Truths & Lies: Global Cinema of Iran
Download as PDF
General
Course Long Title
Truths & Lies: Global Cinema of Iran
Subject Code
FAIC
Course Number
542
School(s)
Academic Level
GR - Graduate
Description
"We can never get close to the truth except through lying" -- Abbas Kiarostami
This course examines post-1980 cinema of Iran. Poetic, philosophical, and political, this cinema is venerated by film critics and audiences world-wide while often censored at home. Over the semester, we explore work by several of the great Iranian film directors of the last forty years. Enrolled students can decide how many and which filmmakers we focus on including: Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen and Samira Makhmalbaf, Jafar Panahi, Bahman Ghobadi, Ashgar Farhadi, and Mohammad Rasoulof.
In 1979, after the revolution that precipitated the fall of the autocratic and U.S-backed Shah, Iran became an Islamic Republic. Working under strict censorship laws in a theocratic society, Iranian filmmakers nevertheless continued to make films, and Iranian cinema flourished. In addition to films made exclusively for domestic consumption, Iranian films also began to appear at international film festivals, receiving an overwhelmingly positive critical reception. Films from Iran have won awards at all the most important film festivals, including Venice, Berlin, Cannes, as well as at the Academy Awards.
What is it that makes these films so powerful and appealing to audiences outside Iran? Iranian cinema is known for its poetic and social realism, but also for the distinctive ways, both narratively and formally, in which it questions truth and the possibilities of representation. Depicting aspects of daily life in a country that is largely closed to international scrutiny and exploring a variety of social and ethical dilemmas (including those related to class, gender, and ethnic identity), Iranian cinema has much to teach us about the nature of truth and the paradoxes of trying to represent it. State censorship plays a role in how several Iranian filmmakers cleverly craft their stories. But above all, these cinematic and philosophical investigations into questions of truth reflect the profound entanglements and enigmas of being human.
This course examines post-1980 cinema of Iran. Poetic, philosophical, and political, this cinema is venerated by film critics and audiences world-wide while often censored at home. Over the semester, we explore work by several of the great Iranian film directors of the last forty years. Enrolled students can decide how many and which filmmakers we focus on including: Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen and Samira Makhmalbaf, Jafar Panahi, Bahman Ghobadi, Ashgar Farhadi, and Mohammad Rasoulof.
In 1979, after the revolution that precipitated the fall of the autocratic and U.S-backed Shah, Iran became an Islamic Republic. Working under strict censorship laws in a theocratic society, Iranian filmmakers nevertheless continued to make films, and Iranian cinema flourished. In addition to films made exclusively for domestic consumption, Iranian films also began to appear at international film festivals, receiving an overwhelmingly positive critical reception. Films from Iran have won awards at all the most important film festivals, including Venice, Berlin, Cannes, as well as at the Academy Awards.
What is it that makes these films so powerful and appealing to audiences outside Iran? Iranian cinema is known for its poetic and social realism, but also for the distinctive ways, both narratively and formally, in which it questions truth and the possibilities of representation. Depicting aspects of daily life in a country that is largely closed to international scrutiny and exploring a variety of social and ethical dilemmas (including those related to class, gender, and ethnic identity), Iranian cinema has much to teach us about the nature of truth and the paradoxes of trying to represent it. State censorship plays a role in how several Iranian filmmakers cleverly craft their stories. But above all, these cinematic and philosophical investigations into questions of truth reflect the profound entanglements and enigmas of being human.