The Free Press, Mankato, MN

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May 9, 2009

From Madelia to Iran

Madelia native makes film about Iran, sees Saberi

By Brian Ojanpa

Steve Spencer is fascinated by the Middle East.

“It’s just more interesting, plus, I don’t see a lot of tourists,” said the Madelia native, who vacationed in Iran in 2006 and is putting finishing touches on a feature-length film about his experiences there.

The footage he shot includes a few seconds of Iranian-American journalist Roxana Saberi, who he met just before heading back to the United States.

Saberi, 32, remains jailed in Iran on charges of spying for the United States. She was convicted last month and sentenced to eight years in prison.

She has ended a two-week hunger strike to protest her arrest, and Iran has promised that her case will be heard on appeal. She was raised in Fargo, N.D.

Spencer, a 1983 Madelia High grad who works for Twin Cities Public Television, is reluctant to comment on the veracity of the spy charges, but said he’s skeptical because of their timing.

“Roxana has been there six years, and they probably kept good tabs on her, so why now? She was arrested just after Obama took office, so that leads me to believe there are other motivations at work here.”

Spencer shot 26 hours of video in Iran as he traveled the country with an Iranian guide — a requirement for foreign visitors.

“Iran actually is a very safe country to travel in,” said Spencer, although he may have feared for the safety of some Iranian men after witnessing how they celebrated a Muslim holy day.

“I was in a room with 15 or 20 highly ecstatic Shia. They all had swords and they cut their heads open.”

Spencer said blood spilled onto the street as the men applied their ritualistic wounds. He said scenes such as that aren’t reflective of that nation’s people in general.

“The vast majority of Iranians think those guys are insane.”

When Spencer finishes editing the documentary-style film, he plans to plug it into the film festival circuit. The film is a personal project not connected to his job.

He spent a month in Iran and said he marveled at the juxtaposition of modern Westernization encroaching upon Old World ways.

“It’s an ancient civilization at a crossroads.”

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