"TO LIGHT A CANDLE" Film Screenings

Education is Not a Crime photo

The 55-minute documentary film "To Light a Candle" by Maziar Bahari sparked the global "Education Is Not A Crime" campaign for universal access to higher education. The campaign has been endorsed by a string of Nobel laureates and other prominent figures around the world.

The Baha’is are Iran’s largest religious minority. They are persecuted because of their faith, and barred from teaching and studying at university. But Baha'is do teach, and do study. The Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) was established in 1987 to give young Baha’is a chance to pursue knowledge and receive a quality education. The informal courses take place in homes, via mail correspondence, and with online lectures. The Iranian government regularly raids BIHE classes and arrests its students and teachers. Hundreds of Baha’is have been jailed simply for teaching and studying at BIHE. Yet, many Muslim Iranians support the right of the Baha’is to higher education and fight for the full enjoyment of civil and human rights by all Baha’is. Maziar Bahari’s To Light a Candle is a hopeful story of the BIHE and Iran.

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