The contributors to this timely volume explore the philosophical underpinnings and cinematic techniques characteristic of contemporary Iranian film. Collectively, they demonstrate how the pervasive themes of Iranian cinema—such as martyrdom and war, traditional gender roles and their recent subversion, as well as broader social policy issues—have been addressed and how various directors, including the acclaimed Abbas Kiarostami, have approached them using a variety of techniques. Capturing the unique poetic and mystical dimensions of Iranian cinema, these essays consider the effects of the Islamic Revolution on cinema’s ethical and aesthetic aspects. 

A.  Seyed-Gohrab is Associate Professor of Persian and Iranian Studies at Leiden University. Kamran Talattof, professor of Persian and Iranian studies at the University of Arizona, is cotranslator of Touba and the Meaning of Night, a controversial novel banned by the mullahs on publication.