Subject Librarian
Lucinda M. Hall
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Dartmouth College
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Other library resource(s)
Asian film online: volumes 1 & 2 by Call Number: Electronic resourceAsian Film Online offers a view of Asian culture as seen through the lens of the independent Asian filmmaker. Through a selection of over 1,000 narrative feature films, documentaries and shorts curated by film scholars and critics, the collection offers highly relevant perspectives and insights onto themes relevant across Asia, including modernity, globalization, female agency, social and political unrest, and cultural and sexual identity. ...
Iran from Media History Digital Library by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe materials in this collection cover a boom in pre-revolutionary Iranian film production, in terms of both total output and artistic influence. Spanning 1954 to 1978—just before the Iranian revolution of 1979—these publications highlight the multifaceted and globalized nature of this period of Iranian film history, as they cover popular mainstream domestic films, the burgeoning Iranian New Wave movement, and European and Hollywood films and stars.
The 1954–1978 run of Cinema Star included below presents just such a mixture of genres and content. Functioning as both a trade paper and a fan magazine, Cinema Star offers serious film reviews alongside raunchy photos of stars and puff pieces about popular productions. ...
Iranian cinema from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceIranian cinema first came under international attention for its prerevolutionary art cinema known as the Iranian New Wave and more widely for its postrevolutionary cinematic movement called the New Iranian Cinema. However, Iran has had a longstanding history of cinema that began in 1900, with the introduction of film technology by the Qajar court photographer Ibrahim Khan Sani al-Saltaneh Akkasbashi. The development of cinema in Iran is inextricably linked to the development of modernity and the nation-state. ...
Transnational and diasporic cinema from Oxford Bibliographies Online by Call Number: Electronic resourceISBN: 9780199791286Although from the earliest years film production, marketing, and reception involved extensive national border crossing, the rubric “transnational cinema” has emerged only comparatively recently. Taken up from other disciplines such as anthropology and migration and postcolonial studies, the concept of “transnational” in this still-emerging area of cinema studies remains highly varied, pointing to sometimes contested working definitions and analytic approaches. Iran has some coverage in this bibliography.
Introduction to Iranian film
Iran’s involvement with cinema began in the 1890s, with filmed records of royal events commissioned by the then monarch (see actualities); the first public cinemas opened at the start of the 20th century. Locally-produced feature films did not appear until the 1930s, however: a silent comedy, Abi va Rabi/Abi and Rabi (Avanes Ohanian) was released in 1930; and the same director made Haji Aqa, actor-e cinema/Haji, the Movie Actor (1932), on a persistent theme in Iranian cinema, the conflict between modernity and religious tradition. The first Persian-language talkie, Dokhtar-e Lor/The Lor Girl, directed in India by Iranian expatriate Ardeshir M. Irani, was released in 1933. During these years audiences were drawn largely from the metropolitan upper classes, and cinema screens were dominated by US and European films, a state of affairs prompting pressure on exhibitors from religious groups troubled about the spread of Western morals. ...
Kuhn, A., & Westwell, G. (2020). Iran, film in. In A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 20 May. 2021
Searching the online catalog
You can use the subject heading below to find resources in the online catalog. The call number range is also included.
- motion pictures iranCall number range PN 1993.5 .I846 on Baker Level 4. Other books are scattered throughout the collection.
Introductory reading(s)
Close up: Iranian cinema, past, present, and future by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .I846 D32 2001ISBN: 9781859846261Abbas Kiraostami planted Iran firmly on the map of world cinema when he won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival in 1997 for his film A Taste of Cherry. In this book Hamid Dabashi examines the growing reputation of Iranian cinema from its origins in the films of Kimiyai and Mehrjui, through the work of established directors such as Kiraostami, Beyzai and Bani-Etemad, to young film-makers like Samira Makhmalbaf and Bahman Qobadi, who triumphed at the Cannes 2000 festival.
Companion encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African film by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780415187039The Companion Encyclopedia of Middle Eastern and North African Film is a unique, one volume work which illuminates a fascinating variety of cinema which is little known outside its own area. The Encyclopedia is divided into nine chapters, each written by a leading scholar in the field. Each chapter covers the history and major issues of film within that area, as well as providing bibliographies of the leading films, directors and actors. ...
From Iran to Hollywood and some places in-between: reframing post-revolutionary Iranian cinema by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .I846 G69 2011ISBN: 9781848855274The New Iranian Cinema has had a fascinating success story in world cinema and critics have hailed Iranian films as alternatives to the homogenising global influence of mainstream Hollywood cinema. Drawing on seminal ideas of 'art cinema', Christopher Gow examines how the success of this cinema and the films of Abbas Kiarostami, its foremost proponent, can be accounted for by the extent to which they fit into a pre-established notion of art cinema. ...
Iranian cinema: a political history by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .I846 S24 2006ISBN: 9781845111472Recent, post-revolutionary Iranian cinema has of course gained the attention of international audiences who have been struck by its powerful, poetic and often explicitly political explorations. Yet mainstream, pre-revolutionary 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. This highly readable history of Iran as revealed through the full breadth of its cinema re-reads the films themselves to tell the full story of shifting political, economic and social situations. Sadr argues that embedded within even the seemingly least noteworthy of mainstream Iranian films, we find themes and characterisations which reveal the political contexts of their time and which express the ideological underpinnings of a society. ...
The new Iranian cinema: politics, representation and identity by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .I846 N49 2002ISBN: 9781860648038Iranian cinema is today widely recognized not merely as a distinctive national cinema, but as one of the most innovative in the world. This international stature both fascinates Western observers and appears paradoxical in line with perceptions of Iran as anti-modern. The largely Iranian contributors to this book look in depth at how Iranian cinema became a true ""world cinema."" From a range of perspectives, they explore cinema's development in post Revolution Iran and its place in Iranian culture.
Selected book title(s)
Directory of world cinema: Iran by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .I846 D57 2012ISBN: 9781841503998Iranian cinema has an extraordinary history that has been marked by religion and ever-shifting political, economic, and social environments.
Iranian cinema uncensored: contemporary film-makers since the Islamic revolution by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1995.67 .I7 R3413 2016ISBN: 9781784534189The New Iranian Cinema is considered by many to be the most fascinating cultural phenomenon produced within the Islamic Republic of Iran. Containing twelve first-hand interviews with the most renowned film-makers living and working in contemporary Iran, this book provides insights into film-making within a revolutionised--and traumatised--society.- L'évidence du film: Abbas Kiarostami byCall Number: Baker-Berry PN 1998.3 .K52 N36 2007ISBN: 9782252035757Pour les cent ans du cinema, en 1994, les Cahiers du cinema avaient voulu faire un livre dans lequel cent auteurs ecriraient sur cent films afin de composer une imaginaire histoire du cinema. Jean-Luc Nancy presente ainsi des les premieres pages les peripeties qui ont mene a la naissance de L'evidence du film. Abbas Kiarostami, que l'on peut voir comme une longue conversation avec le realisateur iranien sur le rapport entre l'image, la photographie et le cinema. ...
Makhmalbaf at large: the making of a rebel filmmaker by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .I846 D325 2008ISBN: 9781845115326The name of Mohsen Makhmalbaf is almost synonymous with the dramatic rise of Iranian cinema in the aftermath of the Islamic Revolution, and over the last quarter of a century, his career as filmmaker and writer has reflected the tumultuous history of his homeland and the fate of its neighbours. Hamid Dabashi draws from his friendship with Makhmalbaf, as well as his direct involvement with Makhmalbaf's films and thought, to give us this deeply engaging book on the tumultuous life and spectacular career of a great filmmaker. ...
Mute dreams, blind owls, and dispersed knowledges: Persian poesis in the transnational circuitry by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .I846 F57 2004ISBN: 9780822332985Over the past decade Iranian films have received enormous international attention, garnering both critical praise and popular success. Combining his extensive ethnographic experience in Iran and his broad command of critical theory, Michael M. J. Fischer argues that the widespread appeal of Iranian cinema is based in a poetics that speaks not only to Iran's domestic cultural politics but also to the more general ethical dilemmas of a world simultaneously torn apart and pushed together. ...
The poetics of Iranian cinema: aesthetics, modernity and film after the revolution by Call Number: Baker-Berry PN 1993.5 .I846 S54 2011ISBN: 9781848857414In the wake of the Islamic Revolution, Iran experienced not only profound political and social changes, but also underwent a dramatic shift in its cultural and literary discourse. In The Poetics of Iranian Cinema, Khatereh Sheibani argues that Persian poetry, fiction, painting, and other art forms all were influenced by the upheavals of the 1970s and '80s, but that this remarkable cultural revolution is best evidenced in Iranian films.
A social history of Iranian cinema. Volume 1, the artisanal era, 1897-1941 by Call Number: eBookISBN: 9780822347750Hamid Naficy is one of the world's leading authorities on Iranian film, and A Social History of Iranian Cinema is his magnum opus. Covering the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first and addressing documentaries, popular genres, and art films, it explains Iran's peculiar cinematic production modes, as well as the role of cinema and media in shaping modernity and a modern national identity in Iran. This comprehensive social history unfolds across four volumes, each of which can be appreciated on its own.
Finding scholarly articles & journal title(s)
Our collection does not have journals that cover Iranian cinema exclusively. You can use Film & Television Literature Index to find articles or use the search box at the top of the page.
- "Eastern Boys and Failed Heroes: Iranian Cinema in the World's Orbit" from JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies byCall Number: Electronic journalThis article revisits the foundational events of 1969, an auspicious year for pre-revolutionary Iranian cinema, and the early career of one of its main directors, Masoud Kimiai. [57(3)]
Film & television literature indexCall Number: Electronic resourceThis index covers over 300 journal and magazine titles for film and television reviews, scholarly and critical analysis of cinema and television, and articles of popular interest about film and television. About half the journals and magazines are film periodicals and the other half cover film and television with some regularity. Subject coverage includes film & television theory, preservation & restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews.
Screen studies collection by Call Number: Electronic resourceA comprehensive survey of current publications related to film scholarship alongside detailed filmographies. This collection includes the FIAF International Index to Film Periodicals Database and the detailed and complementary filmographies created by the American Film Institute (AFI) and the British Film Institute.
The web of science citation databases by Call Number: Electronic resourceThe online version of 3 separate ISI indexes: Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Science Citation Index and, Social Sciences Citation Index.
Selected movie titles
Find more Iranian films in the library's collections.
Ashkan, the charmed ring and other stories by Call Number: Streaming videoDirector Shahram Mokri's first feature is a delightfully offbeat B&W comedy about the mysterious workings of Fate, played out in deadpan Jim Jarmusch-like vignettes. Two blind jewel thieves, a young man who can't succeed at killing himself, a love-struck police officer and two female morgue attendants find their lives interconnected when an unusual fish is set free and a charmed ring is moved. Watch for sly references to film noir classics including LE SAMOURAI and KISS ME DEADLY in this wonderful and eccentric Iranian gem.
Bab'Aziz = Bab'Aziz: the prince who contemplated his soul by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #8305Bab'Aziz, a very old blind dervish is on his way to a place unknown where a Sufi gathering is to take place. Guiding him across a sea of sand is his granddaughter Ishtar, a little girl, who loves her grandpa but who is afraid they might never reach their destination, all the more as the meeting is organized only once every thirty years. But Bab'Aziz is undeterred. He knows that if he "listens to the infinite silence of the desert with his heart" he will find the place. While making their way, they meet strange persons and Bab'Aziz tells Ishtar strange tales.
Circumstance by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #13963A provocative coming-of-age story that cracks open the hidden, underground world of Iranian youth culture filled with sex, drugs and defiance. This suspenseful tale of love and defiance unfolds as a wealthy family struggles to contain their teenage daughter's growing sexual rebellion and her brother's dangerous obsession.
Felicity Land by Call Number: Streaming videoFelicity Land unearths betrayals and marital crises in an affluent area of Teheran. Yasi has problems in her marriage with Mohsen, but she is determined to give him a "happy" birthday party. She is certain it will be a great party for all the guests, and will remind Mohsen of memories they've had together. However, all does not happen as she planned. The crowded interior setting adds tension as boundaries, restrictions, intentions and surroundings take on new meaning.
Leila by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #1586A wife in Iran who cannot have children is pressured by her in-laws into persuading her husband to take another wife so that he may have sons. A portrayal of the clash between tradition and modern marriage in Iran.
Nema-ye nazdik = Close-up by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #1147ISBN: 9781565802735At the heart of this true story is Hossein Sabzian, an unemployed movie buff who finds himself mistaken for the enigmatic director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. The misunderstanding takes on a life of its own and Sabzian ends up in jail where his trial is filmed by Kiarostami.- Salām sīnamā = Salam cinema byCall Number: Jones Media DVD #8284A director places an ad for actors. At least a thousand people answer the ad in person, and the director decides to make a movie about the response to the ad and the auditions of some of the respondents.
Vākūnish -i panjūm = The fifth reaction by Call Number: Jones Media DVD #6176 discs 1 - 2ISBN: 9781565804890A young woman, Fereshteh who teaches in one of Tehran high school has lost her husband recently. According to law and tradition, she must leave the fate of her two sons (9 and 7 years old) and the wealth of her husband to her father in law who is a traditional minded man.
Internet resource(s)
- Annual Festival of Film from Iran - Siskel Film CenterThe Gene Siskel Film Center’s Festival of Films from Iran was founded in 1989 and continues as a yearly showcase that spotlights the innovation, resilience, and humanism of contemporary Iranian filmmakers and acclaimed Iranian auteurs. ...
- Iranian Film SocietyTheir organization portrays the value of Iranian art and culture to contribute to their society by providing access to art that is intrinsic to the improvement of culture. ...
Keeping up with the journal literature
Want an easy way to keep up with the journal literature for a national or regional cinema? And you use a mobile device? You can install the BrowZine app and create a custom Bookshelf of your favorite journal titles. Then you will get the Table of Contents (ToCs) of your favorite journals automatically delivered to you when they become available. Once you have the ToC's you can download and read the articles you want.
You can get the app from the App Store or Google Play.
Don't own or use a mobile device? You can still use BrowZine! It's now available in a web version. You can get to it here. The web version works the same way as the app version. Find the journals you like, create a custom Bookshelf, get ToCs and read the articles you want.