The film Bam 6.6 weaves the drama of Tobb and Adele, a Jewish-American, with other accounts of the catastrophic natural disaster that killed more than 40,000 people and destroyed 90 percent of the buildings in the historic city of Bam, which means high place , in southern Iran. It goes beyond the tale of these two Americans and other survivors, however, to show how quickly divisions of nationality and politics break down in the face of major tragedy.
Shared humanity and Iran s natural hospitality are constant themes throughout the film, produced and directed by Jahangir Golestan-Parast.
Even before the earthquake hit, Iranians greeted the visiting American couple with open arms, treating them with warmth and kindness despite the political mistrust and animosity that exists between America and Iran. Separating people from politics is something Iranians in the film appeared to do effortlessly.
Dec. 26, 2003 was a dreadful and bitter day for all Iranians. The vast number of people killed in the magnitude-6.6 earthquake was devastating, and rescue efforts were complicated by the fact that most of the city s physical structures crumbled on top of inhabitants. The 2,000-year-old Bam Citadel, the world s largest adobe structure and a major attraction for tourists and researchers, also fell to the ground, ending centuries of beauty and grace.
Both Tobb and Adele were enthralled by the citadel. They even decided to forego their pre-paid, upscale hotel on the city s outskirts to stay in a simple guesthouse located closer to the architectural site. They were just falling asleep in a small room there when the earthquake hit.
Adele awoke covered in rubble, with only the voice of Tobb, also submerged, to calm her. Their Iranian tour guide arrived to find that the guesthouse had been flattened, and unable to retrieve the couple herself, had to return later with a vehicle and several people to help dig. The couple was rushed to the hospital; Adele recovered, Tobb did not.
Doctors and nurses worked around the clock to help those who survived the tremor. As part of the country s customary hospitality, Adele, a foreigner and therefore a guest of Iran , was rushed to the front of the line. When Adele s mother, herself a nurse, arrived to the country and saw how well her daughter was being treated, she said, I couldn t have given her better care myself. Any fear or apprehension by Adele s Jewish-American parents quickly evaporated upon their arrival to Iran.
The earthquake, which killed nearly half of Bam s entire population, led to misery and depression. Yet the Iranian city still experienced a more positive, hopeful side of humanity. The devastated city received aid, as well as messages of sympathy and love, from across the world – even from countries like the United States that were the least expected to provide assistance. Bam 6.6 shows American groups like USAID, Operation USA and the Virginia Task Force Rescue Team participating in the recovery and reconstruction efforts, as well as international volunteers setting up centres for children who lost their families in the quake.
Bam 6.6 is a testament to the human spirit, says Golestan-Parast, an Iranian currently living in southern California. It is evidence that differences in culture need not create rifts between human beings on an individual basis.
On a basic human level, the film says, we are all the same. American or Iranian, we share the same fundamental values, the same dreams, and the same response to tragedy. Borders, politics, even intellectualism naturally dissipate in the face of catastrophe.
One hopes, however, that it doesn t have to take catastrophe to bring us together. The film shows that direct, face-to-face interaction with people of other cultures and political systems is certainly a positive first step, leading inevitably to the loss of fear of the other .
In the film, a man who grew up with Tobb in a fenced-in compound for American workers in Saudi Arabia recalls his friend s qualities in an interview. While the other children played safely inside the compound, Tobb was the one always jumping the fence to go explore the rich world and culture beyond the American enclave. Tobb s life, the man said, is a tribute to the fact that it really isn t that hard to learn about the other side – as long as you take the leap.
Vanessa Arrington is an American journalist and Kowsar Gowhari is an Iranian photographer. Bam 6.6 will be showing April 12 at the NOOR Film Festival in Beverly Hills, California. A DVD of Bam 6.6 can be purchased online at http://www.essenceofiran.com/html/home.html This article was written for the Common Ground news service www.commongroundnews.org
