Ajam Media Collective
Cinema
Queer and Trans Subjects in Iranian Cinema: Between Representation, Agency, and Orientalist Fantasies
Historically, some Europeans have fantasized about the closed-door sexual lives of Middle Easterners, especially homosocial spaces and same-sex relations. The movie Circumstance has received relatively positive public reception in the West due to this conformity to Western Orientalist imaginaries; Facing Mirrors challenges the hegemonic and Orientalizing narrative of Iran’s sexual and gender minorities, and is thus ignored from the cultural public domain. Continue reading
Politics of the Iranian Box Office: Mocking the Morality Police and Green Movement Conspiracies
Over the last few decades, Iranian cinema has burst onto the global stage, earning worldwide acclaim and, most recently, a Golden Globe and an Oscar. No major film festival is complete without at least one Iranian film these days, and it’s no longer hyperbole to suggest that the Iranian film vies against the Persian carpet … Continue reading
Far From Home: Portrayals of the Afghan Refugee in Iranian Cinema
Part II of a series on Afghan Refugees in Iran. Earlier this month, I completed a post discussing how works of literature from prominent Afghan writers voiced the conditions of millions of undocumented Afghan refugees residing in Iran. These members of the Afghan diaspora have been able to draw upon their own personal accounts as … Continue reading
Iran's "A Separation" Wins Big at Golden Globes [& the Oscars!]
Last night at the Golden Globe Awards, Iran’s entry for Best Foreign Language Film, “A Separation (Jodaeiye Nader az Simin)” took home the coveted prize. The film has been generating buzz ever since its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival last February, and last night’s win positions the film for a successful showing at the Oscars … Continue reading
Green Lighting "The Iran Job"
I recently came across a trailer for a documentary called “The Iran Job,” which follows Kevin Sheppard, a native of the U.S. Virgin Islands, as he gets recruited to play point-guard for the Iranian Super League’s A.S. Shiraz basketball team. The cameras roll as Kevin attempts to negotiate his new surroundings, and, as the filmmakers … Continue reading
Chicago’s Siskel Film Center holds 22nd Annual Festival of Films from Iran
October in Chicago was a good time for fans of Iranian cinema. The Siskel Film Center hosted the 22nd Annual Festival of Films from Iran, a month-long event dedicated to showing the latest output from both the who’s-who (Dariush Mehrjui) and the up-and-comers (Maryam Keshavarz) in the world of Iranian filmmaking. This year’s roster boasted … Continue reading
