The world premiere of the film A New Wind, written and directed by George C Stoney and distributed by the Public Information Committee of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States. The National Spiritual Assembly approved an initial showing of the film in forty cities and ten colleges across the United States. A second premiere showing of the film was on World Religion Day, January 18th, 1970, in forty different cities and ten different colleges.
The film shows scenes from the Holy Land, as well as Bahá'í communities in India, Japan and in the United States, depicting Bahá'ís in their gatherings and firesides, in their daily lives and personal activities. It demonstrates the unity in diversity so characteristic of the Faith and portrays, in twenty- eight minutes of screen time, the spirit and scope of a fast-growing worldwide religious community. [National Bahá'í Review Issue 21 September 1969 p10; National Bahá'í Review Issue 23 November 1961 p13; National Bahá'í Review Issue 47 November 1972 p2]
• See National Bahá'í Review Issue 22 October 1969 p14 for a resumé of the work of George Stoney.
• YouTube.

The release of the film It's Just the Beginning. The documentary film is about the 1970 Bahá'í National Youth Conference and was made by Kiva Films. This film was aired on television and at community events. Distribution was under the Public Information Committee of the National Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States. [National Bahá'í Review Issue 47 November 1972 p2]
• YouTube.

The release of the film entitled Invitation produced under the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada by Elizabeth Martin, with the help of Chris Lyons. It was a memoir of Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum incorporating footage from Khánum's Andean trip along with memories of her childhood years in Montreal. [HNWE36]
• The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada invited Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá to the re-opening of the Bahá'í Shrine in Montreal following the completion of renovations to the historic Bahá'í site. This film documents inspired talks she gave from August 30th to September 7th, including the on given in the Church of the Messiah, where 'Abdu'l-Bahá had given an address in 1912. She shares reminiscences related to her childhood home which was later designated by Shoghi Effendi as a Shrine.
• The film was originally shot in 16mm and was digitally remastered in 2003.

The Second World Congress was held in New York City to commemorate the centenary of the passing of Bahá'u'lláh and the completion of the Six Year Plan. It was attended by some 28,000 Bahá'ís from some 180 countries. [BBD240; VV136-141; BW92-93p95-102, 136]
• Nine auxiliary conferences were held in Buenos Aires, Sydney, New Delhi, Nairobi, Panama City, Bucharest, Moscow, Apia and Singapore. [BINS283:3-4]
• For pictures see [BINS283:9-10], [BW92-3p100] and [VV136-141]
• "New York will become a blessed spot from which the call to steadfastness in the Covenant and Testament of God will go forth to every part of the world." - 'Abdu'l-Bahá [AWH77-8 90-1 105-6]
• On the 25th of November a concert was held in Carnegie Hall as a birthday tribute to Dizzy Gillespie called "Celebrating the Bahá'í Vision of World Peace". [VV141]
• On the 26th of November Bahá'ís around the world were linked together by a live satellite broadcast serving the second Bahá'í World Congress, the nine auxiliary conferences and the Bahá'í World Centre and it was received by those with access to satellite dish antennas. [BINS283:1–5, 8; BINS286:10; BINS287:4]
• For the message of the Universal House of Justice read on the satellite link see BW92–3:37–4.
• For accounts of personal experiences by some of the attendees see In the Eyes of His Beloved Servants: The Second Bahá'í World Congress and Holy Year by J. Michael Kafes.
• The film, 'Abdu'l-Bahá: Mission to America, made by Elizabeth Martin, was prepared for the World Congress program and also used in the Theme Pavilion. [HNWE45]

The release of the film Crossing Frontiers: Portrait of a World Citizen - Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum by Badiyan Distribution. This video, on the life of the Hand of the Cause of God Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum, explored the frontiers she crossed in her travels to over 185 countries promoting the essential teachings of the Bahá'í Faith. In the course of her travels she gave countless lectures, met many leading dignitaries, and was interviewed on radio, television and by the press throughout the world, continually promoting the teachings of the Bahá'í Faith. [9 Star Media]
• The video has been made available on YouTube.

The release of the documentary film Iranian Taboo about the persecution of Baháʼís in Iran. It was written and directed by Reza Allamehzadeh and produced by Mansour Taeed and Bijan Shahmoradi. It is in Farsi with English subtitles.
• Reza Allamehzadeh, an Iranian-Dutch filmmaker banned from entering his homeland, enlisted the aid of friends who clandestinely filmed inside Iran in order to explore this century-old taboo. Iranian Taboo tells the story of an Iranian Baháʼí woman, Nadereh and her 14-year-old daughter who decide to sell all of their belongings and leave their homeland to take refuge in the West. IThe film takes us across continents from Turkey to Israel and from the U.S. to Iran and gives us a unique insight into the persecution of Baháʼís of Iran, from the underground Baháʼí University (BIHE) to the oppressed Baháʼí peasants of the Eival village in the northern province of Mazandaran. The film includes never seen before interviews with some of the most respected Iranian scholars, authors and politicians, speaking about the persecution of Baha'is in Iran.
• Trailer.
• The film is available for sale on Amazon.

The release of Luminous Journey: 'Abdu'l-Bahá in America - 1912 produced by Anne and Tim Perry. The feature-length documentary film chroniclied 'Abdu'l-Bahá's 1912 journey through the United States and Canada. It was some five years in the making. [Part 1; Part 2]
• The motion picture sound track was made available 14 August 2013 and is available at Amazon.
• See an interview with the artists at 239 Days.
• See a review by J A McLean.

Deloria Bighorn, chairperson of the National Spiritual Bahá'ís of Canada, presented, on behalf of the Bahá'í Community of Canada, a submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at the BC National Event held in Vancouver from September 18th to the 21st. The formal presentation followed a panel organized by the Canadian Bahá'í Community and Reconciliation Canada. The previous week 250 people listened to Chief Doug White, Chief Dr. Robert Joseph, and Dr. Paulette Regan from the Commission discussing the challenge of reconciliation. [T&R website, CBN 24 September, CBN 9 February, 2018, BWNS1248]
• For the text see Submission of the Bahá'í Community of Canada to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission or download PDF.
• The Bahá'í community also produced a short film, The Path Home, which it screened in Ottawa in association with the final national gathering.

The release of the video Violence with Impunity: Acts of Aggression Against Iran's Bahá'í Community based on the report of the same name. [BWNS972]
• Engish
• Farsi

On the 18th of July 2023 security forces arrested Keyvan Rahimian in Tehran and transferred him to Evin Prison. He has a history of previous arrests and convictions related to his activism. Notably, he also serves as a lecturer at an online university affiliated with the Bahá'í community. [IranWire 19 July 2012]

The première of Mercy's Blessing, a film by May Taherzadeh in Lilongwe, Malawi. To date it has won 12 film awards and has been distributed for use in 115 countries. [Official Web Site]
• See the trailer.
• The film can be purchased on Vimeo.
• See her Ted Talk entitled The Power of Film to Inspire Social Change and her foundation Inspire Courage for Change.

The premiere of the film The Gate: Dawn of the Bahá'í Faith in Los Angeles. The first ever documentary about the origins of the Bahá'í Faith. On May 23rd, Bahá'í communities in multiple locations showed the film as part of their Holy Day observance. The film was directed by Bob Hercules, written by Ed Price, and the producers were Steve Sarowitz, Ed Price and Adam Mondschein. [Film Website]
• Later, about October, 2019, the film would be used to produce The Gate, Dusk of the Baha'i Faith as propaganda against the Faith.

The films can be downloaded using the link below:
Nurturing younger generations
Exploring the empowerment of junior youth
Communities learning to advance together

The film Dawn of the Light, a feature film commissioned by the Universal House of Justice for the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the Báb, was released on the bicentenary website. It was made available in nine languages. [BWNS1354]
• It was also made available on YouTube.

The release of the documentary film Nasrin, about the Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, in the USA. [IMDB; Wikipedia]

The American screenwriter, director and producer Jeff Kaufman and his co-producer, Marcia S. Ross, were unable to get visas to travel to Iran themselves. They relied on their on-the-ground film crew as well as calls with Sotoudeh and her husband Khandan. The film took four years to make and is essential viewing. Everyone involved, including Sotoudeh, put themselves in jeopardy by agreeing to participate in the project, but clearly, for them, the importance of its message outweighed the risk of arrest. The project also had to forego crowdfunding or fundraising of any kind in order to keep the film secret and protect those involved.

Sotoudeh has been called "the Nelson Mandela of Iran." [Forbes] ,

• The film was released for VOD on the 26th of January 2012. See an interview with the director, Jeff Kaufman and the producer, Marcia Ross in Awards Daily 26 January 2021.

The release of the film The Mystery of God. It was written by Linda Marshall Youssefian and Nadia Ferrorini Cucè, and was directed and edited by Vargha Mazlum.
• Vargha Mazlum has been involved in music and media for over 30 years, first as a singer/violinist in the musical band Light in the Darkness and then as a producer in China and Italy. Recently more involved in video/film development, historical research, editing and directing. His documentaries explore the lives of prominent historical Bahá'ís. [Bahá'í Chronicles]

  One of his previous productions was a film about Carole Lombard and another was called Liao Chongzhen: A Bright Candle of the World of Humanity.

• See Wikipedia Liao Chongzhen.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the landmark Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action that resulted from the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, the Bahá'í International Community released a film that reflected on the advances made toward the goals for gender equality articulated in the declaration.
The feature-length film called Glimpses into the Spirit of Gender Equality premiered at a virtual screening before a gathering of UN officials, ambassadors of member states, non-governmental organizations, and other civil society actors.
"The film examines advances in the area of equality of women and men at the level of the grassroots and their connection with the conversations that have been unfolding at the UN, drawing on examples inspired by Bahá'í community-building efforts in different countries around the world," said Saphira Rameshfar, Representative of the BIC.
• The film available on YouTube and at glimpses.bic.org.
• For the response to this film see BIC News.

  [BWNS1485]

* Abdu'l-Baha: The Mystery – Part 1: Beginnings

* Abdu'l-Baha: The Mystery – Part 2: Master of the Prison City

* Abdu'l-Baha: The Mystery – Part 3: Tumultuous Years

* Abdu'l-Baha: The Mystery – Part 4: Travels in the West

* Abdu'l-Baha: The Mystery – Part 5: The End of the Journey

* Abdu'l-Baha: The Mystery – Part 6: Touching Hearts: Stories of Transformation

The film provided insight into a hundred years of endeavor and learning since the passing of 'Abdu'l-Bahá in 1921, carried out by a burgeoning Bahá'í community, and outlined the journey that has led to the community's current efforts to contribute to the emergence of a world organized around the principle of the oneness of humanity.

The 66-minute film was made available in Arabic, English, French, Persian, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili. The original version with English subtitles was placed on YouTube. [BWNS1574]

A Bahá'í in Egypt: A story of 3 generations

The screening of the documentary film 'Others' in Their Own Land at the Toronto Bahá'í Centre. The film was directed by Farid Haerinejad, an Iranian-Canadian journalist and film-maker living in Germany. He had made several films about minorities in Iran, prior to making this film he had heard about the Bahá'í faith but did not know much about the Bahá'ís in Iran. He wanted to make sure that such a story was told truthfully and passionately and was glad that he could receive first-hand information from his Bahá'í friends.

The film focuses on the period following the Islamic Revolution and traces the impact of the persecution of the Bahá'ís on several individuals and families. It contrasts the personal lives of Bahá'ís with the public statements of Iranian officials, highlighting the stigmatization and oppression of the Bahá'í minority in Iran.

• The film is available on YouTube. [CBNS 22Sep2022; BIC News 31 Oct 2022]

The film, An Expansive Prospect, commissioned by the Universal House of Justice, was screened at the 13th International Bahá'í Convention.

The 72 minute film highlighted efforts in four regions of the world where people, communities, and institutions were striving together to channel the transformative power of the Bahá'í teachings toward social change. It was scripted in English with subtitled versions in other languages. A voiceover version of the film in Arabic was also made available. [BWNS1660]

• It can be found on YouTube in the original English. Other versions include Russian, Spanish, French, Farsi, and Arabic.

He was visited by the Bishop of Montreal visited Him and expressed his pleasure at the meetings being held and gratitude for "the address concerning the purpose of the Manifestation of Christ and the other holy Manifestations." 'Abdu'l-Bahá invited him to the talk in the Methodist Church later that day. [239D136]
• Talk at St. James Methodist Church, 463 Sainte Catherine Street, West, to a gathering of 1200. In the talk He indicated that Canada shared much the same destiny as the United States. [PUP312; ABC37-43, 48; AB264-265]
  Praise be to God! I find these two great American nations highly capable and advanced in all that appertains to progress and civilization. These governments are fair and equitable. The motives and purposes of these people are lofty and inspiring. Therefore, it is my hope that these revered nations may become prominent factors in the establishment of international peace and the oneness of the world of humanity; that they may lay the foundations of equality and spiritual brotherhood among mankind; that they may manifest the highest virtues of the human world, revere the divine lights of the Prophets of God and establish the reality of unity so necessary today in the affairs of nations.
• See the film Abdu'l-Bahá in Canada by Fred Rohani, produced by Faramarz Rohani and narrated by Laylee Delaine.

The video The Ballad of Crowfoot, online here, often referred to as Canada's first music video, was directed by Willie Dunn, a Mi'kmaq/Scottish folk singer and activist who was part of the historic Indian Film Crew, the first all-Indigenous production unit at the National Film Board. The film is a powerful look at colonial betrayals, told through a striking montage of archival images and a ballad composed by Dunn himself, about the legendary 19th-century Siksika (Blackfoot) chief who negotiated Treaty 7 on behalf of the Blackfoot Confederacy. The Indian Film Crew's inaugural release, Crowfoot was the first Indigenous-directed film to be made at the NFB.

This film was made during American filmmaker George Stoney's two-year assignment with the National Film Board of Canada, serving as Executive Producer of the "Challenge for Change" project.

Some other films from this project were Cree Hunters of Mistassini and You Are on Indian Land.

• Lyrics for The Ballad of Crowfoot.
• To learn more listen to the podcast Why You Should Know the Indian Film Crew. (You can start at 20min40sec.)

The release of the film entitled Invitation produced under the auspices of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada by Elizabeth Martin, with the help of Chris Lyons. It was a memoir of Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum incorporating footage from Khánum's Andean trip along with memories of her childhood years in Montreal. [HNWE36]
• The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Canada invited Hand of the Cause Amatu'l-Bahá to the re-opening of the Bahá'í Shrine in Montreal following the completion of renovations to the historic Bahá'í site. This film documents inspired talks she gave from August 30th to September 7th, including the on given in the Church of the Messiah, where 'Abdu'l-Bahá had given an address in 1912. She shares reminiscences related to her childhood home which was later designated by Shoghi Effendi as a Shrine.
• The film was originally shot in 16mm and was digitally remastered in 2003.

The film Jubilee, commissioned by the Universal House of Justice and made by Elizabeth Martin, documented the dedication of the cornerstone for the House of Worship in Samoa.
• She also made a second version was made of this film entitled Blessed Is the Spot which focused more directly on the dedication ceremonies.
• The film The Bahá'ís was an introductory film on the development activities of the Bahá'í communities around the world was edited by Elizabeth Martin. [HNWE45]

Heloria Bighorn, chairperson of the National Spiritual Bahá'ís of Canada, presented, on behalf of the Bahá'í Community of Canada, a submission to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission at the BC National Event held in Vancouver from September 18th to the 21st. The formal presentation followed a panel organized by the Canadian Bahá'í Community and Reconciliation Canada. The previous week 250 people listened to Chief Doug White, Chief Dr. Robert Joseph, and Dr. Paulette Regan from the Commission discussing the challenge of reconciliation. [T&R website, CBN 24 September, CBN 9 February, 2018, BWNS1248]
• For the text see Submission of the Bahá'í Community of Canada to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission or download PDF.
• The Bahá'í community also produced a short film, The Path Home, which it screened in Ottawa in association with the final national gathering.