Like Oscar-winning Ashgar Farhadi, Abdolreza Kahani is a director of the new cinematic movement in Iran whose members, in contrast with the older generation of Iranian film makers, focus on urban life in Iran. HICH is a successful example of Kahani's craftsmanship and mastery of narrative-writing, characterization, and realistic depiction.
In 1979 a cataclysmic revolution shook Iran, creating the world's first Islamic republic and altering the balance of power in the Middle East. With the widely despised Shah of Iran forced into exile, spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini returned to oversee the country's transformation. But peace was still elusive as student protesters overwhelmed the United States embassy in Tehran, taking hostages and launching a diplomatic crisis. CBC Digital Archives presents a series of clips about revolutionary Iran.
After more than a year of escalating protests, the Islamic revolution in Iran reaches a prime goal in January 1979: the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. But the Shah's exit brings no end to street demonstrations and gas shortages in the capital of Tehran. The new civilian government, headed by Shapour Bakhtiar, has little credibility with anyone in Iran, especially Ayatollah Khomeini, an exiled cleric who fiercely opposes the Shah. This in-depth report from CBC-TV's Newsmagazine examines the possible outcomes for Iran without the Shah. (From CBC)
Medium: Television
Program: Newsmagazine
Broadcast Date: Jan. 15, 1979
Guest(s): Abbas Amirie, Shapour Bakhtiar, Raji Samghabadi
Host: Knowlton Nash
Reporter: Don McNeill
Duration: 26:28
Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi is Professor of History and Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at the University of Toronto and the chair of the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Toronto-Mississauga. Since 2002 he has served as the Editor of Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, a Duke University Press journal, and has served on the editorial board of Iranian Studies, the Journal of the International Society for Iranian Studies.
His areas of specialization encompass Middle Eastern History, Modernity, Nationalism, Gender Studies, Orientalism, and Occidentalism. He is the author of two books, Refashioning Iran: Orientalism, Occidentalism and Nationalist Historiography (Palgrave, 2001) and Tajaddud-i Bumi [Vernacular Modernity] (in Persian, Nashr-i Tarikh, 2003). He has authored numerous articles: “The Homeless Texts of Persianate Modernity,” in Iran--Between Tradition and Modernity (Lexington Books, 2004); “Orientalist Studies and Its Amnesia,” in Antinomies of Modernity (Duke, 2002), “Eroticizing Europe,” in Society and Culture in Qajar Iran: (Mazda, 2002); “Women of the West Imagined,” in Identity Politics and Women (Westview Press, 1994); “From Patriotism to Matriotism: A Tropological Study of Iranian Nationalism, 1870-1909," International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (2002), “Inventing Modernity, Borrowing Modernity,” Iran Nameh (2003).
Born and raised in the “navel of Tehran,” Iran, Professor Tavakoli is the recipient of two Outstanding Teacher awards from Illinois State University (1996 and 2001); a Research Initiative Award (1992); and visiting fellowships at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University (1998), the Center for Historical Studies Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi, 1992-93); and Harvard University (1991-92).
He has initiated numerous conferences and workshops on topical issues pertaining to the Middle East, and has encouraged the active involvement of student associations in the organization of scholarly events and community outreach programs. He holds a BA in Political Science and an MA in History from the University of Iowa, and a PhD in History from the University of Chicago. (From Tavakoli's official website)
Gohar Dashti received her M.A in Photography from the Fine Art University of Tehran in 2005. She has developed a practice concerning social issues with particular references to history and culture in modern society.
She creates artwork using different media such as photography and video. She has participated in several art residencies and scholarships such as DAAD award (2009-2011); Visiting Arts (1mile2 project), Bradford –London, UK (2009) and International Arts & Artists (Art Bridge), Washington DC, USA (2008).
She has held various exhibitions around the world, being shown in many festivals and biennales. Her works are in many collections including Museum of Fine Arts (MFAH), Houston (US) and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City (US). (From Gohar Dashti's official website)
Amir Naderi (Persian: امیر نادری, born 15 August 1946 in Abadan) is a notable Iranian film director, screenwriter and one of the most influential figures of 20th-century Iranian cinema. Mr Naderi's latest feature film CUT starring Hidetoshi Nishijima and Takako Tokiwa was released in Japan in 2011 and in Korea in 2012.
Naderi developed his knowledge of cinema by watching films at the theater where he worked as a boy, reading film criticism, and making relationships with leading film critics. He began his career with still photography for some notable Iranian features. In the 1970s, Naderi turned to directing, and made some of the most important features of the New Iranian Cinema. In 1971, his directorial debut, Goodbye Friend was released in Iran. Mr. Naderi first came into the international spotlight with films that are now known as cinema classics, The Runner (1985), and Water, Wind, Dust (1989). The Runner is considered by many critics to be one of the most influential films of the past quarter century. After a number of his films were banned by the Iranian government, Mr. Naderi left the country. Expatriating to New York, Mr. Naderi continued to produce new work. He was named a Rockefeller Film and Video fellow in 1997, and has served as an artist in residence and instructor at Columbia University, the University of Las Vegas, and New York's School of Visual Arts. His U.S. films have premiered at the Film Society of Lincoln Center/MOMA's New Films New Director's series, the Venice, Cannes, Sundance and Tribeca Film Festivals. His U.S. feature, Sound Barrier (2005) won the prestigious Roberto Rossellini Prize at the Rome Film Festival. Naderi's latest feature film CUT was made in Japan in Japanese language and stars Hidetoshi Nishijima and Takako Tokiwa. The film laments the collapse of cinema through the gripping tale of a young filmmaker giving it all to make his next movie.
Amir Naderi continues to produce works of new generation of film directors such as Andrei Severny's Condition (2011), Naghmeh Shirkhan's Hamsayeh (2010) and Ry Russo-Young's Orphans (2007).
