"The Dawn Is Too Far" (previously known as "We Are Here") documents the complex personal histories that have brought Iranians to the San Francisco Bay Area for more than fifty years.
Based on interviews with 25 different individuals who live, work, and contribute to life and culture of the San Francisco Bay Area, "The Dawn Is Too Far" will portray the history of local Iranian Americans and the challenges they have faced as a group struggling to find acceptance and understanding in the long shadow of larger political and historical events. In giving voice to a complicated facet of our local culture and US history in the post-War period, this film has an immediate connection with the larger Iranian American community in California and across the US. It will also appeal to a number of other diaspora communities that have grown into generations of "deep" Californians who made it their home despite the obstacles they faced. This film has the potential to spark urgent conversations about American identity in a time of growing fear and divisiveness.
This 60-minute documentary explores the history, struggles, and impact of four generations of Iranian immigrants to the Bay Area, despite having been continuously "othered" by the tense relationship between the US and Iranian governments and negative media headlines since 1979. "The Dawn Is Too Far" captures the resilient and complex character of this immigrant community, its challenges and successes, as well as the ways it has contributed to the Bay Area's culture and communities.
The project is a ground-breaking collaboration with the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies.
"The Dawn Is Too Far" In the News
- "We Are Here, We Have Always Been Here" SF Weekly Article by Ida Mojadad
- 'We Are Here, We Have Always Been Here': SF State Produces First-Ever Documentary on Bay Area Iranian Community, by Matt Itelson
Support this film by making a donation today
This Project is Support by
