Cinematic Modernity Cosmopolitan Imaginaries in Twentieth Century Iran by Golbarg Rekabtalaei A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations University of Toronto © Copyright by Golbarg Rekabtalaei 2015 Cinematic Modernity Cosmopolitan Imaginaries in Twentieth Century Iran Golbarg Rekabtalaei Doctor of Philosophy Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations University of Toronto 2015 Abstract Cinematic Modernity explores the ―genesis amnesia‖ that informs the conventional scholarly accounts of Iranian cinema history. Critiquing a ―homogeneous historical time,‖ this dissertation investigates cinematic temporality autonomous from (and in relation to) political and social temporalities in modern Iran. Grounding the emergence of cinema in Iran within a previously neglected cosmopolitan urban social formation, it demonstrates how the intermingling of diverse Russian, Georgian, Armenian, Azerbaijani, French and British communities in interwar Tehran, facilitated the formation of a cosmopolitan cinematic culture in the early twentieth century. In the 1930s, such globally-informed and aspiring citizens took part in the making of a cinema that was simultaneously cosmopolitan and Persian-national, i.e. cosmo-national. This dissertation explains how in the late 1940s, after a decade long hiatus in Iranian feature-film productions—when cinemas were dominated by Russian, British, and German films—Iranian filmmakers and critics actualised their aspirations for a sovereign national cinema in the form a sustained commercial industry; this cinema staged the moral compromises of everyday life and negotiation of conflicting allegiances to families and social networks in a rapidly changing Iran—albeit in entertaining forms. While critiqued for ―imitating‖ European commercial films, this cinema—known as ―Film-Farsi‖ (Persian-Language)–was highly ii informed by lived experiences of Iranians and international commercial motion pictures. In the late 1950s, a group of internationally-educated filmmakers, distanced themselves from the debilitating charges aimed at ―Film-Farsi‖ cinema, and crafted an alternative, social realist, intellectual cinema, i.e., an alter-cinema, that drew upon recognised international visual motifs and techniques, and lent itself to a critique of social and political conditions of the time. Envisioning a cinematic revolution (in form and content), this cinema became more politically conscious as revolutionary fervor grew in the 1970s. Decoupling cinematic temporality from Iran‘s political temporality, this dissertation demonstrates that alter-native cinema‘s revolution presaged the political revolution of 1979. iii To my dear family, for their endless love. To my thesis supervisor, Professor Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, for his unwavering support and mind-altering ideas. iv Acknowledgments For the various ways they helped to shape its ideas and arguments, this dissertation is indebted to a lot of people, but especially the following individuals: Professor Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, without whose free-thinking, persistent determination and unconditional support, this dissertation would have been impossible. Allowing me to access his astounding library of primary sources has been a unique privilege, for which I will forever be grateful. My less than adequate gratitude to him for the intellectual horizons that he opened up for me during my graduate studies. Professor James Reilly, who despite his busy schedule always found time to read my drafts carefully and to provide me with thoughtful comments. I especially thank him for always pushing me to think and write clearly. His generous attention and words of wisdom have been a source of inspiration for me throughout the years that I have worked on my dissertation. Professor Robert J. King, who always openheartedly afforded me his time, despite the distance, and his eye-opening insights. I am especially indebted to him for introducing me to the world of early cinema, a field that will always be close to my heart. His unwavering encouragement has been a source of inspiration and confidence, especially at times when pursuing doctoral studies seemed too arduous a task. I am equally indebted to Professor Farzaneh Hemmasi and Professor Madhavi Kale for their participation in my doctoral dissertation defence and for their thought-provoking questions and informative feedback. I owe a great debt of gratitutde to Professor Hamid Naficy of Northwestern University, who accepted to be the external examiner of my dissertation. I would like to gratefully acknowledge his careful reading of my dissertation, and his instructive and valuable insight on my project. My heartfelt thanks also go to my colleagues at the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilisations, for being there and sharing the ups and downs of graduate studies with me. I would like to especially thank Dr. Ida Meftahi and Dr. Hamid Rezaeiyazdi, and Dr. Arshavez Mozaffari, for all the invigorating discussions that we had at Robarts Library and outside, on cultural categories of fukulī, jāhil, mutribī, dance and music, and all the other understudied aspects of Iranian cultural history. v I would also like to thank the wonderful administrative staff at the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilisations. My sincere thanks go to Anna Sousa, the NMC Graduate Administrator, who tirelessly and meticulously works behind the scenes to ensure that the administrative tasks of graduate students are completed hassle-free. My doctoral research was supported by Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, whose generous endorsement I appreciatively acknowledge and thank. I am especially grateful to Dr. Elahe Omidyar Mir-Djalali for her support and consideration of my project. Last, but certainly not least, I am beyond grateful to my loving parents, Keyhan and Abbas, and my dear brother, Kiarash, for believing in me when it was difficult for me to believe in myself. Thank you for picking me up every time I stumbled. I sincerely appreciate your unending love, affection and patience, despite all circumstances. vi Table of Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………...…………………...v Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………………………...vii Notes on Transliteration, Citation and Dates …………………………………...………………...ix Introduction …………………………………………………………………………...……..……….1 Chapter 1 Cosmopolitan Cinematic Imaginaries in Early Twentieth Century Iran …………...……….….17 1.1 Cinematic Heterotopia in Early Twentieth Century Iran ………………..………………22 1.2 Francotopic City: Early Cinema Culture and Urbanisation ………………...……...……36 1.3 Cinematic Morality: Education, Morality and Early Cinema in Iran …………..……….48 1.4 Reactions to Early Cinema ………………………………..……………………………..51 1.5 Early Cinema and National Consciousness ……………………………………..………55 1.6 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………..………..59 Chapter 2 Cinematic Education, Cinematic Sovereignty: The Creation of a Cosmo-National Cinema ….61 2.1 Screen Education during the Reign of Reza Pahlavi ………………………...…..…….62 2.2 Regulating Cinema Programs and Cinema Spaces ………………………………..…….68 2.3 Cosmo-National Cinema: The Emergence of a Persian-Language Film Industry ……....75 2.4 Filming Persia: Staging Iran on International Screens ………………………..….…….100 2.5 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………...……....122 Chapter 3 “Film-Farsi/Persian-Films”: Everyday Constituencies of a Cosmopolitan National Cinema Industry ……………………………………………………………………..…..…………………124 3.1 Propaganda Films in Post-War Iran …………………… …………..………………..126 vii 3.2 The Shaping of an Image Culture in the Post-War Era …………………..……….……133 3.3 Reactions to Cinema and the Shaping of a Cinematic Visionary……………...……138 3.4 The Consolidation of a National Commercial Film Industry ……………….……….145 3.5 Early Commercial Films and their Reception (Late 1940s to Early 1950s)………...151 3.6 Persian Language Films and the Negotiation of Modernisation (1950s to 1970s) ...162 3.7 International Figures in Persian Language Films ………………………………........181 3.8 ―Persian-Films‖ or Faux Persian Language Films ………………...………………....182 3.9 Commercial Co-productions …………………………………………………….........188 3.10 International Figures in Persian Films ……………………………………………..…189 Chapter 4 Cinematic Revolution: Cosmopolitan Alter-cinema of Pre-revolutionary Iran ………..……..191 4.1 Cinema or 'Locus of Corruption' (kānūn-i fisād) …………………………..…………..194 4.2 National Cinema, National Education, and National Revenue ……………..………….196 4.3 On a Path towards Cinematic Redemption ………………………..…………………...200 4.4 Alter-cinema: the Horizon of a New Alternative Cinematic Imagination ………..……203 4.5 The Branching of the Alternative Cinema: Azad Cinema ……………………..………222 4.6 Film Festivals and the Staging of an alternative Vernacular-Cosmopolitan Cinema .....224 4.7 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………...…………233 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………237 viii Notes on Transliteration, Citation, Translation, and Dates In the translation of Persian words, I have adopted the Library of Congress Persian Romanisation Table, but I have applied a more simplified version of the table. To make names easier for the reader, the diacritics indicated in the Library of Congress Romanisation Table for have been dropped. Almost all Persian names (and ﻈ and ,ﻁ ,ﺽ ,ﺺ ,ﺬ ,ﺡ ,ﺚ Persian letters such as nouns), including the names of authors, filmmakers, and characters in films, have been transliterated according to the simplified version of the Library