A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume 2: The Industrializing Years, 1941–1978 (Social History of Iranian Cinema (Paperback))

Hamid 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.__Volume 2__ spans the period of Mohammad Reza Shah’s rule, from 1941 until 1978. During this time Iranian cinema flourished and became industrialized, at its height producing more than ninety films each year. The state was instrumental in building the infrastructures of the cinema and television industries, and it instituted a vast apparatus of censorship and patronage. During the Second World War the Allied powers competed to control the movies shown in Iran. In the following decades, two distinct indigenous cinemas emerged. The more popular, traditional, and commercial __filmfarsi__ movies included tough-guy films and the “stewpot” genre of melodrama, with plots reflecting the rapid changes in Iranian society. The new-wave cinema was a smaller but more influential cinema of dissent, made mostly by foreign-trained filmmakers and modernist writers opposed to the regime. Ironically, the state both funded and censored much of the new-wave cinema, which grew bolder in its criticism as state authoritarianism consolidated. A vital documentary cinema also developed in the prerevolutionary era. **__A Social History of Iranian Cinema__**__Volume 1: The Artisanal Era, 1897–1941 Volume 2: The Industrializing Years, 1941–1978 Volume 3: The Islamicate Period, 1978–1984 Volume 4: The Globalizing Era, 1984–2010__ Hamid 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. Volume 2 spans the period of Mohammad Reza Shah’s rule, from 1941 until 1978. During this time Iranian cinema flourished and became industrialized, at its height producing more than ninety films each year. The state was instrumental in building the infrastructures of the cinema and television industries, and it instituted a vast apparatus of censorship and patronage. During the Second World War the Allied powers competed to control the movies shown in Iran. In the following decades, two distinct indigenous cinemas emerged. The more popular, traditional, and commercial filmfarsi movies included tough-guy films and the “stewpot” genre of melodrama, with plots reflecting the rapid changes in Iranian society. The new-wave cinema was a smaller but more influential cinema of dissent, made mostly by foreign-trained filmmakers and modernist writers opposed to the regime. Ironically, the state both funded and censored much of the new-wave cinema, which grew bolder in its criticism as state authoritarianism consolidated. A vital documentary cinema also developed in the prerevolutionary era. A Social History of Iranian Cinema Volume 1: The Artisanal Era, 1897–1941 Volume 2: The Industrializing Years, 1941–1978 Volume 3: The Islamicate Period, 1978–1984 Volume 4: The Globalizing Era, 1984–2010 V. 1. The Artisanal Era, 1897-1941. Preface: How It All Began ; Introduction: National Cinema, Modernity, And Iranian National Identity ; Artisanal Silent Cinema In The Qajar Period ; Ideological And Spectatorial Formations ; State Formation And Nonfiction Cinema: Syncretic Westernization During The First Pahlavi Period ; A Transitional Cinema: The Feature Film Industry And Sound Cinema ; Modernity's Ambivalent Sujectivitiy: Dandies And The Dandy Movie Genre -- V. 2. The Industrializing Years, 1941-1978. International Haggling Over Iranian Public Screens ; The Statist Documentary Cinema And Its Alternatives ; Commerical Cinema's Evolution: From Artisanal Mode To Hybrid Production ; Family Melodramas And Comedies: The Stewpot Movie Genre ; Males, Masculinity, And Power: The Tough-guy Movie Genre And Its Evolution ; A Dissident Cinema: New-wave Films And The End Of An Era -- V. 3. The Islamicate Period, 1978-1984. Transition From Cinema Of Idolatry To An Islamicate Cinema ; Documenting The Uprising, The Revolution, And The Emerging Opposition ; Consolidating A New Islamicate Cinema And Film Culture -- V. 4. The Globalizing Era, 1984-2010. The Resurgence Of Nonfiction Cinema: Postrevolutionary Documentaries And Fiction War Films ; Under Cover, On Screen: Women's Representation And Women's Cinema ; All Certainties Melt Into Thin Air: Art-house Cinema, A Postal Cinema ; Emergent Contestatory Films, Media Culture, And Public Diplomacy ; Iranian, But With A Different Accent: A Cinema Of Displacement Or A Displaced Cinema? ; Appendix A: Iranian Films In Distribution (c. 2005) ; Appendix B: Film House Of Iran's Film Collection ; Appendix C: International Film And Video Center Iranian Film Collection. Hamid Naficy. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Duke University Press Front Cover 1 Title Page 7 Dedication 9 Contents 11 Illustrations 13 Acknowledgments 17 Organization of the Volumes 25 A Word about Illustrations 31 Abbreviations 33 1. International Haggling over Iranian Public Screens 35 2. The Statist Documentary Cinema and Its Alternatives 83 3. Commercial Cinema’s Evolution: From Artisanal Mode to Hybrid Production 181 4. Family Melodramas and Comedies:The Stewpot Movie Genre 231 5. Males, Masculinity, and Power: The Tough-Guy Movie Genre and Its Evolution 295 6. A Dissident Cinema: New-Wave Films and the End of an Era 359 Notes 467 Chapter 1 International Haggling 467 Chapter 2 The Statist Documentary Cinema 475 Chapter 3 Commercial Cinema’s Evolution 486 Chapter 4 Family Melodramas and Comedies 488 Chapter 5 Males, Masculinity, and Power 492 Chapter 6 A Dissident Cinema 499 Bibliography 507 Index 531 Copyright 560 Back Cover 561 "Covering the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first and addressing documentaries, popular genres, and art films, [this four-volume set] 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."--Page 4 of cover Social history of Iranian cinema that explores cinema's role in creating national identity and contextualizes Iranian cinema within an international arena.