THE BIG MIX : Farsi-Language Videos Help Remind Iranians of Heritage

To find the Farsi-language videos in Ali Massoudi’s shop, customers have to file past chilled meats, stacked vegetables, rows of cereal boxes and other items that line the shelves.

Sepah, Massoudi’s store on Culver Drive in Irvine, is typical for the various Iranian communities scattered throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties. Besides foodstuffs and imported or locally printed newspapers and magazines written in Farsi--Iran’s native language--Sepah features more than 250 videocassettes appealing to Iranian-Americans.

“There really aren’t any places that (specialize solely) in videos for my people, at least not that I know of,” the 52-year-old shopkeeper explained. “Like my place, we have much that would be of interest (to Iranians); videos are just one of the things they come to get.”

Massoudi, who said he was an editor for an anti-Khomeini newspaper before leaving Iran in 1981, usually rents about 125 per week and sells one every now and then.

Almost all of the tapes are full-length features with soft-focus romance, frenetic adventure or slapsticky comedy themes. And most are fairly old, having been made in Iran during the shah’s reign, which ended a decade ago.

Massoudi explained that most videos are 90-minute, government-approved popular movies and somewhat shorter tapes of Iranian television programs. Many tapes were brought over by emigrants after the shah’s fall in 1979 and then circulated among their friends.

“They reflect the entertainment in my country before Khomeini. There were many movies made during those days,” he said. “Of course, with Khomeini (in power) there are no new movies being made.”

Ben Behbehani, a 49-year-old Orange businessman who was leaving Massoudi’s shop with an armload of groceries, emphasized the importance of the movies in generating a pleasant sense of nostalgia. Many of the tapes depict Iran in a more pleasurable, liberated time, he said, so they are attractive to Iranians who fled the Khomeini regime.

But love of the videos he frequently rents has not been passed on to his children: two teen-age boys and a 10-year-old daughter. They find the tapes archaic and, because of their simplistic plots, even silly.

“My kids like the big (English-language) releases, they are (impatient) with these when I bring them home. They very much like big movies other teen-agers like; ones with their teen-age stars.”

Massoudi noted that in the Los Angeles area there is a busy underground industry featuring Iranian actors and directors. But the films are seldom full-length works with sustained story lines; instead, he said, these 60-minute videos feature singers and dancers performing beloved Iranian tunes.

Like Massoudi, Amir Moini runs a little market that also features dozens of Farsi-language videos. His store, called Pacific Health Food and known as Salamat to Iranians, is on Tustin Avenue in Orange, which also has an active Iranian population.

Moini, who was an Iranian government official from 1969 to 1977, came to the United States in 1979 and opened the store shortly thereafter. He stocks up to 200 videocassettes and, like Massoudi, also routinely places orders for customer rentals with two distribution companies operating out of the San Fernando Valley.

“I have very much business,” Moini said. “They love the adventures, also the romance films are very big. People want to remember their culture. The videos sometimes help them do that.”

Massoudi agreed that many older Iranians see the tapes as a way to keep traditions intact by showing them to their children. They also help to get their offspring--who may only speak English and be interested in an assimilated life style--to study Farsi and respect the old ways.

“But, mainly, they like them just so they can recall what their country is like,” he said.

Besides the Farsi-language cassettes, Massoudi rents a handful of older American films that have been dubbed for Iranians, such as “Ben-Hur” and “El Cid.” He does not keep any English-language videos in stock.

As for his own preference, he said he’d rather watch big-budget English-language movies, mainly because the technology is such a leap over the Iranian films.

“The condition of the cassettes is usually very bad, very grainy and (difficult) to watch. The movies are old to begin with, you see, and then they are copied poorly. No, they are not really my favorite.”

Sepah, 14103 Culver Drive, Irvine. (714) 559-4510.