The 2018 Peace on Earth Film Festival kicks off March 9 at the Davis Theater in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood. The annual festival strives to raise awareness for “peace, nonviolence, social justice and an eco-balanced world.” Running through March 11, the fest will screen dozens of films from numerous countries, combined with panel discussions.

Nick Angotti, festival co-founder and executive director, is back to preview the offerings. Joining him is Delnaz Abadi, director of the film The Secret Fatwa. The documentary bills itself as a work that “uncovers a crime unknown to the world and unique in the history of state crimes.” 

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In 1988, the Islamic Republic of Iran executed 4,000 political prisoners at the notorious Evin prison. Joining the conversation is Ahmad Sadri, professor of sociology at Lake Forest College. Last August, as he was on his way back to Chicago after a three month stay in Tehran, Sadri was arrested at the Imam Khomeini airport. He was strip searched and put in solitary confinement for eight hours. This was followed by a two-month ordeal at the Evin prison. Sadri will also discuss the mysterious recent death of his friend, Kavous Seyed Emami, an Iranian-Canadian professor and a co-founder of the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation. Emami died while being held at Evin. The Iranian government claims his death was a suicide.