Desert Dancer (2014)

As the sun is setting on 2017, let's take a moment to think about supporting both the arts and freedom of and from religion.  Especially in light of our current government in the United States that seems to frown on all of the above.  What ever does not make the rich richer and the rest of us poorer has no place in theri agenda, and weirdly, at least at this point, we are still a democracy.
Not so for the Iran of 2009 depicted in this film.  Iran has a deep and rich culture when it comes to the arts, including poetry and film.  Not so under a severe religious regime.  The main character is Afshin Gaffarian, a man who even as a boy was obsessed with dance.  He manages to follow his dream for a number of years, but then has to go increasingly underground in order to dance, ending up in an epic performance in the desert.  It is not entirely successful as a film, but it does tell a story worth hearing about repression, the things that are essentially human, and the dangers that are at our very door.