Lara Pitcher
- On Iranian female filmmakers
- Author: A film studies scholar such as Asuman Suner but preferably Iranian
- Publisher: I.B. Tauris (Bloomsbury Ltd)
- Format: Hardback, 250 pages
- £85
- Iran has a major female cinematic voice that transcends the homogenised frameworks of Eurocentric feminist theories. Until now, film studies lacks research dedicated solely to the subject of Iranian female film-makers.
- Examining the work and practises of women behind the scenes of Iranian cinema, this volume provides a methodology that unravels feminist theories within the Iranian cinematic tradition.
- With the current social uprising spurred on by the murder of Mahsa Amini and the ongoing ideological war between Islam and the secular world, this stands as a critical body of work in the cultural climate of today.
- Of interest for students and academics in film studies, for cinephiles or for anyone interested in current affairs.
Chapter preview:
Chapter on coming of age in Iran – looking at The Day I Became A Woman (2000) by Marzieh Meshkini to Ava (2017) by Sadaf Foroughi
Chapter on social transformation and the works of Rakhshān Banietemad, Pouran Derakhshandeh and Tahmineh Milani
Chapter on the works of Mania Akbari and female authorship. The controversy surrounding the film Ten (2004), as well as Hero (2021) by Asghar Farhadi.
Chapter on diasporic Iranian filmmakers from Marjane Satrapi to Shirin Neshat
Market:
Primary – Students and Academics of Film Studies, Feminist Studies and Cultural Studies. This Market will be reached through library and institution sales.
Secondary – Cinephiles / journalists / art critics / general topical readers. These can be made accessible via the online fractions of large brick and mortar booksellers such as Foyles and Blackwells.
USPs:
- Not only topical but also trending.
- After the Centre Pompidou in Paris held a Abbas Kiarostami retrospective last year (2021), there has been increased attention to and awareness of Iranian cinema. This was followed by Mubi streaming a collection of Asghar Farhadi films in multiple countries.
- Can be marketed alongside film club events and film institute retrospectives. Such as Women Under the Influence (Instagram: @womenundertheinfluence) are currently curating a month of Iranian cinema directed by women.
- Ultimate combination of current affairs and prevailing conversations around feminism.
Notes on Publisher:
I.B Tauris is an imprint of the publishing house Bloomsbury. They have a rich yet distinct backlist, ranging from general non-fiction to academic works. They are most notable for their Middle Eastern Studies and Politics and International Relations titles. Within and around these focal genres, they have produced major works in Film and visual culture and social sciences.
‘Iranian female filmmakers’ would be an academic volume touching on current affairs with a fresh and female perspective. This would naturally succeed their previous titles of film studies focusing on Iran, two of which I have listed in their backlist below.
I.B Tauris/Bloomsbury backlist:
Title: Crisis Cinema in the Middle East: Creativity and Constraint in Iran and the Arab World
Author: Shohini Chaudhuri (Author)
Publisher/Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing / Bloomsbury Academic
Pub date: 14 July 2022
Measurements: Paperback, 234 x 156mm
Price: £85
Description: Cultural studies; film studies.
Title: The Poetics of Iranian Cinema: Aesthetics, Modernity and Film After the Revolution
Writer: Khatereh Sheibani
Publisher/Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC / Tauris Academic Studies
Pub date: 20 Sep 2011
Measurements: Hardback, 216 x 138 mm, 240 pages
Price: £85.00
Description: Film theory & cultural studies
Competition
Title: Temporary Marriage in Iran: Gender and Body Politics in Modern Iranian Film and Literature
Writer: Claudia Yaghoobi
Publisher/Imprint: Cambridge University Press
Pub date: 30 Jan 2020
Measurements: Hardback
Price: £75
Strengths & Weaknesses:
Transcending the Limitations: Women and the Post-revolutionary Iranian Cinema by GoliM.Rezai-Rashti was published by Routeledge in 2007. However, this volume will be a contemporary continuation of this research.
P&L
Estimated Sales
A great idea as those film makers are famous; and of course Iran in general has arisen even more in everyone’s awareness just now. The bullet point list here is useful and something you may adapt for the USPs stage (for later) – and I think you are developing an important pitch here for it being academic but still accessible.
I think this is a really cool way of reaching audiences from academic backgrounds as well as those interested in film or cultural studies. I especially like that you are focusing in on women in cinema, which gives it even more of a niche position in the market. I am interested to see if you are going to include a lot of imagery/ pictures or if it will mostly consist of print.
This is a really cool way to attract multiple audiences at once- whether academics or those interested in cultural or film studies. It’s interesting you chose to focus on women in film because this gives the work an even more niche position in the market, which I think is important. I am curious to see if you include a lot of imagery/ photographs or if the book will mostly consist of print.
A very timely topic area Lara. Is there a known and also a hidden body of work from female Iranian film-makers? Can you give examples of the names of some of the film-makers and the films they have produced? Do you have a format and price in. mind?