Skype to Help an Iranian Artist Cross US Border When Not Allowed To

I know that the majority of our readers have never faced any difficulties in coming to the US as our audience is mostly in the US or Europe. But I myself (same as citizens of a number of a good number of other countries) every couple of years have to stand in long lines waiting for my turn to be admitted to the US embassy in Moscow nervous about any factor that can influence the decision of the officer who will consider my application for the next US visa.

Believe me, this experience can hardly be called pleasant - even when you live in a country that have reasonably friendly relations with the US and very logical reasons (like running a business that pays taxes in the US) to visit the country from time to time. I can only imagine that it must be absolutely terrible when it comes to citizens of countries that the US authorities are not exactly happy to let enter America.

And here is where Skype came into play recently helping an Iranian-French artist Ghazel sort of attend a film festival in Virginia that will have all kinds of aliens - from extraterrestrials to foreigners - as a theme this year.

Even after the artist worked for some time in New York, this time she was unable to get the visa to enter the US because of her Iranian heritage. It is quite strange for a person who was once granted permission to work in the country but it looks like Iran is growing too scary for the US to let people born in the country enter the US - even if they lead a very western lifestyle already.

So Skype has offered her to still be present at the event (in a somewhat limited way but still) by arranging for a live video call for her to participate. And now that she is even more of an alien to the US, she will be sure to attract attention at the festival.

While it is obvious that Skype uses such events for promotion of the product and its capabilities, it is still good to see some of our favorite internet tools providing some real value to real people. This one is obviously an example that helps us truly understand how internet helps cross borders even if you are not physically allowed to.