The Lost Cinema

Part of the film series
Iranian New Wave 1960s-1970s (November 2 - 22, 2013)

The Lost Cinema
Jamsheed Akrami. 2007. USA. 100 min. Color & B/W. Beta SP. With English subtitles.

Screening followed by a Q&A with director Jamsheed Akrami, moderated by Negar Mottahedeh, Associate Professor of Literature and Women's Studies, Duke University.

This illuminating documentary examines the background and significance of the Iranian New Wave, a burgeoning film movement that took place before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. An artistic and political awakening gave birth to films that rejected uninspiring mainstream offerings and dominating foreign imports led by Hollywood. Made by Jamsheed Akrami, filmmaker/critic/scholar, the documentary sheds light on the political messages these films carry, and the reasons why many were banned pre- and post-revolution and continue to be inaccessible in Iran even today. Included are in-depth analyses of films such as The Cow (1969), Dead End (1977), and Tall Shadows of the Wind (1979), accompanied by insightful filmmaker and expert interviews.

Jamsheed Akrami is a filmmaker, critic, and Professor of Media Studies and Production at William Paterson University. As a filmmaker, he has made several documentaries about Iranian cinema: Friendly Persuasion (2000) deals with Iranian cinema after the 1979 revolution, A Walk with Kiarostami (2003) follows Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami as he captures the Irish landscape, and A Cinema of Discontent (2013) examines film censorship in Iran.

Negar Mottahedeh is Associate Professor of Literature and Women's Studies at Duke University. In 2008, Duke University Press published her book on Post-Revolutionary Iranian Cinema entitled Displaced Allegories. Her first book Representing the Unpresentable, on visual history and reform in Iran from the 19th century to the present, was published in 2008 by Syracuse University Press.
 

This film series is organized in conjunction with the Iran Modern exhibition, on view through January 5, 2014. Public programs held in conjunction with Iran Modern are made possible by support from the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art through Asia Society’s ongoing initiative Creative Voices of Muslim Asia. Additional support for Iran Modern programming is provided by the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation, WLS Spencer Foundation and the American Institute of Iranian Studies.