Rave culture in any country can raise safety concerns, but in Tehran the physical risk has less to do with a bad batch of MDMA and more to do with authoritarian government forces. Since 2005 western music has been banned from Iran state radio and TV stations, mirroring the implementation of a ruling from the 1979 Islamic revolution that outlawed all popular music. However this has done little to quench locals’ thirst for western media and music. A new documentary is now shining a bright light on this fact by exploring Tehran’s underground, unsanctioned rave scene.
The documentary follows two techno DJs, Anoosh and Arash, as they hide from police while simultaneously trying to ignite their careers. “I’m fed up with doing things secretly,” one of them says in the beginning of the trailer for Raving Iran, after which fate seemingly intervenes: Anoosh and Arash are are invited to the biggest techno festival in the world. However visa issues in Switzerland coupled with increasing tensions back home results in them facing their most dangerous decision yet.
The documentary doesn’t yet have a release date, but you can catch it at any of the film festivals listed on its website.
Credits
Text Hannah Ongley
Image via Vimeo