Against the Wind: Politics of Iranian Cinema

Hamid Reza Sadr

Against the Wind: Politics of Iranian Cinema charts the rise of contemporary Iran through the movies. Covering the Qajar period through to the Pahlavi regime and the Khatami presidency, it is a chronological examination of Iranian cinema in respect to the political, economic and social changes that have taken place in the country from 1900 to 2000. Many of the films, drawing upon common themes, subjects, plots and dialogue, reflect a society full of conflicts. But whatever the genre, they share a preoccupation with political tension, freedom of speech and religious affairs. The country’s timeless struggle between the traditional and the new has always been reflected in its cinema. During the Shah’s period, films presented a rich country in social turmoil. Afterwards, post-revolutionary cinema exposed the cataclysmic changes Iran underwent, from a secular monarchy to an Islamic republic. Despite present day restrictions, Iranian filmmakers such as Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Samira Makhmalbaf, Majid Majidi and Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, among many others, have developed a unique visual language that is acclaimed worldwide. By examining the social and economic backgrounds of directors, films, themes and characters, Against the Wind provides fascinating insight into a cinema and a country.

Hamid Reza Sadr is a film critic in Tehran.

isbn 964 407 310 x
publishers Zarrin Publishing with Prins Claus Fonds Library, 2002
binding paperback, 17 x 22. 40 b&w illustrations. Notes, bibl., index
pages 530 pp

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