Iranian Film Museum…

I was elated to finally visit the Film Museum of Iran while giving a series of lectures for the Commonwealth Club of California in Tehran, since I publish on (and absolutely love) films from Iran. Like many, I believe that Iranian films are the best in the world (they certainly dominate at international film festivals). One of my recent journal articles on disability in Iranian film, “From Leprosy to The Willow Tree: Decoding Disability & Islamic Spirituality in Iranian Film” in Disability & Society, was included last year in the Rethinking Disability on Screen symposium at the University of York.

Since I have published on the history of the Iranian film industry and the earliest films ever produced in Iran (the chapter “Iranian-Russian Cinematic Encounters” in the book Iranian-Russian Encounters: Empires and Revolutions since 1800), I was delighted to find an original poster of the first Iranian film “Abi and Rabi” in the museum. Equally as exciting was walking through rooms filled with posters of modern-day award-winning Iranian films. Now that I’ve been to the museum, my new dream is to appear or perform in an Iranian film (anything is possible!).