By Larry Won

Two years ago Buddy Hatton and I had the opportunity to make a travel film on Burma-one of the most repressed countries in the world. Last January, after four months of waiting for a visa, we got our entry card for Iran, another country under iron-fist rule.

Shooting was not easy because we needed permission to film every mosque and major historical site. If it weren’t for our aggressive guide, we wouldn’t have the film we call Inside Iran Today.

However, we needed no permission to film the Iranian people. Individually, they love Americans, but as a group they are told by the clergy to hate Americans.

We happened to be in Qom, Iran’s second holiest city, when Israeli forces hit Gaza, prompting thousands of Muslims to march from their mosques in protest, and carrying signs and banners proclaiming “Down with Israel,” “Down with the USA.”

This was our cue to get out of Dodge. As we were running for our car, a couple of protesters yelled, “Are you Americans?” Reluctantly, we answered “yes” and they replied, “We love Americans.”

We used two High Def cameras, the Sony HDR FX1 and a Sony SR11. We ended up using the latter on much of the shoot because it didn’t look like a professional camera. It’s quite an amazing little camera.

I’m in the editing process now on my MacPro using Final Cut Pro.

Click here to see a short clip of Inside Iran today.

Pink Mosque in Shiraz —All photos by Larry Won

Abyaneh village (UNESCO site)