When Roxanne Varzi returned to her homeland of Iran in the 1990s after leaving as a child, she saw hundreds of pictures of young men and murals painted on buildings throughout the cities she visited. With every picture she saw, there seemed to be a ghost behind it – the ghosts of young men who died for their country.

Varzi traveled to Iran to explore her cultural background, and what she discovered there she wanted to share with others. She wanted people to know about the effects of the Iran-Iraq war, which lasted from 1980-1988 and led her family to flee the country.

Varzi, a professor at University of California, Irvine, screened her documentary, “Plastic Flowers Never Die,” on Thursday, Oct. 23, in Irvine Lecture Hall. There were about 100 attendees at the screening, organized by Tekle Woldemikael, professor of sociology. He knew Varzi and suggested she screen her movie at Chapman.

“[This film] helped me to understand more, and it helped me to come to terms with the war,” said Varzi.

The Iran-Iraq war was the longest war fought in the last century, and more than 800,000 people died in it. It started over a long-lasting border dispute.

On arrival in Tehran, Varzi thought that language, culture and beliefs would separate her from her family, she said. But she discovered that the real separation came from her absence during the Iran-Iraq war.

Freshman Yasmin Moaven, who attended the screening, is also Iranian-American. She empathized with Varzi’s feeling of alienation, she said.

“It is really hard to go back [to Iran] because you are seen as a foreigner,” said Moaven. “They don’t accept you. They can still tell.”

The film showed that martyrdom was highly valued during the war and that young men who died in conflict were honored icons. Moaven also responded to the awe the film portrayed.

“Her film touched home for me because I have been to grave sites as well,” she said. “It was very shocking … because we make it more of a beauty thing. Their graves were more like, ‘Here are these people, let’s praise them.’”

Other students at the screening were surprised by their own emotion.

“I didn’t expect that I would react so strongly to seeing the boys’ pictures on their coffins,” said senior Erica Bender, who helped organize the event.

These photos, highlighted by the movie, showed the individuality of each young man. But as the camera turned around, it exposed the image of Ruhollah Khomeini, a religious and political leader, on the back of every young man’s picture. Khomeini revolted against the Iraq invasion that led to the war, declaring it a spiritual one.

“I didn’t want to think that all those boys died for one man, but that they died for an ideal. That is what martyrdom is,” said Bender.


Contact this reporter: alex.ulsher@thepantheronline.com