By Amir Vahdat
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) --Armenia's foreign-language film submission to the Academy Awards for this year invites viewers to imagine a world without war, according to its director.
Anahid Abad, the director of "Yeva," said at the Iranian premiere of her debut movie on Thursday, "The world without any war is much more beautiful, even for warmongers."
The film tells the story of a young woman who escapes her influential in-laws with her daughter, Nareh, after her husband's tragic death and takes refuge in a village in the Karabakh region.
Criticizing war, Abad said its consequences are long lasting. "I was not directly in frontline of any war, but war was a part of my life," said Abad.
Abad has a long track record working in Iranian cinema as an assistant director.
Her film is a joint production between the National Cinema Center of Armenia and the Iranian Farabi Cinema Foundation in Tehran, where the Iranian premiere was held.
The foundation also submitted Iran's foreign-language film entry to the Academy Awards for this year, another anti-war film by a female director, Narges Abyar's "Nafas (Breath)."
Alireza Tabesh, the managing director of the foundation, told The Associated Press that both countries submitting anti-war films by female directors this year was "an invaluable coincidence".
"Launching co-production projects with countries in the region… is one of the main goals of this foundation", Tabesh said, "It offers the opportunity of entering into new markets and enables film producers to share their visions."
Iran has one of the largest Armenian communities in the world.
California governor signs law to protect children from social media addiction
California will make it illegal for social media platforms to knowingly provide addictive feeds to children without parental consent beginning in 2027 under a new law Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Friday.
California follows New York state, which passed a law earlier this year allowing parents to block their kids from getting social media posts suggested by a platform's algorithm. Utah has passed laws in recent years aimed at limiting children's access to social media, but they have faced challenges in court.
The California law will take effect in a state home to some of the largest technology companies in the world. Similar proposals have failed to pass in recent years, but Newsom signed a first-in-the-nation law in 2022 barring online platforms from using users' personal information in ways that could harm children. It is part of a growing push in states across the country to try to address the impacts of social media on the well-being of children.
"Every parent knows the harm social media addiction can inflict on their children — isolation from human contact, stress and anxiety, and endless hours wasted late into the night," Newsom said in a statement. "With this bill, California is helping protect children and teenagers from purposely designed features that feed these destructive habits."
The law bans platforms from sending notifications without permission from parents to minors between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m., and between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays from September through May, when children are typically in school. The legislation also makes platforms set children's accounts to private by default.
Opponents of the legislation say it could inadvertently prevent adults from accessing content if they cannot verify their... Read More