Persecution of Bahá'ís in Iran

The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the U.S. is excited about launching an online video contest to help raise awareness about the denial of access to higher education to Bahá’ís in Iran.  Since 1979, the Islamic Republic of Iran has blocked the 300,000-member Baha’i community from higher education, refusing young Baha’is entry into universities and colleges.  Click here to learn more about the denial of higher education to Bahá’ís in Iran.

We look forward to receiving your wonderful submissions!

Official Rules and Guidelines

How it works: Prepare a 2-minute video or animation about the denial of access to higher education to Baha’i in Iran and post it on http://www.youtube.com/group/bahaistudentsiran.  The video should focus on the issue Baha’is being denied access to universities in Iran and not on any alternative educational programs which they may pursue as a means to gain higher education.

You have until January 15, 2009, to upload your video to the Support Baha’i Students in Iran group page on YouTube. We’ll choose the winners of each category and announce them on this YouTube group page and on www.Bahai.us.

Who can enter: Contest is open to everyone around the world. It is also possible for groups to enter, but we ask that the names of the group members be specified. You can also enter more than one video, if you wish.

Categories both in English and Persian:

• Under 22
• Professional filmmakers
• Amateur filmmakers
• Animation/Cartoon

Prize: Recognition for your work on www.Bahai.us, and the satisfaction that you are helping raise awareness about this very important issue around the world.

How to Enter: To enter, create and submit an original video no longer than 2 minutes in length consistent with the theme of the denial of education to Baha’i students in Iran. For the purpose of this contest, a “Video Submission” is a YouTube video file submission that follows the technical, creative, and legal requirements listed below.  Follow instructions to upload Video Submission from your YouTube member account. Entries otherwise not submitted in accordance with the instructions provided on the YouTube website and the Terms of Use of YouTube membership and/or these Official Rules shall not be considered in this contest. By entering, entrants agree to comply with these rules.

Technical/Creative/Legal Requirements for the contest:
Running Time: 2 minutes maximum
Language: English, Persian

The Video Submissions must also comply with the YouTube Site’s “YouTube Community Guidelines” set forth at http://www.youtube.com/t/community_guidelines  (“Code of Conduct”) and must not:

1. include trademarks, logos, or copyrighted material not owned by entrant or used without permission (such as company names, lyrics, photographs, works of art, or images published on or in websites, television, movies, or other media); individuals may use any content that is on the following sites: www.bahai.org, http://news.bahai.org/, www.bahai.us, http://iran.bahai.us, http://media.bahai.org/, http://denial.bahai.org/, http://question.bahai.org/;
2. contain profanity, hateful content of any kind (including racism, sexism, etc.), or any other offensive, obscene, or inappropriate content;
3. defame, misrepresent, or contain disparaging remarks about other people or organizations or governments;
4. promote a political agenda regardless of the political affiliation.

Category Prize Competition: The panel of judges from the National Spiritual Assembly’s offices will judge all submissions on the following criteria:

• How original/creative is the submission?
• How well does the submission reflect the theme of denial of higher education to Baha’is in Iran?
• What is the overall impression of the submission?

Notification of Category Prize Winners: There will be 8 winners whose videos will be showcased on the site. Category Winners will be notified by e-mail by the Administrator.

PLEASE NOTE:  Because we cannot create categories in the YouTube group page and because we wish to maintain your privacy, we ask that after submitting your video you send us an email at BahaisUS@usbnc.org with:

• Your name
• Location
• Category you are entering
• Link to the video you submitted

Should you have any questions about the contest, please email us at BahaisUS@usbnc.org with the subject line ‘Video Contest’ or fill out the contact form on this site.

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