and the old David against Goliath subject, which has taken on a new relevance as a result of the current worldwide protests.
Our observations take their starting point in the Iranian democracy movement, lead to the Arab Spring, the protests in Spain, Ukraine, Syria, up to the worldwide, seemingly unpredictable flaring up of democracy movements like Occupy. What began as localised and localisable has now become deterritorialised, marginalised, no longer easily locatable. Resistance becomes a global state.
"Everyday Rebellion" is a tribute to the creativity of non-violent resistance, to the imagination to rethink our world and to the courage and strength to fight for these visions.
Arash T. Riahi and Arman T. Riahi