This paper would investigate the Moving Image Archive at the Cinema Museum in Tehran to highlight the importance of new media in Iran after the 1930s and the changes that were brought about by the birth of cinema in t...This paper would investigate the Moving Image Archive at the Cinema Museum in Tehran to highlight the importance of new media in Iran after the 1930s and the changes that were brought about by the birth of cinema in the existing geopolitical conditions. It would look very closely at the first silent film made in Iran titled Haji Agha, the Cinema Actor （1933） by Ovanes Ohanian. While reflecting on the socio-political relation of the film to its era, this paper would also bring to attention the process of filmmaking and screening in 1930s Iran--the production and restoration of footage, posters and publicity for the film, and the screening venue. The cinema in question used to be called TamashaKhaneh when it was simply a projection room in Tehran where people would keenly take their seats to view the same film over and over again in some cases. The author would investigate the advent of cinema as a foreign concept in Iranian life and try to reflect upon the way in which it has been gradually adopted as a national treasure over the years. Haji Agha, the Cinema Actor is one of the most important reflections of the social transition that has occurred in Iranian history. Here, through the hundred-minute black and white footage, Ohanian depicts the tense political climate following the coup of Mossadegh, as well as the ban on traditional clothing during the last monarchy of Iran; at the same time, the film represents tradition and modernity as two supposedly opposite stances that, in fact, complemented each other in this era. The title combines Haji Agha, a religious man who has visited mecca, with the English words the Cinema Actor, to further express the complementary relation between old and new. Ohanian very professionally depicts the role of family as a core part of the religious boundaries for men and women that unfold throughout the film due to their encounter with cinema and filmmaking. He uses issues like sex and taboo to push the boundaries and map a certain cultural modernity within Iranian society.展开更多
文摘This paper would investigate the Moving Image Archive at the Cinema Museum in Tehran to highlight the importance of new media in Iran after the 1930s and the changes that were brought about by the birth of cinema in the existing geopolitical conditions. It would look very closely at the first silent film made in Iran titled Haji Agha, the Cinema Actor （1933） by Ovanes Ohanian. While reflecting on the socio-political relation of the film to its era, this paper would also bring to attention the process of filmmaking and screening in 1930s Iran--the production and restoration of footage, posters and publicity for the film, and the screening venue. The cinema in question used to be called TamashaKhaneh when it was simply a projection room in Tehran where people would keenly take their seats to view the same film over and over again in some cases. The author would investigate the advent of cinema as a foreign concept in Iranian life and try to reflect upon the way in which it has been gradually adopted as a national treasure over the years. Haji Agha, the Cinema Actor is one of the most important reflections of the social transition that has occurred in Iranian history. Here, through the hundred-minute black and white footage, Ohanian depicts the tense political climate following the coup of Mossadegh, as well as the ban on traditional clothing during the last monarchy of Iran; at the same time, the film represents tradition and modernity as two supposedly opposite stances that, in fact, complemented each other in this era. The title combines Haji Agha, a religious man who has visited mecca, with the English words the Cinema Actor, to further express the complementary relation between old and new. Ohanian very professionally depicts the role of family as a core part of the religious boundaries for men and women that unfold throughout the film due to their encounter with cinema and filmmaking. He uses issues like sex and taboo to push the boundaries and map a certain cultural modernity within Iranian society.
