Social Protest Documentaries from Iran
January 15, 2014
Social Protest Documentaries from Iran: The Short Films of Kamran Shirdel, Introduced by Hamid Naficy, MENA Core Faculty
Date: Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Time: 7:00pm
Place: Block Cinema, 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston
Kamran Shirdel (b. 1939) is one of Iran’s best-known documentarians, whose films offer rare glimpses of his country and the struggles of his countrymen and women.
Shirdel studied filmmaking in Rome in the 1960s and was deeply influenced by Italian neorealism. Often covering taboo subjects, including the plight of the poor in an otherwise oil-rich nation, his films were banned by the Shah’s government and were impossible to see for many years. His films are an essential addition to the genre of social protest documentaries. This program brings together a quartet of his finest works. Collectively known as “The Four Blacks” these films—The Night It Rained, Women's Quarter, Women's Prison, and Tehran Is the Capital of Iran—illustrate the dark side of Iran and the struggles of its underprivileged citizens.
Co-sponsored by Block Cinema and Department of Radio/TV/Film.