PCC’s Board Meetings
Dear PCC Members,
Persian Cultural Center’s board of directors holds its meetings every second Wednesday of the month at the Iranian American Center (IAC). The last two meetings took place on May 13 and June 10, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the meetings were held online.
PCC Events – May and June 2020
Due to the COVID-19 outbreak and for the safety and health of the Persian community, all of PCC’s March, May, and June events—including Jong, Poetry and Literature Night, and Movie Night—were cancelled. The Docunight event was held online for the months of May and June.
Documentary Night – May 20, 2020
The documentaries Nesa (2010) and Moving Up (2009), directed by Loghman Khaledi, were selected for the month of May. Nesa is about a young girl who longs to be an actress and wants nothing more than to perform with a theater group. But, as a young woman from Kermanshah, she is expected to marry and have a “normal” life. With a family that is desperate for her to capitulate and an oppressive and violent brother, Nesa’s life is a struggle between her love and passion and her family. Moving Up is about Shahriyar, a garbage collector and a passionate unpublished novelist. Shahriyar finds it impossible to conform to society’s expectations; rather, he aspires to be Jack London or Dostoevsky. He writes imaginative stories to escape from his dull, prosaic life in Kermanshah, a city in Iran’s western region. But his wife, his family, his neighborhood, and all the people around him constantly conspire to hold him back from moving up. Moving Up is a powerful, inspiring, and deeply affecting story of an outsider who wants to be an artist, seemingly impossible in the provincial town of Kermanshah.
A discussion session was held online, moderated by Mahmoud Pirouzian.
Docunight Online- Sunday May 24, 2020
The world online premiere of Formerly Youth Square, directed by Mina Akbari, was the first Docunight program held after several months. With the new format, people can go to the Docunight website, watch the movie at their convenience during the week, and then attend a Q & A session via Zoom. Formerly Youth Square is a documentary about a group of reporters who were forced to change their careers or move out of the country after the government shut down their newspapers. Akbari herself was one of these dedicated reporters who has become a documentarian. She meets with some of the reporters and editors, and attempts to reconstruct a memorable picture they took at the “Youth Square,” in front of the newspaper office with whomever was left of them. At the Zoom meeting, Ms. Akbari and two other reporters were present and directed a lively discussion.
Docunight – June 14, 2020
The documentary Gracefully (2019), directed by Arash Es’haghi, was selected for the month of June. Gracefully tells the story of an 80 year old man who was known in his youth for having danced at local ceremonies and celebrations dressed as a woman. Dancing publicly was banned after the revolution and he now lives as a farmer taking care of cows. This film captures one man’s continued pursuit of happiness through dancing. Gracefully has won many awards, including the director award at Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival in Japan. A live Q & A session with the director was held online on June 14.
Documentaries previously shown at Docunight events are now available to watch online at the docunight.com site.
PCC Youth Committee
We wanted to thank the PCC Youth Committee for volunteering their time to tutor others during the corona virus pandemic. It was very helpful to students who did not have the same access to resources as they normal would. This goes to show how the members of the committee are eager to help and improve their community specially during times of need.
Thank to Armita Fazel, Melody Khoshneviszadeh, Donna Mahmoudi, Shakiba Mahmoudi and Melika Khoshneviszadeh for their efforts.
Dear community member,
We live in a challenging time. The COVID -19 pandemic has not only affected our health and daily lives, but it has also caused drastic financial hardship for most people and organizations like ours. Persian Cultural Center is your organization, and now, more than ever before, we need your support to help us navigate through this crisis and continue our services to the community.
As you know, we receive a large portion of our annual budget from government grants. However, due to the COVID -19 pandemic, the City of San Diego has announced that the arts and culture grants will be roughly cut in half. Also, because of the cancellation of our annual Nowruz Gala, which typically is the main fundraising event for PCC, not only we did not raise any funds, we suffered monetary damages due to cancellation penalties. These huge losses mean PCC is solely dependent on your support. There are several ways you can help:
- If you are not a member yet, please become a member at the level of your choice. PCC membership levels include Individual, Family, Student, Senior Citizen, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. Each level enjoys different benefits. For more information and to become a member, please visit our website pccsd.org/membership.
- If you are already a member, please renew your membership.
- Make a donation at any level. All donations are tax-deductible.
- If you own a business, by placing your ad in Peyk magazine or Peyk online (peykmagazine.com) and the PCC weekly electronic newsletter, you will help us to promote your business. For more information, please contact us at (858) 552-9355 or pcc@pccsd.org.
We appreciate your support at any level. Hopefully, this crisis will be over soon and we will go back to our regular gatherings such as Jong e Farhangi, Movie and Discussion Nights, Docunight, music concerts, art exhibitions, along with the celebration of Yalda, Mehregan, and Nowruz as well as cross-cultural events. Thank you sincerely for considering a gift to the Persian Cultural Center to help us continue our important mission.
Respectfully,
Board of Directors of the Persian Cultural Center
Persian Cultural Center
Annual Meeting and Election
Sunday, September 20, 2020
The Persian Cultural Center general assembly usually takes place on the third weekend of the month of May. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the meeting was postponed. We are planning to have the meeting and election on Sunday, September 20, 2020. If the situation permits at the time, the meeting will be held at the location of Iranian School of San Diego, otherwise there would be a virtual meeting and election online. The meeting agenda will consist of the annual report of activities of the past year, projection of the future activities and events for next year, and the election of several new board members who will be replacing the current members whose terms have expired.
Please join us.
If you have been a member for the last year and are interested in running for the board, please contact us by sending an email to pcc@pccsd.org. If your membership has lapsed or you would like to become a member, this is the best time to do so and join us at our annual meeting. Please visit www.pccsd.org.
Thank you,
Board of Directors of Persian Cultural Center
