Cinema-ye Azad: Behnam Jafari
Presented by the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Part of the UCLA Film & Television Archive screening series 2026 UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema. Learn more at cinema.ucla.edu.
Guest speakers: curators Arta Barzanji, Hadi Alipanah (via video).
Cinema-ye Azad, or Free Cinema, was an underground movement of filmmakers in Iran that began in 1969, with the explicit aim of creating a fully independent cinema opposed to the mainstream “Filmfarsi” in both form and content, methods and ideals. Where the better-known, contemporaneous Iranian New Wave predominantly consisted of foreign-educated, Tehran-based middle-class filmmakers, Cinema-ye Azad consisted of self-taught filmmakers, sharing resources and knowledge with one another to bring the possibility of cultural production to disadvantaged provinces. At its height, Cinema-ye Azad boasted hundreds of active members, a critical magazine and festivals around the country, but the dream was short-lived as the movement ceased activities after the revolution. Its works, however, are being rediscovered thanks to the dedication of curators and archivists in London and Iran.
Abandoned Heights (1972)
Every day, a young man plays his trumpet from the top of a half-finished building while facing the city. Ambiguous happenings around him suggest the outlines of what may lurk below the peaceful surface of society.
DCP. Director/Screenwriter: Behnam Jafari. With: Nematollah Gorji, Ahmad Amini, Hassan Seifi.
Scream (Vol. 2) (1972)
This satirical collage of Iranian cinema stages a confrontation between the ethos of the commercial “Filmfarsi” and the artistic ambitions of the New Wave cinema. In a direct reference to Cinema-ye Azad, the film ends with the arrest and exile of young amateur filmmakers from professional cinema.
DCP. Director/Screenwriter: Behnam Jafari. With: Khosrow Haritash, Said Oveissi, Zari Khoshkam.
Let Us Live (1972)
This film follows the restless lives of two young pickpockets through the labyrinth of seedy streets and shadowy alleyways, in a world where every day ends in triumph or ruin.
DCP. Director/Screenwriter: Behnam Jafari. With: Davood Teymouri, Naser Tarighat, Ghazal Irandoust.
Tell the Watchmen Not to Let Sleep Deceive (1970)
A social portrait of two young lovers that reflects the larger prejudices of society.
DCP. Director/Screenwriter: Behnam Jafari. With: Farhad pour Azam, Shirin Jannesari, Behrouz Razavi.
MirNasir and the Ill-Fated Genie (1974)
In his cinematic debut, Saeed Poursamimi plays a former inmate who frees a genie from a bottle. After thousands of years of captivity in the bottle, the genie finds himself in a world that has been completely transformed by its people’s beliefs. The two embark on a bitter journey to find the remnants of the forgotten magical realm. Director Behnam Jafari uses stark visuals and provocative metaphors to explore the impossibility of relying on traditional myths in the face of a new world.
DCP. Director/Screenwriter: Behnam Jafari. With: Saeed Poursamimi, Hamid Taati, Mohammad Poursattar.
The UCLA Film & Television Archive is a division of UCLA Library, and presents its public programs in the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer, among other venues. For more information about the Archive, visit cinema.ucla.edu.
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