MightierThan.com » Video

Long Live the Muppets

Chas Danner — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 06:02:14 +0000

This new Muppet Studio channel is as of right now the reason YouTube was invented.

Great Idea

Chas Danner — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:24:25 +0000

People recording their own mock-confessions to ridicule the “confessions” from protesters Iranian State TV likes to broadcast.

See more here:
http://watchmeconfess.wordpress.com/videoconfessions/

Poem for The Rooftops Suite

Chas Danner — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 14:09:11 +0000

A fourth poem has been added to the suite! It was recorded the night of June 21st and has only recently emerged. I once again had the help of some wonderful Iranian’s to help me translate, after which I titled it: “Let Us Not Forget” And even though it has been a few weeks since it was recorded it’s still very compelling and quite relevant to what we’ve seen this week. (Read this for some more background on the other poem videos) So without further ado – I’m excited to announce that here are all four Poems for the Rooftops of Iran together for the first time – and there may even be a fifth (and definitely final this time)

Click here to jump right to the new one, or head down and browse all four in chronological order…

Tues June 16th 2009 – “Defenseless People”

Fri June 19th 2009 – “Where is This Place”

Sat June 20th 2009 – “Listen Closely”

Sun June 21st 2009 – “Let Us Not Forget”

The Sohrab Effect

Chas Danner — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:55:11 +0000

Perhaps there are no protests in the streets during the day, or at least none that we are able to see. But where Sohrab lived people were apparently in the streets last night singing and chanting.

There are multiple reports that there as many as a hundred or more bodies still in the morgues of Tehran, which means hundreds of family members still don’t know if their loved one is alive or dead, their pressurized worry and confusion undoubtedly now close to breach. When the bodies are identified there could be hundreds of small funerals, hundreds of unforgettable speeches by livid and distraught mothers, hundreds of neighborhood blocks where candles are lit and chanting comes down from the rooftops to the street.

What started with Neda at her moment of death will now continue one by one with each hidden-away corpse, each family in a government office with a stack of gruesome photographs, each unstoppable mother in grief, each living snapshot of each dead child on a poster, a blog, a foreign newspaper…. one by one the logs of revolution are buried under the nervous eyes of plainclothes officers, yet still they are set ablaze. There is a reason genocidal killers use mass graves; it is how you remove the emotional ammunition provided by the mourning of individuals. In a place like Iran, even by word of mouth, even without the funerals themselves… each death has its consequence. Imagine hundreds of these videos exploding onto YouTube in the coming weeks….

How can they stop them all?

Sohrab

Chas Danner — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 03:00:43 +0000

Two videos to see regarding Sohrab Aarabi’s death. The first is a long movie I made today compiling the 5 videos I have so far seen of his funeral, as well as the prior video of his mother outside Evin Prison inquiring about his whereabouts when she had not yet learned of his death. I added some still images and some textual explanations so that the narrative makes a little more sense. You can watch it here. (download here)

This kind of compilation is something I am going to try to do more of, focusing not on adding music or anything hyper-dramatic but just combining footage together so it takes less effort for the average person to see more footage and understand it better. I will add text where it seems appropriate and do my best to confirm that anything that gets written is accurate.

In addition a video of Sohrab’s candlelit neighborhood that has emerged is here. I included this video in the July 13th entry for the Rooftop Project.

New Footage from 6/13

Chas Danner — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:04:13 +0000

Sad to say there have been no new rooftop videos from the last two nights for the Project, but I did find this remarkable video from June 13th, the first recording of Allah-o Akbar chants to be emerge from that night (the day after the election). It has very clear English narration from what sounds like an American visiting family there. It is one of the clearest “short stories” any of these videos has told. Unique and intense new footage.

Special thanks to YouTube user Videosfromiran who helped me find the original video. The other versions on YouTube have audio sync problems so I re-uploaded the corrected version

Poem for the Rooftops Suite

Chas Danner — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 23:10:27 +0000

Lost in the 24 hour struggle to launch The Rooftop Project was the news that I had finished the first and final Poem for the Rooftops of Iran by YouTube user Oldouz84. I titled it Defenseless People. While it is already featured as the June 16th entry on The Rooftop Project, here it is again by itself so it gets the extra special attention it deserves. As with the June 20th video, I had the help of several Farsi speakers who’s translations I have woven together. Below the jump are the other two “Poems” so that all three are now viewable together for the first time. Also, you should know that “Oldouz84″ did not write these in advance but rather invented them spontaneously in the moment each time, something I find remarkable.

Three weeks ago I’m embarrassed to admit I could not have pointed to Tehran on a map. Now I have mastered highly focused YouTube searches in written Farsi and yesterday even got the point where I took issue with the New York Times for doubting the date of a video I had uploaded. (Like a geometry proof, I cited location, crowd makeup, and careful analysis of hundreds of other videos)

Since June 18th when I opened my YouTube account, my uploaded videos have received a combined 468,554 views. Most of these clips I found in other places and converted to YouTube so they would easier for Nico @ HuffPo to share. Almost all of them show terrible violence that I feel absolutely no pride in associating myself with. But of the footage to make it out from Iran, and I have seen almost all of it, I believe these “Poems” are the most important. Violence may have an easier time capturing our attention, but art is always more powerful at providing the resonance we need to understand and remember. These three videos capture the beating heart of this moment in Iran, and I feel truly fortunate to have been able to play any small part in making sure they are more fully seen.

7/12 UPDATE: There is a fourth video from June 22nd! Coming soon!!

Iran: The Rooftop Project

Chas Danner — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:46:17 +0000

One of the most compelling elements of the continued uprising in Iran has been when each night under the cover of darkness Iranians chant themselves hoarse from the rooftops, balconies, and windows of their homes. This is done to express resolve, hope, frustration, but probably more than anything else – to provide a way for people to be together, in spirit and in their cause. As long as their voices echo through each night, Iran is not yet free. It is the soundtrack of revolution.

This is meant to be the most complete possible collection of recordings of nighttime protest in Iran since the beginning of the uprising. Its goal is to locate and profile at least one video for each night primarily focusing on the nightly chanting of Allah-o-Akbar from the rooftops whenever that footage is available. Some of these videos have not been widely seen until now. I will continue to update this post with new videos as they become available, please encourage people in Iran to try to record these evening chants of Allah-o-Akbar so that the world can continue to see and hear them every day. There are several days for which I was unable to find a video – please help me find them! – you can email me at itsmightier@gmail.com – I can post the videos anonymously under my YouTube account if needed. The permalink for this post will be http://mightierthan.com/rooftop

This project is dedicated to “Oldouz84″

تکمیل‌ترین جمع ضبط شبهای ایران از آغاز شلوقیها. روز با روز با سعی‌ اولیه از نشون دادن الله اکبر از پشتبونها. بعضی‌ از اینها بطور زیاد تا باحال دیده نشدن. من با رسیدن ویدئوهای جدید این سایت رو ادامه میدم. لطفا از ایرانیان خواهش کنید که همچنان ادامه ضبط الله اکبر در شبها باشند که تمام دنیا شاهد روزانه این فعلیتها باشند. چند روز بود که ویدئو گیر نیاوردم اگر دستتن اومد به من ایمیل بزنین
و اگر مخواهید میتوانم زیر اسم ناشناس برییتون آپلود کنم.

“Oldouz84″ این رو اهدا می‌کنم به
Balatarin Link

GO TO THE LATEST DATE

TUESDAY JUNE 9th / 19 KHORDAD
Before the Election

FRIDAY JUNE 12th / 22 KHORDAD
Election Night

ON THE STREETS (Help me find Allah-o-Akbar for this date)

SATURDAY JUNE 13th / 23 KHORDAD

ON THE STREETS (Allah-o Akbar is below this)

ENGLISH NARRATION, GUNSHOTS CAN BE HEARD

SUNDAY JUNE 14th / 24 KHORDAD

MONDAY JUNE 15th / 25 KHORDAD

VIOLENCE IN THE DARK

ALLAH-O-AKBAR – I really love this video, watch for the couple at 1:24

TUESDAY JUNE 16th / 26 KHORDAD

POEM FOR THE ROOFTOPS OF IRAN: DEFENSELESS PEOPLE

WEDNESDAY JUNE 17th / 27 KHORDAD

THURSDAY JUNE 18th / 28 KHORDAD

FRIDAY JUNE 19th / 29 KHORDAD
after Khamenei announces protests will be put down

POEM FOR THE ROOFTOPS OF IRAN: WHERE IS THIS PLACE

SATURDAY JUNE 20th / 30 KHORDAD
after brutal crackdown, murder of Neda

POEM FOR THE ROOFTOPS OF IRAN: LISTEN CLOSELY

ANOTHER WORTH SEEING

SUNDAY JUNE 21st / 31 KHORDAD

POEM FOR THE ROOFTOPS: “LET US NOT FORGET”

ANOTHER

MONDAY JUNE 22nd / 1 TIR

TUESDAY JUNE 23rd / 2 TIR

MAY NOT BE ACCURATE DATE – WAS POSTED 6/23 BUT THAT IS ONLY INDICATION

WEDNESDAY JUNE 24th / 3 TIR

THURSDAY JUNE 25th / 4 TIR

VIGIL FOR THE DEAD @ TEHRAN UNIVERSITY (Help me find Allah-o-Akbar video for this date)

FRIDAY JUNE 26th / 5 TIR

SATURDAY JUNE 27th / 6 TIR

SUNDAY JUNE 28th / 7 TIR

MONDAY JUNE 29th / 8 TIR

TUESDAY JUNE 30th / 9 TIR

WEDNESDAY JULY 1st / 10 TIR

THURSDAY JULY 2nd / 11 TIR

FRIDAY JULY 3rd / 12 TIR

SATURDAY JULY 4th / 13 TIR

SUNDAY JULY 5th / 14 TIR

MONDAY JULY 6th / 15 TIR

MAY NOT BE ACCURATE DATE – WAS POSTED 7/6 BUT THAT IS ONLY INDICATION

TUESDAY JULY 7th / 16 TIR

WEDNESDAY JULY 8th / 17 TIR

THURSDAY JULY 9th / 18 TIR
after protesters return to the streets

FRIDAY JULY 10th / 19 TIR

SATURDAY JULY 11th / 20 TIR

SUNDAY JULY 12th / 21 TIR

MONDAY JULY 13th / 22 TIR

also from tonight, the candlelight neighborhood of 19 year old Sohrab Aarabi

TUESDAY JULY 14th / 23 TIR

WEDNESDAY JULY 15th / 24 TIR

THURSDAY JULY 16th / 25 TIR

FRIDAY JULY 17th / 26 TIR

SATURDAY JULY 18th / 27 TIR

SUNDAY JULY 19th / 28 TIR

MONDAY JULY 20th / 29 TIR

TUESDAY JULY 21st / 30 TIR

WEDNESDAY JULY 22nd / 31 TIR

NO ALLAH-O AKBAR VIDEO for TONIGHT SO FAR – This is near Sohrab Aarabi’s home

THURSDAY JULY 23rd / 1 MORDAD

FRIDAY JULY 24th / 2 MORDAD

SATURDAY JULY 25th / 3 MORDAD

SUNDAY JULY 26th / 4 MORDAD

MONDAY JULY 27th / 5 MORDAD

TUESDAY JULY 28th / 6 MORDAD

WEDNESDAY JULY 29th / 7 MORDAD

THURSDAY JULY 30th / 8 MORDAD
After protests marking 40 days since Neda was murdered

FRIDAY JULY 31st / 9 MORDAD

SATURDAY AUGUST 1st / 10 MORDAD

SUNDAY AUGUST 2nd / 11 MORDAD

And a new uploader besides y45har tonight!!:

MONDAY AUGUST 3rd / 12 MORDAD
After the day of Ahmadinejad’s pre-inauguration ceremony

From y45har:

And another since this was such an important day:

TUESDAY AUGUST 4th / 13 MORDAD

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 5th / 14 MORDAD
After Ahmadinejad’s “Inauguration” Ceremony

THURSDAY AUGUST 6th / 15 MORDAD

FRIDAY AUGUST 7th / 16 MORDAD

SATURDAY AUGUST 8th / 17 MORDAD

SUNDAY AUGUST 9th / 18 MORDAD

MONDAY AUGUST 10th / 19 MORDAD

TUESDAY AUGUST 11th / 20 MORDAD

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12th / 21 MORDAD

AUGUST 13th / 25 MORDAD thru AUGUST 26th / 4 SHAHRIVAR

THURSDAY AUGUST 27th / 5 SHAHRIVAR

FRIDAY AUGUST 28th / 6 SHAHRIVAR

AUGUST 29th / 7 SHAHRIVAR to SEPT 3rd / 12 SHAHRIVAR

FRIDAY SEPT 4th / 13 SHAHRIVAR

SEPT 5th / 14 SHAHRIVAR to SEPT 8th / 17 SHAHRIVAR

WEDNESDAY SEPT 9th / 18 SHAHRIVAR

THURSDAY SEPT 10th / 19 SHAHRIVAR

FRIDAY SEPT 11th / 20 SHAHRIVAR

SATURDAY SEPT 12th / 21 SHAHRIVAR

SUNDAY SEPT 13th / 22 SHAHRIVAR

MONDAY SEPT 14th / 23 SHAHRIVAR

TUESDAY SEPT 15th / 24 SHAHRIVAR

WEDNESDAY SEPT 16th / 25 SHAHRIVAR

THURSDAY SEPT 17th / 26 SHAHRIVAR

FRIDAY SEPT 18th – DEC 25th / 27 SHAHRIVAR – 4 AZAR

SATURDAY DEC 26 / 5 AZAR

SUNDAY DEC 27 / 6 AZAR