When American basketball player Kevin Sheppard accepts a job to play in one of the world’s most feared countries – Iran, he expects the worst. But what he finds is a country brimming with generosity, acceptance, and sensuality. With a charismatic personality that charms everyone he meets, Kevin forms an unlikely friendship with three outspoken Iranian women who share with him their strong opinions on everything from politics to religion to gender roles. The movie is a labor of love, over 4 years in the making. After Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the destruction of Israel, we had a Skype call with Kevin Sheppard, a flashy point-guard from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Kevin was about to start a basketball contract in the Iranian Super League.
A minute into the conversation he had us rolling on the floor laughing in spite of the prospect of playing in a country that’s supposedly full of illegal nukes and Islamic terrorists. Till (husband/director) filmed Kevin in Iran over several visits, until on his last trip – in the run-up to Iran’s 2009 election – he was informed that he had made it onto a “black list,” and was put in detention in a kind of “hotel-prison” inside the glitzy new Tehran airport. Sara (wife/producer) was at home, 5-months pregnant, while Till was in Tehran hand-shredding some not-so-cool-documents-when-you’re-stuck-in-Iran and flushing them down the toilet. He was sent back to New York on the next plane. We were very fortunate to get the 200+ hours of footage (and Till…) safely out of the country, which we then used to edit the film.
American basketball player Kevin Sheppard accepts a job to play in Iran. With little knowledge about the country but plenty of charm Kevin embarks on an eye-opening journey that challenges his perceptions of life in one of the world’s most feared countries. As tensions run high between Iran and the West, Kevin leads his rookie team to the Iranian play-offs. Along the way he forms an unlikely friendship with three outspoken Iranian women.
Thanks to these women, his apartment turns into an oasis of free speech, where they defy social norms and even the law as they speak freely about everything from politics to religion to gender roles. Kevin is forced to reconcile the warped view of Iran and Iranians that is widely perpetuated by the Western media, and eventually his season in Iran culminates in something much bigger than basketball. With a soundtrack that features the most cutting-edge Iranian rap and hip-hop artists, including Shahin Najafi, Jadugaran, and ZedBazi you will be treated to a film that obliterates cultural barriers.
THE IRAN JOB was completed with the help of Kickstarter backers. The film has since been invited to cultural institutions and think tanks such as the Skirball Center (L.A.), Carnegie Endowment for Intl. Peace, and the U.S. Institute for Peace (Washington). Here bellow yu can watch the trailer, but for more information we invite you to follow the link bellow.