Justin Mashouf, director of "Warring Factions"

Justin Mashouf, an Iranian American breakdancer and film maker had his debut film, “Warring Factions” shown at Salaam Film Festival last week. The festival was hosted by IMAN, Inner City Muslim Action Network, a community based non-profit that works towards social justice, providing direct service and cultivating the arts in urban communities. The film festival featured eight films portraying the complex and diverse stories of Muslim communities.

The film “Warring Factions” is the story of Mashouf’s experience as an American born Iranian b-boy and how he confronts issues of dual citizenship from countries in conflict as he makes his way to Iran and simultaneously exploring his cultural identity with Iranian b-boys.

After the film screened at U of C, I spoke with director, writer, and producer Justin Mashouf about his film “Warring Factions.”

Me: Why did you make the film “Warring Factions?”

JM: I started making it in 2007 and in 2006 when I went to Iran, I feel it was like really the height of the nuclear struggle of the war, God willing, we don’t know what the height of the nuclear tension between the U.S. and Iran will be, but I was at the beginning of it.  I went to Iran in 2006 and when I was there I had this feeling, this idea of what if there was some type of conflict while I was in Iran, what would happen. I grew up my whole life in the U.S. I was culturally an American but Iran was my heritage, my ancestral homeland so, how would that make me feel? I realized when I came back to make my senior thesis film, I wanted to make a film about my Iranian and American identities.

Me: Did you only identify with your Iranian heritage only upon visiting Iran?

JM: My whole life I’ve felt like I carried it with me, but it really solidified my identity  as an Iranian going to Iran being where my father grew up, seeing the customs first hand, my Iranian family in America, and seeing Iranian culture in all parts of Iran which was very important to me. So I feel that solidified my identity. Before then I had a taste of it, but I was poking around in the dark.

Me: How did you go about making the film, where did you start?

JM: The process of the film was interesting because I did a lot of research in the logistics of filming in Iran and soul searching to find my subject. I really got lucky finding a b-boy in Iran from the internet. I watch a lot of breaking videos from the internet from all parts of the world and I found this video on a Korean website and it was from Iran. I sent an email to him and I told him I saw your video, I break too. I’m Iranian, I’m in America and I just dig what you’re doing and I want to come and meet you, can I come? Can I hang out with you guys? And he said absolutely.

Me: How did you friends, family and community in America and Iran respond to the film?

JM: They were really thrilled to see it being made. I feel like there are personal stories that really bring us closer to humanity rather than just the issues and we don’t actually see the humanity, the reality of these issues. We talk about political deliberations, sanctions but we don’t see the people who are suffering because of policies. We don’t see the amount of mis-education that happens in America about Iranians, the mis-education that Iranians have about Americans because our theaters are doing poor jobs. I think it’s the job of an artist to really connect people through art and film to tell the story of people rather than just concepts.

Me: What are your hopes for the film?

JM: My greatest hope for the film is that it enlightens people to do more research on Iran and to realize that Iran and the Muslim world are not  monolithic societies, we’re not all one color, we’re not all of one type of Islamic identity, we don’t all live in the desert. People were shocked to know that Iran got cold. I’m wearing a jacket through the majority of my film and they’re like, ‘I thought it was a desert.’ And there were buildings and everything; even those simple things are important. My greatest hope is that people can walk away and say there’s more to what I thought I knew.

Poster by Marco Oliva

Me: How does your knowledge and ability of diverse activities like being a break dancer practicing martial arts and being a filmmaker relate to making “Warring Factions?”

JM: A lot of my documentaries, I make them personal. I work in the subject that I know and love. I love b-boying. It’s part of my identity and one of the highlights of my American identity. B-boying is such an American culture and going to Iran and being a teacher of b-boying to students of traditional Persian martial arts, Varzesh Bastani, I thought that was my cultural contribution; that was my cultural change that I had there. I wanted that to be my contribution while learning about my own culture and heritage.

Me: During the process of filming did you come across any obstacles?

JM: In the making of the film when I was coming back from Iran, I was taken off of the airplane by homeland security agents and who identified me as I walked off the plane so I didn’t even get to the customs area. I showed them my American passport and I was taken to a screening area. I was interviewed for over four hours and I missed my connecting flight. My cell phone was taken away from me and my laptop,everything. The worst part about the whole experience was that the they took all of the footage that I shot in Iran. They confiscated it for review because I was under suspicion of terrorism. It was a very scary experience especially when they were interviewing me to see if I was lying to them. It was a very interesting feeling, as an American, to all of a sudden be considered a threat.

Me: Was this a new experience for you?

JM: Yes. My wife calls me an ‘undercover brother.’ I’m a very light skinned Iranian. The only giveaway is my beard but a lot of people have beards. I wasn’t racially profiled, I was identified because of my travel history, because literally my identity as an Iranian and the fact that I had been to Iran twice in a two year span and my age [26]. I have other ideas as to why they picked me but it was a horrible new experience. One of my other goals for the film is to hopefully shed some light to Americans that the war on terrorism is not being fought in an effective way at all. It’s damaging our civil liberties as Americans and we turn a blind eye to a lot of injustices happening to people whether they’re Muslims or not; just brown people in general.

Me: Do you feel American societies are ready for this more accurate image of American Muslims, one that is starkly different from what is portrayed in today’s media and pop culture?

JM: I always make the parallel of Jewish Americans, when they were becoming active in this country. They were gaining power as more than just a nominal voice in the American cultural quilt. They developed a voice for themselves and they supported each together in a way, like a community of artists and of image makers. Now in America, if you see an artist or a journalist with a Jewish name, you don’t immediately discredit it. Now we currently have a problem in America when we see journalists with the name Mohammad or Ahmed or Ali; it’s a problem.

Me: Do you feel like there is a distinguishable characteristic that the U.S. – Iran relationship retains that is different from the relationships between the U.S. and other Muslim nations?

JM: I think currently there is still much tension between the U.S. and Iran. I think Americans have more attention towards this issue and there’s a little more bad blood there. Iranians are seen as threats by some Americans and it takes a while to disarm that gun for a lot of people. I think with the right type of communication, with the right type of words we’re able to come to an understanding that not all Iranians are Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, and not all Americans are George W. Bush.

Me: During your time In Iran were there consequences to your American identity?

JM: As long as I’ve been going to Iran I’ve never experienced any type of discrimination because I’m American and I’m a very obvious American. A lot of Americans were shocked to find out that when you’re perceived as American in Iran they want to hug you and hang out with you and they don’t want to kill you. The majority of Iranians are very interested in what Americans have to say.

Me: What‘s next?

JM: I’m currently working on a film about Muslim Americans in the prison systems. I’m in contact with prisoners that are incarcerated and exploring their process of rehabilitation and how they have to socialize back into America that now looks to them as ex-con Muslims.

At the same time CPS closed a $475 million deficit for 2010, Ron Huberman, the CEO of CPS awarded himself a $300000 yearly pay increase as well as giving his administrative staff raises. Outlined in the budget, the top officials in each of the 53 departments within CPS, as well as many of their assistants, are the received raises this year.

According to Chicago Reader, at a May 11 press conference Huberman said he has drastically cut the central office payroll. “In the administrative ranks we’ve reduced or eliminated over 50 positions that make over $100,000, all to tighten our belts internally,” said Huberman.

There is yet to be any supporting documentation that backs up Huberman’s claims.

Various Chicago public schools affected by budget cuts:

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“They are cutting student bus cards so now we have to pay out of our own pockets to get to school,” said Atwan Gist, a junior at Morgan Park High School in Chicago’s west side.

Fifteen teacher positions have been terminated at Morgan Park High School due to the budget cuts.

"Our book shelves look like a teenage mutant ninja turtle that just got knocked up- they are full of holes," said Robertson, a junior at Morgan Park High School. (Photo by Rachel Metea).

“We started to hear about position cuts and then there was fear about losing a job and losing some of the better teachers we have. There was a palpable fear amongst staff; students can sense that fear and it really affects their ability to focus on their schoolwork,” said Lauren Luchessi, a social studies teacher who has been teaching at Morgan Park for five years.

Students at Morgan High are beginning to feel the tug at their own pocket money as a result of budget cuts. Seventeen year old Justin Roberson explains, “They raised our activities’ fees because what was usually just a couple of $20′s from my mother, now I have to chip in.”

Going from the west side to the southwest side of Chicago, to Curie Metropolitan High School you can hear the same tune. At Curie, teachers are anticipating twenty position cuts coupled with the threat of terminating summer school programs and sophomore sports next season.

There was a palpable fear amongst staff; students can sense that fear and it really affects their ability to focus on their schoolwork,” said Lauren Luchessi, a social studies teacher who has been teaching at Morgan Park for five years. (Photo by Rachel Metea)

“We [teachers] are strongly against the cuts. I really don’t think it’s where you need to go,” said David Coronado, a guidance councilor and baseball coach at Curie Metropolitan High School. “This is your future, this is what we have to work with. These children are the people that are going to take care of us when we are older.”

“We need to strive to get as many resources we can to them. I think we are already strapped for resources and for them to cut it doesn’t’ make a lot of sense,” said Coronado.

Coronado believes that budget cuts are going to have negative effects on students who no longer have sports, summer school, and extracurricular activities to keep them motivated and disengaged with street drugs and violence.

Summer school programs at Morgan Park High School are being cut down so that only two courses over the summer will be offered. Coronado said that they are now placing the responsibility on the students to learn the material the first time around.

“They are taking away our summer school and now we can’t fix the mistakes we made,” said Nadia Villanueva, a sophomore at Curie Metropolitan High School. “It makes us realize that instead of making mistakes, slacking off and then just going to summer school- it’s making us realize we need to do better.”

“I’m concerned about the privatization of public schools,” said Luchessi. “315 million was spent this year on contract schools, charter schools and turnarounds- which are all privately operated and have no parent local school council supervision. I’m really worried about a public commodity becoming private and being run for other peoples’ interest rather than the community’s.”

At Morgan Park High School, the music program is facing even more limited money than before. The school has been trying to get a music lab over the couple of years but hasn’t been able to be successful to do so.

“They haven’t been able to get the keyboards they need so they can practice the notes they are learning,” said Robertson. If everything is all theoretical then you can’t put any use to it in the real world.”

“I think that many of the students are very well aware of the discrepancies within public education, within magnet schools and within selected enrollment schools. They could potentially take this a little personally, but I think they were already well aware of the inequalities within the public education system,” said Coronado.

The average ACT score at Morgan Park High School is 18.8 and at Curie it is 18.2. At Percy Julian High School the average ACT is 16.4.

After repeated attempts, the CPS administration was unavailable for questions.

Students have said they hate their school’s cafeteria food and wish it could be better. It looks like some things just haven’t changed.

Chicago Police found that five of the seven muggings were linked and believe that the remaining two were related.

The victims were asked for their wallets, then savagely beaten in the head and face. Two of the victims were hospitalized.

No arrests were made as of March 31, 2009 for the attacks.

Lincoln Park is home to DePaul University which informs students of the latest crime activity on campus. The campus is equppied with emergency stations and students are reminded to be aware of their surroundings and not walk alone, according to the Public Safety Department of DePaul.

The Chicago Police Department also provides general residents of Lincoln Park with annual crime rate reports.

AndrewHuff (Photo by Mike Reilley)

Huff explained how Gapers Block was created by volunteering writers who helped create the publication. While grudgingly working as a PR agent for a day job, Huff developed his hobby of blogging, with the help of fellow bloggers and designers, transforming his true passion into a full time career.

Gapers Block focuses on news and information about events going on in Chicago. Huff hopes it serves as a way for Chicagoans to slow down and observe what’s going on around them. The publication offers art, music, food, and politics sections as well as a book club section which is the first one that was created. Like Huff, the writers behind Gapers Block find comfort and satisfaction in contributing to their passions while holding uninspiring day jobs.

Huff talking about Gapers Block (Video by Mike Reilley)

The need for hyper-localized reporting is behind the growing industry of online journalism, Huff told students. Freelancing is available to budding writers and although the positions aren’t paid, Huff explained that free movies and free tickets are guaranteed perks.

Huff talking about opportunities at Gapers Block (Video by Mike Reilley)

Gapers Block has received reputable recognition in the Chicago Tribune and gained a $35,000 grant from Chicago Community Trust for local reporting, Huff said. After encouraging students to submit pieces and reminding them that links to the entire online community as a whole is what produces high readership, he left them with this ideology: “Write what you know, link to the rest.” This idea was created by Harvard University’s Nieman Journalism Lab, concerning the future of journalism.

Huff is currently working on numerous projects besides Gapers Block, including 1954 , a web site about journal entries Huff wrote in 1993 in a datebook from 1954.