The Jews of Iran is Project Mosaics' debut film series that brings our mission, vision, and approach to teaching Jewish history and culture to life.
We are collaborating with scholars, poets, memoirists, and artists to tell untold stories of global Jewish diversity, dynamism, vibrancy, and vitality.
Connect the pieces of Jewish history in your classroom.
"Being an Iranian" features Lior Sternfeld, Associate Professor of History and Jewish Studies at Penn State and author of Between Iran and Zionism: Jewish Histories of Twentieth-Century Iran.
Recognizing that dominant narratives of Iran in the 20th and 21st centuries do not always capture the nuances of Jewish experiences, Lior introduces the upward mobility of Jews prior to the 1979 Revolution while describing the way the community continues to exist and adapt to contemporary circumstances many decades after the Revolution.
"Rooted in Tehran" features Roya Hakakian, author of Journey from the Land of No: A Girlhood Caught in Revolutionary Iran.
Through the lens of Roya's family, the film introduces Jewish life in Tehran in the Mid-Twentieth Century during a period of increased egalitarianism, opportunity, and optimism prior to Roya's migration to the United States in the wake of the Iranian Revolution.
"The Crypto-Jews of Mashhad" features Esther Amini, author of Concealed: Memoir of a Jewish-Iranian Daughter Caught Between the Chador and America.
Through the lens of Esther's family, the film introduces the distinctive history of the Jewish community of Mashhad, their communal resilience, solidarity, and modern example of navigating oppression while safeguarding their fragile Jewish identity.
"Jewish Above Ground" features Esther Amini, author of Concealed: Memoir of a Jewish-Iranian Daughter Caught Between the Chador and America.
The film follows Esther's parents and siblings, shortly after they arrived in New York from Iran, and examines the intra-Jewish tensions and divisions between Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews.
"Iran Loomed Large" features Esther Amini, author of Concealed: Memoir of a Jewish-Iranian Daughter Caught Between the Chador and America.
As a first generation American, Esther was raised in a home where the language, food, music, and values of Iran surrounded her in ways that connected her to the country of her parents and ancestors.