From Babylon to Beverly Hills: The Exodus of Iran's Jews
In 1979, the Islamic Revolution in Iran brought a twenty-five- hundred-year-old history to a close for the Jews who left their homeland for America. Uncertain about their safety and fearing religious persecution in Khomeini's Islamic Theocracy, an estimated 80,000 of Iran's 100,000 Jews fled the country. This documentary tells the story of those Jews who reestablished a tight knit community in Los Angeles. In the American cultural imagination, Iranians are represented by scenes of hard-line religious leaders and unruly crowds crying "Down With America." Very little is known about the religious diversity of Iranians living in America. This documentary helps create a more nuanced view of the culture and religious diversity of Iranians both inside and outside the country.