A JIHAD FOR LOVE:::A FIlm by Parvez Sharma

The Iranians: Amir is filmed as he waits to receive asylum, with a group of three other young gay Iranian men-Payam, Arsham and Mojtaba- who arrived in Turkey before Amir. While in Iran, Amir was charged with crimes of “sexual preference, sexual contact, illicit speech, illicit dress, makeup, and mannerism”—and for these “crimes,” Amir was sentenced to a flogging and received 100 lashes, after being brutally beaten and tortured while in the custody of the police. He arrived in Turkey a year ago undertaking a perilous journey from Shiraz, his hometown, over the border under the cover of darkness where he needed to bribe customs officials to leave. Amir is filmed as he waits to receive asylum, with a group of three other young gay Iranian men who arrived in Turkey before Amir. Two were granted asylum in Canada. These men left Turkey a few months ago and we documented their departure to what they hope is a better life while others wait in limbo. From these four men, we learned that at least 10 other Iranian men in Turkey have been denied asylum and these men will probably be sent back to Iran by the Turkish government - where under an increasingly repressive regime, only peril awaits them.