When We Grew Together
When We Grew Together. A documentary about Peace Corps in Iran by film makers Hossein Mahallati and Abbas Motlagh. Preview of the trailer followed by discussion on the impact of Peace Corps in Iran. Moderated by Jasamin Rostam-Kolayi.
M. Hossein Mahallati, the Producer of “When We Grew Together,” is a New York entrepreneur and philanthropist, who most recently responded to Iran’s COVID-19 crisis by helping to ship a large quantity of personal protective items and ventilators to Iran. His previous charitable achievements include organizing the only direct JFK-Tehran flight since the Revolution: A 747 Cargo plane that transported earthquake supplies for Bam in 2003. His collaboration with filmmaker Abbas Motlagh began in in the 1990s with “Aftab,” a weekly two-hour TV program for Iran-American viewers that was broadcast for 4 years across the U.S.
Mr. Mahallati, a native of Shiraz, studied electrical and computer engineering and control systems at California State University (BS) and the University of Kansas (MS) and studied in the political science MA program at the New School for Social Research in NYC. He is married with two children.
Abbas Ahmadi Motlagh, an award-winning writer and director, has 7 feature-length films and 14 documentaries, including his current work, “When We Grew Together” about the Peace Corps heritage, in his filmography. He is also working on an HBO mini-series. In addition, his creative work in the U.S. includes “Aftab TV,” a TV series of two-hour episodes created mainly for Iranian-American viewers, which was aired nationwide on local public TV networks from 1991 to 1995. He often works with Y Knot Production, an independent media production house in New York with strong Iranian American roots, which is producing “When We Grew Together.” Mr. Motlagh received his B.A. in Film Studies from the School of Fine Arts, Tehran University in 1980. Among his many distinctions is membership in the Directors Guild of America.