Iranian Christian wins top award for religious freedom animation

Maral Karaee, an Iranian-born animator won top award for religious freedom animation. Her film District 18 that shows the importance of freedom of religion, won the grand prize in the animation category in the short film competition at the Empower Women Media and the Religious Freedom & Business Foundation.

The film tells the story of a little girl who lives in a world where people, animals of object of different colours, red, blue, green and yellow, are not allowed to mix.

Sponsored Links
Advertisements

When the girl accidentally breaks the rules, she is fired from her job and made an outcast. It is at this point she discovers the Utopian land of District 18, where all four colours mix.

Karaee said that for making the film, she received her inspiration for the video from Article 18 of the UN Charter for Human Rights.

“I wanted to show diversity, tolerance, and freedom of belief and talk. So the first thing came to my mind was that I can show this by primary colours.”

The topic of freedom of religion is very personal for Karee

After she decided to convert to Christianity when she was only 19 yea rs old, she left Iran. It is almost 20 years  since that moment  but this decision still had implications in her life, she explains “I can’t go back to my country, according to the Iranian Government I have committed a crime.”  

“I come from a country that freedom of belief and thought is very much restricted. You are not allowed to easily change or choose whatever you want to believe in,” she said. 

“So you are born a Muslim, grow up as a Muslim and you have to stay a Muslim. I grew up with that mentality and I lived in fear of God and punishment. That’s why it’s very important for me to show these kind of topics,” she added.

Sponsored Links
Advertisements

Although Karaee left Iran when she was still a very young girl, her experience of life growing up in Iran is a clear influence.

She follows developments in Iran closely, along with her husband who helps run an Open Doors sister organisation called Article 18, which monitors human and religious rights in Iran.

“Persecution is on the rise. A lot of our brothers and sisters are in jail and the Christian community is under a lot of pressure,” she said.

The Utopian vision of District 18 in Iran may be a long way off, but Karaee said she hopes her animation will make people think twice about their views on freedom of religion.

“I hope that people at least start to think that we need to have tolerance towards each other and we need to accept other people, no matter what kind of belief or religion they come from,” she said.

“It’s important to put all the prejudices and judgments away and to accept each other. That’s how we can have peace in societies.”

Iran is rated as number 9 on Open Doors’ Work Watch List, an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.

 Source: Premier. Christian News

Leave your comments
Sponsored Links