LINK TV presents the U.S. television premiere of the original documentary program CINEMA ENCOUNTERS IN TEHRAN, a Cinereach grant recipient.  Shot on location in Tehran, this program seeks to bridge the cultural and political rifts between Iran and the U.S. through the collaboration of young Iranian and American filmmakers.  In 2007, the Link TV crew followed American filmmakers Yoni Brook, 25, and Musa Syeed, 23, to the Cinema Verite Film Festival in Tehran.  There, they meet two Iranian filmmakers, Atefeh Khademolreza, 24, and Abbas Amini, 26, with whom they decide to make a film juxtaposing the lifestyles of a poor carpet weaver and a wealthy carpet merchant in Tehran.  The program documents their efforts to overcome cultural, sociopolitical and linguistic barriers using the universal languages of cinema and friendship to create a film together.

CINEMA ENCOUNTERS IN TEHRAN is part of the BRIDGE TO IRAN series, Link TV’s response to the cultural and political tensions that have developed between Iran and the U.S. since the 1979 Iranian revolution.

CINEMA ENCOUNTERS IN TEHRAN will premiere on Link TV on June 23 at 8:00pm ET/5:00pm PT, with repeat broadcasts at 2 :00am ET/11:00pm PT, and on June 25 at 12:30pm ET/9:30am PT and 7:36pm ET/4:36pm PT.  For full background information, additional airtimes, and to view the program streamed in its entirety, visit http://www.linktv.org/BridgeToIran.