Nasrin’s Dream (2021)

Nasrin’s Dream is inspired by the voices of the people from all around the world, every one of them appearing like drops of rain: once these drops turn into rain, no power in the world will be able to resist them. Nasrin Sotoudeh is an Iranian human rights lawyer who was wrongfully sentenced to 38 years of prison and 148 lashes for defending women's right to choose their own attire. This piece was created in August 2020, during her 46-day hunger strike to protest the conditions of political prisoners in Iran during the COVID-19 pandemic. In December 2020, #NasrinSotoudeh was awarded the Eleanor Roosevelt Prize for her career-long dedication to the advancement of universal human rights. Today, NASRIN, a documentary about her life’s work, was released on all streaming platforms: http://www.nasrinfilm.com #freeNasrin Nasrin’s Dream, with music by Sahba Aminikia and visuals by Pınar Demiral, was commissioned for the Kronos Quartet by the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies at Stanford University, with additional support from the Kronos Performing Arts Association.

Nasrin Sotoudeh (Persian: نسرین ستوده) is an Iranian human rights lawyer known for her defense of activists, opposition politicians, and individuals facing human rights violations. She has represented Iranian opposition activists and politicians detained after the disputed June 2009 presidential elections and prisoners sentenced to death for crimes committed when they were minors. Her clients have included journalist Isa Saharkhiz, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, and Heshmat Tabarzadi. She has also represented women arrested for appearing in public without a hijab, which is a punishable offense in Iran. Sotoudeh was the subject of Nasrin, a 2020 documentary filmed in secret in Iran about Sotoudeh's ongoing battles for the rights of women, children and minorities." In 2021, she was named as of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the World.