FROM TEXAS TO TEHRAN

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Images

Key art for FROM TEXAS TO TEHRAN, by artist Nicky Nodjoumi

Kevin Sheppard

Budget

Raised to date: $100,537.00
Estimate to complete: $286,153.00
Total Estimated Budget: $386,690.00
The budget numbers above are accurate as of 10/23/2009

Status

Post Production

Media Type

Video

Project End Use

Theatrical

Key Personnel

Till Schauder
Director, producer, writer

Till worked at Roger Corman’s Concorde Pictures in Los Angeles before attending the Munich Film School. In Germany he wrote and directed the award-winning feature film Strong Shit (Max Ophüls Film Festival Reader’s Award), co-produced with ARD/SWR Germany, and the acclaimed short film thriller City Bomber. After earning a government grant for the arts he relocated from Berlin to New York and made his U.S. debut with the romantic indie comedy Santa Smokes, which won several international awards, among them Best Director at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Studio Hamburg Newcomer Award. His independently produced docu-drama Duke’s House about Duke Ellington’s Harlem home premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York. In 2007 he worked as director and Series Producer for Berlin-based Story House Productions on Galileo Mystery, the most successful and popular weekly science magazine on German cable, Pro7.

Sara Nodjoumi
Producer

Sara was born in Manhattan to Iranian artists. After studying Media Communications, Sara pursued a career in still and moving images. She has exhibited her photographs in numerous exhibitions across the country. In 1999, Sara co-produced and directed a series of documentaries about the Iranian community in America. I Call Myself Persian, the first of these films, aired on multiple Public Television stations and premiered in New York at the MOMA Documentary Fortnight in 2002. From 2002 to 2005, Sara joined award-winning director Till Schauder as an Associate Produceron his feature films Santa Smokes and Duke’s House. In 2006, Sara worked at Classic Media with Roadside Attractions on the marketing and release of Charles Sturridge’s critically acclaimed Lassie film. She then went on to co-produce Lassie’s Pet Vet, a weekly half-hour PBS series. Since 2002, Sara has also worked at the Tribeca Film Festival as an Associate Programmer. In addition to her festival work, she will be programming the first children’s film series at Tribeca Cinemas starting in October 2009. Currently, she is producing the feature-length documentary FROM TEXAS TO TEHRAN with director Till Schauder.

Joshua Ray Levin
Producer

Josh Levin, the President and CEO of Gallant Films, is a documentary film producer as well as sales agent and marketing consultant for other filmmakers. Among the documentary titles Josh has in production are KING OF THE B's: The Independent Life of Roger Corman; CAPE WIND: The Fight for the Future of Power in America; and THE MORGENTHAUS: An American Family. Among the titles Josh represents is THE GARDEN, by Scott Hamilton Kennedy, nominated For the 2009 Academy Award (R) for Best Documentary. Josh's background is as a film marketing and distribution executive. Working with films with tiny or non-existent marketing budgets is Josh's forte. Since starting Gallant Films in 2007, Josh has also begun working in production financing. Josh got his MBA from Columbia Business School and his BA from the University of Michigan.

Outreach/Engagement Plan(s)

Our outreach and engagement plan centers around the key call to action in the film, which is encouraging real cross-cultural understanding between the U.S. and Iran on a human (as opposed to political or clerical) level. We hope to launch a robust non-theatrical screening series of the film nationwide to expose American audiences to the "real Iran." We will partner with peace organizations, cross-cultural exchange groups, and foundations and advocacy groups that encourage personal engagement over military engagements. We will also work with advocates for freedom and democracy in Iran, based both here in the US and elsewhere.

In terms of larger community engagement, we hope to use the popularity of basketball to take our film's message into new territories. We are pursuing partnerships with everyone from streetball.com, a start-up online basketball culture and lifestyle social network, to FIBA and the National Basketball Association, which promotes the long-established Basketball Without Borders program.

PLEASE CONTACT THE PROJECT MANAGERS TO VIEW A TRAILER

Funders

Name	Amount	Date
New York State Council on the Arts	$15,000.00	01/01/2010
Paley Center Art of the Documentary Pitch Award	$5,000.00	10/17/2009
YLE (Finnish public Television)	$10,000.00	05/05/2009
HBO (development funding)	$4,000.00	04/01/2009
Producer's Contribution	$66,537.00	09/01/2007

Location

534 Flatbush Ave.
#204
Brooklyn, NY, 11225

See Google Maps

Short Synopsis

FROM TEXAS TO TEHRAN follows a unique cultural ambassador -- an American professional basketball player -- as he transcends stereotypes and breaks down the walls of official and cultural barriers that divide the United States from one of its most-vilified political enemies, Iran.

Description/Treatment

FROM TEXAS TO TEHRAN is a feature-length documentary film that follows a unique cultural ambassador -- an American professional basketball player -- as he transcends stereotypes and breaks down the walls of official censure and cultural prejudgments that divide the United States from one of its most-vilified political enemies, Iran.

Despite the official embargo between the two countries, eight Americans play professional basketball in Iran, including Kevin Sheppard, the film's central character. Kevin, a jocular extrovert, says, "Sometimes you hear bad things about Iran. But unless you come here, you don't know Iran."

The United States has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since 1979, when Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy and held American diplomats hostage for 444 days. The countries have engaged in a war of words ever since, and Iran has remained notorious in the Western World. Kevin, our unlikely ambassador, is unfazed. "Nobody bothers me. The government is anti-American, but when we play basketball, nobody cares."

Kevin turned down higher paychecks from clubs in other leagues so he could play in Iran, where he had fallen in love with the people and their generous hospitality. Eager to connect with people, Kevin is determined to be a good ambassador and to bring back what he learns about Iranian culture to his community in the U.S. “Before we bomb people, we need to understand who they are – and then maybe we won’t bomb them.”

When his agent first mentioned the idea of playing in Iran, Kevin was intrigued, but his family said "’Hell, no! What the hell are you doing playing with the terrorists?’" It took two more years convincing his loved ones and working out contractual details before he finally arrived in Iran.

In spite of the longstanding political tensions between the US and Iran, Kevin emerges as the undisputed star and captain of A.S. Shiraz, a new team in Iran’s Super League. When he goes to practice he is regularly mobbed by young Iranian fans who seek his autograph, or even private lessons, which he offers freely. To his teammates he is not only the leader and a second coach but also the heart and soul of the club.

This documentary follows Kevin's journey as an American ballplayer in Iran during the 2008-2009 season, as he learns to juggle sports, religion and politics in one of the most complex countries in the world. We will also get to know HAMED HADDADI, the first-ever Iranian to play in the NBA. FROM TEXAS TO TEHRAN offers a unique perspective into a rare cultural exchange between the Muslim and Western worlds that occurs as international tensions continue to mount.

For this film, basketball is simply a vehicle. As Kevin says, “sports is the only thing in the world that brings everyone together: the rich, the poor, the intellectual, the lesser man, anyone.” Using the transcending qualities of basketball, we follow Kevin in Iran as he explores the larger story of this cross-cultural rendezvous: questions about religion, politics, women’s rights, and society at large in a country that to many Westerners remains a mystery.

This project uses a strong character-driven narrative to take people beyond their preconceptions and show them the reality of Iran -- not as the propaganda portrays it. The U.S. and Iran on a political level may be "The Great Satan" vs. "The Axis of Evil," but on a human level they are two great cultures that often don’t understand each other.

The filmmakers have had unprecedented access to Kevin and his life in Iran, spending most of the first half of the season with him in Shiraz, with almost complete access to his professional and personal life there.

The style is primarily single-camera verite, and the tone is warm, humorous and revelatory.

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