Title: Shi'i Islam in Iranian cinema : religion and spirituality in film /
Authors: Pak-Shiraz, Nacim.
Publisher: I.B. Tauris,
Year: 2011
Subjects: Motion pictures Iran.; Islam in motion pictures.; Motion pictures Religious aspects Islam; Shīʻah in motion pictures.
Abstract: "In recent years there has been a remarkable surge in Iranian films expressing contentious issues that are otherwise difficult to discuss publicly inside the Islamic Republic of Iran - such as the role of the clergy in Iranian society. Here, Nacim Pak-Shiraz highlights how many Iranian film directors concern themselves with the content of the country's religious and historical narratives of culture and society, sparking debate about the medium's compatibility or incongruity with religion and spirituality. Shi'i Islam in Iranian Cinema puts the films of established masters like Abbas Kiarostami and Bahram Beyzaie and relative newcomers such as Majid Majidi, within the context of the dynamic and vibrant debates regarding the vital concepts which underpin the culture, religion and state of Iran.^
Contents: Shiʼism in Iran : an historical overview -- Contemporary Iranian discourses on religion and spirituality in cinema -- Filmic discourses on the role of the clergy in Iran -- Sight, sound and Sufism : mystical Islam in Majidi's films -- Cinema as a reservoir for cultural memory -- Thinking films : Kiarostami, a poetic philosopher.