Celluloid UndergroundCinema Iran 2024
This event is in the past.
Part homage, part autobiography, Celluloid Underground tells of the fraught relationship between cinephile culture in Iran and the country’s cultural-political climate. Both during the era of the Shahs and in present-day Iran, films were seen as a powerful, subversive medium, with film makers and collectors alike suffering repression, torture and imprisonment.
This event is in the past.
Part homage, part autobiography, Celluloid Underground tells of the fraught relationship between cinephile culture in Iran and the country’s cultural-political climate. Both during the era of the Shahs and in present-day Iran, films were seen as a powerful, subversive medium, with film makers and collectors alike suffering repression, torture and imprisonment.
Ehsan Khoshbakt’s film tells of the founding of student film clubs, of the universal passion for the art of film and for collecting, and the search for a safe place to store cinematic treasures, be they film poster or reel. An insightful, touching tribute that brings attention to the costs that Iranian cinephiles are prepared to pay for their passion.
UK/Iran 2023, documentary, 80 minutes, original language with English subtitles, directed by Ehsan Khoshbakht
