Systematic contextual review and evaluation of current scholarship on Iranian cinema

ABSTRACT

In recent years, Iranian ‘quality cinema’ has presented itself as a significant branch of the world’s cinematic practices and discourses. Similarly, the scholarship on cinematic aspects and approaches as well as the evolution of this cinema has attracted universal attention. The field of studies on the evolution of Iranian contemporary cinema covers a relatively broad spectrum of insights, themes, genres and approaches, which requires a systematic form of categorisation and critical evaluation. Underpinning the research strategy of the existing literary works on Iranian cinema, I have assorted them into eight thematic categories: Film directories, film auteurology, descriptive-pictorial history of Iranian cinema, analytical history of Iranian cinema, film criticism, themeology, stylistics, representation of women in Iranian cinema. Providing a practical description on each of these literary resources and sorting them according to their research strategy will help researchers to gain an explicit sense of the relevant data regarding the research scope. Moreover, critical evaluation of the existing literature will facilitate identifying the research gap in this context. Another advantage of this thematic categorisation is the ease of searching for information in the range of published scholarship on Iranian cinema.

KEYWORDS:

• Iranian cinema
• systematic literature review
• contextual literature classification

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 See Hamid Naficy’s ‘Modernity’s ambivalent subjectivity, Dandies and the Dandy Movie Genre’, in A Social History of Iranian Cinema Volume 1: The Artisanal Era, 1897–1941.

2 Hermeneutics helps us to understand various kinds of interpretation and knowledge production acknowledging that the language we use is never completely our own. As such, interpreting the artifacts of human creativity or the result of human praxis qualitatively differs from describing the physical properties of object. So, the goal of hermeneutics is understanding implications, rather than explaining natural events (Kautzer 2015).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hamideh Javadi

Hamideh Javadi, a self-shooting filmmaker and film scholar, I have a proven track record of excellence in academia. I obtained my PhD in Cinematic Arts from Ulster University in the United Kingdom, while my Masters degree in Animation was earned at Tarbiat Modares University (TMU) in Tehran, Iran. Additionally, I hold a BA in Textile and Fashion Design. My practice explores improvisational and innovative forms of filmmaking and storytelling; specifically in the areas of experimental fiction documentaries, animation and digital games. Drawing from the mentioned paradigms, my practice aims to create liminal spaces that enable more nuanced and creative filmic experiences. I am also a skilled ideator and practitioner in photography, costume and stage design, Games art, drawing, painting, and sculpturing, as well as conducting artistic and practice-led research. This diverse range of artistic skills has always infused my approach to creation and expression in multiple ways. I explored “Alternative female representation in Iranian Avant-garde screen production” in my doctoral thesis. I am passionate about all aspects of qualitative and practice-based research with an interest in teaching and art pedagogy.