By Firdaus Ali In Toronto
The Truth about stories is, that’s all we are – Thomas King
Stories matter. They become the way in which we hold onto our existence, to our histories and to ourselves. However, for many women, these stories have been erased, under told and sidelined, for far too long.
Filming these fascinating, stifled stories are fearless Iranian women filmmakers, camera in tow, who aren’t afraid to put taboo topics of girlhood, body exploration, rape, patriarchy and gender norms, in the censored cinematic space.
Globally, films have been a platform for social change. In Iran, more importantly so. In a country governed by restrictions and red lines, artistic expressions are meaningful, and films play a key role creating a distinctive space that confront the nation’s gender, political and socio-economic norms.
It is an understatement that cinema coming out of Iran is capturing the changing political climate and landscape of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And changing the stage, are Iranian women filmmakers, who are more transnational and contributing to the wider movement of resistance in Iran. These films are crossing borders and boundaries and using women’s bodies to talk about collective feminism and resistance.
For Dr. Zahra Khosroshahi, an assistant professor at the University of Glasgow in Film and Television Studies department, storytelling has become a lens through which she explores the resistance and visual narratives of Iranian women filmmakers. These filmmakers are using cinema as a powerful visual medium to put the spotlight on gender politics and challenge systems of oppression in Iran.
While, historically poetry has been Iran’s most prominent cultural contribution, since Iran’s 1979 revolution, films have offered pièce de résistance, displaying the country’s artistic banner through the threat of censorship and the regime’s crackdown on filmmakers.
Over the last few decades, Iran has been credited as one of the best producers of cinema. Recent films from Iran are being ranked as some of the boldest cinema, drawing comparisons to Italian neorealism and similar cinematic movements of the past.
Iranian movies shed light on the injustices of modern Iranian society because, and are not simply artistic expression but rather, crucial agents of change. With topics ranging from gender politics to rape, violence against women, addiction, patriarchy, attitude towards women’s bodies and mobility, these cinematic stories are undoubtedly creating a silent revolution.
“Women’s resistance and defiance are deeply connected to their narratives. Women’s bodies continue to be a battleground on which Iran’s Islamic republic continues to fight its ideological wars, ” says Dr. Khosroshahi, while speaking at a virtual seminar recently titled, “A Cinema of Resistance: Iranian Women Filmmakers.”
The seminar was part of the Muslim Women Scholars Series presented by the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW), a national non-profit, charitable organization committed to the empowerment, equality and equity of Muslim women in Canada.
Currently working on her monograph, “Iranian Women Filmmakers: A Cinema of Resistance” (Edinburgh University Press), Dr. Khosroshahi presented an overview of her book, while citing cinematic works and quotes from prominent Iranian women filmmakers ranging from Rakhshan Banietemad to Shirin Barghnavard, Mania Akbari, Shirin Neshat, Amina Meher and more.
Reflecting on her academic journey, Dr. Khosroshahi says her own identity as an Iranian-born Canadian woman, inspired her to research on Iranian women filmmakers living in Iran and those living in exile outside of Iran, who are fearlessly resisting government censorship and oppression.
Dr. Khosroshahi started her studies in humanities to ask bigger questions about the world that we are all part of. It was during her master’s studies that she decided to shift gears from literature to film studies to write her dissertation on Iranian cinema.
“For many years, the resistance of Iranian women has been ignored. However, today, we are in the midst of a revolution in the making. We are hearing chants of women, life, freedom fill the streets of Iran showing us all the tenacity, resistance, resilience and defiance of Iranian women who stand face to face against their oppressors,” she adds.
And resistance is the common thread that binds the book together. A resistance that takes place both behind the camera and within the films themselves. In her talk, she cites prolific filmmaker Rakhshān Banietemad. whose female characters defy patriarchal structures in Iran and despite their conditions, defy to claim their own agency and identity.
Iran’s women’s resistance movement shows up in various ways in Iranian cinema. Dr. Khosroshahi points out how women’s bodies in Iranian films are representative of Iran’s censorship. “The way resistance plays out is multilayered and complex and reflective of both Iran’s socio-political context and its film industry and the position of women within it.”
In Rakhshan Banietemad’s film, Under the Skin of the City the framing of the central character ‘Toobas’ shows the politicization of the woman’s body, the enforcing of political restrictions on women in Iran, of veiling and censorship laws. The veil makes Toobas just like the other women and her voice is muffled with others. Director Banietemad uses the female body to make a bold political statement that is reflective of women’s dress being more important, than a workers’ rights in Iran.
Quoting filmmaker Banietemad: “Cinema isn’t my job; cinema is my life. Not that I am fascinated by cinema, per se. Rather, cinema is a tool that visualizes and brings to screen my concerns for my society and my country. Art for the sake of art has no meaning to me. Art is a vehicle for raising awareness and producing knowledge, especially, in societies like Iran.”
What sparked Dr. Khorsroshahi’s interest in cinema was the power of the visual medium, its ability to travel and its ability to touch hearts and humanize people. However, as she delved into her research on Iranian cinema, she found that despite the recognition Iranian cinema had received on the global stage, all the adulations were reserved for films made by Iranian male filmmakers.
Women’s accounts, contributions and stories were marginalized. Globally feminist and women filmmakers are often sidelined, and it was no different in Iran. Dr. Khosroshahi embarked on her journey of shedding light on the fearless filmmakers of Iran, unravelling cinematic and artistic contributions of Iranian women filmmakers who had to fight many complex systems and change the status quo, to tell their stories.
Interviews are integral to Dr. Khosroshahi’s research. She feels that these interviews help her understand the socio-political climate for women filmmakers both inside Iran and those in exile. In cinema governed by censorship, what cannot be said, can be shown.
In her talk, Dr. Khosroshahi also includes the renowned filmmaker Mania Akbari known for films like 20 Fingers, One 2 One and From Tehran to London. Akbari is a filmmaker whose works explore women’s rights, marriage, gender identity, disease and body image.
Because of the taboo themes candidly discussed in her films and her opposition to censorship, she is considered one of the most controversial filmmakers in Iran. She speaks about not only about her constraints as a filmmaker but also documenting this resistance.
Quoting filmmaker Akbari, “I can say that in some ways the camera accompanies me, and this itself plays a role in this resistance. I try to document my own performance, my own life, experiences. I try to reach a more general audience through the documentation of the personal. Resistance is part of this story, shaped somewhere in this liminal space between myself and my society. In Islamic and patriarchal societies like the one I grew up in, the woman’s body becomes a form of resistance. It is condemned to resist. Through the act of documenting the camera functions for me as my weapon to resist.”
Dr. Khosroshahi’s research and monograph highlight the works of feminist and queer and trans filmmakers. Director in exile Amina Maher whose works train her unblinking gaze on the breakdown of family structure, shame culture, and patriarchal myths is also featured. Her multi-awarded short film, Letter to My Mother, was well received internationally with +200 festival selections and +50 Awards.
Maher, who is extremely vocal about being a rape victim is also featured in the book. To quote Maher, “Art is the best alternative to revenge.”
Another film that centres around rape, girlhood, pedophilia, loss of innocence, honour and shame is Pouran Derakshandeh’s film, Hush! Girl’s Don’t Scream. The film is about a woman on death row for killing a man. Most of the film’s characters seem to feel her actions were justified, unlike the judicial system of Iran.
With steely resolve and resistance from fiery and passionate women filmmakers who refuse to be coerced and tamed, Iran’s democratic dawn can’t be too far away!