The influences of ancient iranian visual art and mythology on the contemporary iranian cinema, 1970 2009 with a focus on bahram beizai morad sadeghi this thesis will examine the influences of ancient iranian art and mythology on the contemporary iranian cinema from 1970 2009, with an emphasis on bahram beizais works. Feminism in postrevolutionary iranian cinema by serban, silviu. Naficys collection of movie posters is not only a fascinating journey through iranian film history, but also lends valuable insight into iranian societys evolving cultural identity in the latter part of the 20 th century. Encyclopedia of world history 7 volumes set facts on. This international stature both fascinates western observers and appears paradoxical in line with perceptions of iran as antimodern. Contemporary iranian cinema at the intersection of arts and politics. As a result most imported films came from the eastern bloc, japan, and china, where the plots tended to be didactic and. Highlighting ethnic, religious, ideological, political and cultural diversity in tehran. These are all legal titles with wide variety of formats. Certain iranian qualities have always been deeply embedded in iranian cinema. The distinctive usage of allegory and symbolism is. In a division focused on cinema data socalled political cinema, we can identify three types of discourse. The author traces the relationship of iranian cinema to recent socialpolitical movements in iran, namely reformism and womens movement, and shows how international acclaim has been instrumental in filmmakers engagement with matters of political importance in iran.
A brief history of iranian cinema, from haji agha to agha farhad. If i were to recommend films for childrens viewing, 8 out of 10 films would be from iran. To best understand the roots of iranian cinema, one must perhaps travel back to the early 20 th century, when the qajar monarch mozaffareddin shah was shown cinematographic footage during a visit to france. But in iran, cinema virtually replaced most forms of mass entertainment for various political, economical, historical and cultural reasons. A critical analysis of the 2009 feature film, my tehran for sale, written and directed by the avantgarde iranian poetturnedfilmmaker, granaz moussavi, which won the independent spirit. Yet mainstream, prerevolutionary iranian cinema, with a. Lawrences lady chatterleys lover featuring fakhri khorvash and jamshid mashayekhi. It started in 1964 with hajir darioushs second film serpents skin, which was based on d. Covering the late nineteenth century to the early twentyfirst and addressing documentaries, popular genres, and art films, it explains irans peculiar cinematic production modes, as well as the role of cinema and media in shaping modernity and a modern. Political cultural religious biography in english language package deals coins and memorabilia. In spite of all barriers that islamic regime of iran created on the path of filmmaking in last 27 years, more. Recent scholarship has tended to focus on the limitations imposed upon filmmakers by the theocracys ministry of culture and islamic guidance. Granaz moussavis aesthetic and political vision in my tehran for sale. Because of the prevailing religious, political and social atmosphere in iran, the countrys cinema remained stagnant for more than 50 years.
But there is no record or description of this film in available sources on iranian film history the only mentioning of this film is in m. Iranian cinema iranian cinema a political history hamid reza sadrin association with published in by i. Caucasian muslims and christian armenians from 1905 to 1907, led to a crackdown in 1908 by. A political history international library of iranian studies hamid reza sadr on. The new iranian cinema is considered by many to be the most fascinating cultural phenomenon produced within the islamic republic of iran. Iranian films are usually written and spoken in the persian language. In practice, very few foreign films could meet the the new guidelines, though the government sometimes justified restrictions under the guise of protecting the domestic film industry iranian films of the eighties, p.
The internet archive has now open up its library of collections via torrents direct downloads are available as well. Oct 14, 2016 by josephrosenbaum 3 comments posted in. Lights, camera, revolution reorient middle eastern. The second group, which has the lower hand, gradually produces films to evolve their surroundings and iranian cinema. Iranian cinema in a global context, on the other hand, takes account of the wide range of iranian cinema, from popular youth films to low budget underground films. Grigoriu, anita journal of research in gender studies, vol. Since the early 1990s, contemporary iranian cinema, with its culture of auteurism and poetic consciousness, has continued to inspire lively critical discourse and popular acclaim. Cicinema, the most comperhensive and authoritative source for movie categorized by animation, documentary, experimental, feature, music video, short film.
The history of documentary films in iran is nearly as old as that of the cinema itself. Modern iranian culture owes itself in part to a renaissance in the 8th century. The characteristics of iranian new wave cinema iranian. Political, artistic original poetic language philosophical tones. How is iranian cinema influenced by political repression. The literature on the history of iranian cinema, too, is wanting in that it has mainly dealt. Hamid naficy is one of the worlds leading authorities on iranian film, and a social history of iranian cinema. Iranian cinema is known for its childlike innocence, moral values, rural beauty and poetic elegance. But because i myself find immersing into a new culture something that can be very daunting, i thought.
As a matter of fact, this is the only kind of cinema that managed to convince me to become a fan of it with its unique cinematic style. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, moral. The title of saeed zeydabadinejads book the politics of iranian cinema in fact defines the books central thesis. Iranian movies iran, a cinematographic revolution dvd. The iranian diasporasome 5 to 6 million exilesis even more reflective of this change. Their increasing financial, manage rial, scholarly, and political power has allowed them to become an important agent of transformation. Three and a half decades after the islamic revolution, iran remains one of the most repressive places a filmmaker can work. This is a shame, because iranian cinema has a rich past and up to this day interesting and provocative films are made. Government does not permit school as part of the title because cinema and film is not yet considered as a serious subject to be studied at school. In 1906, mehdi russi khan opened his movie theater with a documentary on the russo japanese war, which had been edited in two versions. Because of the possibilities of the information age and social media, the diaspora is now a. Iranian cinema is today widely recognized not merely as a distinctive national cinema, but as one of the most innovative in the world. The book deals both with cinema and with history, indicating the social and economic backgrounds out of which the key directors.
This cinema is their life, and by revolutionizing cinema, they upgrade themselves. The importance of women in iranian cinema can be traced to various cultural and social circumstances, which are known also as. Iranian political documentary films about iran history and before and after revolution documentary films on dvds. History of iranian cinema tavoos online irans first. One can find many reasons for these years of cinema hibernation. The cinematograph, invented in 1892, was the successor to the kinetoscope that granted viewers. A cinematographic revolution traces the development of this film industry, which has always been closely intertwined with the countrys tumultuous political history, from the decadeslong reign of reza shah pahlevi and his son, the rise of khomeini and the birth of the islamic republic, the seizure by militants of the u. Iranian new wave refers to a movement in iranian cinema. A political history international library of iranian. The volume also reassesses the global circulation of iranian art cinema, looking at its reception at international festivals, in university curricula, and at the academy awards.
Recent, postrevolutionary iranian cinema has of course gained the attention of. Electroqute nashenakhte 2015 mp3 persian iranian metal. The death of iranian cinema is the turning point of the beginning of the end of an era. A brief critical history of iranian feature film 18961975 by. Help to support this project by seeding any of the titles youve downloaded from the site. The films structure does not only highlight the crack in the films timespace as. Duke university press a social history of iranian cinema. The heart of the persian empire of antiquity, iran has long played an important role in the region as an imperial power and as a factor in superpower rivalries. Synopsis recent, postrevolutionary iranian cinema has of course gained the attention of international audiences who have been struck by its powerful, poetic and often explicitly political explorations. The purpose of this work is to place third phase iranian film within the history of postrevolutionary iran then to construct a framework for analysis including thematic elements used by the newest generation of iranian directors. About the author saeed zeydabadinejad completed his phd in media studies in 2006 at soas, university of london. Iranian art films have garnered international fame and now enjoy a global following. Containing twelve firsthand interviews with the most renowned filmmakers living and working in contemporary iran, rahbarans book provides insights into filmmaking within a society often at odds with its.
Perhaps this type of political cinema in areas with cinema history has common borders, but its basic distinction. List of books and articles about iranian cinema online. Art, society and the state, ziba mirhosseini divides postrevolutionary film. This highly readable history of iran as revealed through the full breadth of its cinema rereads the films themselves to tell the. In this post i am going to discuss only the main characteristics of the iranian new wave cinema since almost all the iranian movies that i have watched so far belong to this wave. The author traces the relationship of iranian cinema to recent socialpolitical movements in iran, namely reformism and womens movement, and shows. Revolution and cinema in iran situation critical fall 2016. Cicinema chronicle of iranian cinema, iranian movies and. The book also looks at the ideological controls on iranian cinema, how these are resisted and the wider political and social significance of cinema in iran. When cinema came to iran it was a diversion for the welltodo for about ten years. The influences of ancient iranian zoroastrian religion and. Melodrama and censorship in iranian cinema request pdf. To wrap up, this book the authors doctoral thesis is a very useful contribution to the understanding of iranian cinema and its prominent role in the countrys social and political scene.
Contemporary iranian cinema at the intersection of arts. An introduction to iranian cinema the culture counter. Rex cinema fire, the shah removed amuzegar and named jafar. Iranian cinema a political history by hamid reza sadr dr soc 26 feb. The first is that political events in the history of cinema both early and late to portray. Iranian cinema and the islamic revolution mcfarland. In the gathering dissent of the days before the revolution, according to hamid naficys fourvolume social history of iranian cinema, antishah radicals urged the destruction of cinemas, banks, liquor stores, discos, and westernized restaurants, objectionable to the pious as representatives of the corrupt and decadent. The history of iran, which was commonly known until the mid20th century as persia in the western world, is intertwined with the history of a larger region, also to an extent known as greater iran, comprising the area from anatolia, the bosphorus, and egypt in the west to the borders of ancient india and the syr darya in the east, and from the caucasus and the eurasian steppe in the north to. Irans political temporality, this dissertation demonstrates that alternative cinemas revolution. Although the new iranian cinema had begun to develop before the 1979 revolution, the political changes gave rise to a new wave of expression. Iranian cinema and globalization national, transnational, and islamic. I 188 june 1900, during his first trip to europe, mo.
The new urban dwellers needed a new form of entertainment hence a whole wave of silent films emerged in the 1930s with movie houses packed with this new generation of city. With the turbulence all around us, everyone is affected by what happens elsewhere and no one can afford not to understand international relations. Over a million torrents of downloadable ebooks, music and. Hamid naficy is one of the worlds leading authorities on iranian film, and a social history of iranian cinema is his magnum opus. It is entirely different from the western medias po. The period of 1937 to 1948 marked a decade of nonproductivity in the history of iranian national cinema. Darioushs two important early social documentaries but problems arose in 1965, dealing with the cultural. Yet mainstream, prerevolutionary iranian cinema, with a history stretching back to the early twentieth century, has been perceived in the main as lacking in artistic merit and, crucially, as apolitical in content. Most significant to the history of iranian cinema was perhaps the coming to power of reza shah in 1926 and a forced modernisation programme, which lead to mass urbanisation. Film, since its inception, has danced in the shadows of wild political change.
Throughout its fiftyyear history, iranian cinema has a profound as well as superficially religious essence. Cinematic imaginaries and cosmopolitanism in the early twentieth. The most challenging factor in iranian cinema right now is the presence of hierarchy and power held by iranian film producers. Irans general political crisis generated by the second world war.
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