A Social History of Iranian Cinema, Volume 4: The Globalizing Era, 1984–2010 (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.The extraordinary efflorescence in Iranian film, TV, and the new media since the consolidation of the Islamic Revolution animates __Volume 4__. During this time, documentary films proliferated. Many filmmakers took as their subject the revolution and the bloody eight-year war with Iraq; others critiqued postrevolution society. The strong presence of women on screen and behind the camera led to a dynamic women's cinema. A dissident art-house cinema—involving some of the best Pahlavi-era new-wave directors and a younger generation of innovative postrevolution directors—placed Iranian cinema on the map of world cinemas, bringing prestige to Iranians at home and abroad. A struggle over cinema, media, culture, and, ultimately, the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic, emerged and intensified. The media became a contested site of public diplomacy as the Islamic Republic regime as well as foreign governments antagonistic to it sought to harness Iranian popular culture and media toward their own ends, within and outside of Iran. The broad international circulation of films made in Iran and its diaspora, the vast dispersion of media-savvy filmmakers abroad, and new filmmaking and communication technologies helped to globalize Iranian cinema. **__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. The extraordinary efflorescence in Iranian film, TV, and the new media since the consolidation of the Islamic Revolution animates Volume 4 . During this time, documentary films proliferated. Many filmmakers took as their subject the revolution and the bloody eight-year war with Iraq; others critiqued postrevolution society. The strong presence of women on screen and behind the camera led to a dynamic women's cinema. A dissident art-house cinema—involving some of the best Pahlavi-era new-wave directors and a younger generation of innovative postrevolution directors—placed Iranian cinema on the map of world cinemas, bringing prestige to Iranians at home and abroad. A struggle over cinema, media, culture, and, ultimately, the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic, emerged and intensified. The media became a contested site of public diplomacy as the Islamic Republic regime as well as foreign governments antagonistic to it sought to harness Iranian popular culture and media toward their own ends, within and outside of Iran. The broad international circulation of films made in Iran and its diaspora, the vast dispersion of media-savvy filmmakers abroad, and new filmmaking and communication technologies helped to globalize Iranian cinema. 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 23 A Word about Illustrations 29 Abbreviations 31 1. The Resurgenceof Nonfiction Cinema: Postrevolutionary Documentaries and Fiction War Films 35 2. Under Cover, on Screen: Women’s Representation and Women’s Cinema 127 3. All Certainties Melt into Thin Air: Art-House Cinema, a “Postal” Cinema 209 4. Emergent Contestatory: Films, Media Culture, and Public Diplomacy 303 5. Iranian, but with a Different Accent: A Cinema of Displacement or a Displaced Cinema? 403 Appendix A: Iranian Films in Distribution (c. 2005) 547 Appendix B: Film House of Iran’s Film Collection 551 Appendix C: International Film and Video Center. Iranian Film Collection 554 Notes 557 Chapter 1: The Resurgence of Nonfiction Cinema: Postrevolutionary Documentaries and Fiction War Films 557 Chapter 2: Under Cover, on Screen: Women’s Representation and Women’s Cinema 563 Chapter 3: All Certainties Melt into Thin Air: Art-HouseCinema, a “Postal” Cinema 566 Chapter 4: Emergent Contestatory Films, Media Culture, and Public Diplomacy 573 Chapter 5: Iranian, but with a Different Accent: A Cinema of Displacement or a Displaced Cinema? 583 Bibliography 593 Index 625 Copyright 666 Back Cover 667 In the fourth and final volume of A History of Iranian Cinema, Hamid Naficy looks at the extraordinary efflorescence in Iranian film and other visual media since the Islamic Revolution.