Nazanin Boniadi Quotes
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Frances Conroy - brilliant, brilliant actress.
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A celebrated and hugely popular actress in her native Iran, Ahangarani first landed on the radar of the Iranian authorities for her open support of opposition figure Mir-Hossein Mousavi, which led to her arrest in July 2009 in the aftermath of a disputed presidential election in Iran.
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I decided to start acting in my mid-twenties. I studied pre-med, and I have a bachelor's degree in Biology, so when I decided to pursue a different career, I got a lot of, 'What on earth are you doing?' But, I gave myself a year and thought, 'You know what, I'm going to just beat the odds.'
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For me, the struggle for women's human rights began the moment I was born in Tehran at the height of the Iranian Revolution, a time when the status of women was quickly deteriorating.
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The people of Iran have had to endure repressive laws that have stifled their freedom of speech and religion for too long.
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The idea that an actress - mostly lauded for her performances in more than a dozen films - somehow represents a threat to Iran's national security is laughable at best. But in Ahangarani's case, far from anything humorous, the allegations have actually resulted in the sober prospect of real prison time.
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Women and girls, men and boys all share the right to live free of violence, which is, unfortunately, experienced by both men and women. Women and girls, however, disproportionately experience violence due to a deeply rooted global culture of gender discrimination.
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History's lesson, of course, is that attempts to suppress free expression have merely confirmed the caricaturists' original critique of heavy-handed and objectionable actions of overreaching governments.
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I entered the acting world at a time when there was a higher demand for Middle Eastern actors in the post-9/11 world, and yeah, the roles weren't great.
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I was always fascinated with science, and being Persian, it's instilled in us at a young age to follow something very academic in our career.
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Old-school Dire Straits songs are on heavy rotation: 'So Far Away,' 'Romeo and Juliet' and of course 'Sultans of Swing.'
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I feel really connected to antiquity for some reason.
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The thing that I love about 'Scandal' is every character, it's not clear if they're good or bad. Everyone is both good and bad.
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Violence against women and girls touches every corner of the globe and is one of the world's most pervasive human rights violations.
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My human rights activism has been widely met with encouragement and support. Ahangarani should earn plaudits, not only for her cinematic achievements, but also for her humanitarian deeds and her commitment to increased rights and freedoms for all.
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When you or your loved ones escape repression, you often find yourself committed to ensuring that freedom prevails.
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While awareness-building is a crucial first step, cohesive efforts are needed to translate this into real-world change.
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For me personally, I'm an activist, so I see a lot of turmoil and heartache in the world and tragedy.
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In a lot of ways, I think television is better for women than film.
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I always say, as an actress, I get to portray the human condition, but as an activist, I get to change the human condition.
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It's tougher for women than men in Hollywood, period, if you ask me. As with most professions, women have generally not found equality with men when it comes to income and influence. There aren't as many female directors, producers, and writers, which translates to fewer complex roles for women.
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As far as the 2009 elections go, there has been a serious crackdown on human rights in Iran, a clampdown on the media and the wrongful imprisonment of journalists. So it seems what's happening is the government is going after people who have a voice, people who change society or public opinion.
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To have art suppressed is very dangerous to society.
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Jason Rezaian, held for 544 days in Iran, was not a spy but rather a 'Washington Post' journalist whose work aimed to increase cultural understanding between Iran and the world.