Golden Age of Iranian Animation, 1965-77

Film

Behtar, Rahat-tar (Better, Comfier). 1977. Iran. Directed by Farshid Mesghali Courtesy Ehsan Khoshbakht

This revelatory program of Iranian animation features a variety of styles and themes, from the early efforts of Western-educated filmmakers like Nosrat Karimi (who studied at FAMU in Prague) to award-winning shorts produced by the Iranian government agencies Kanoon and the Ministry of Culture and Arts (including the work of Farshid Mesghali). The program reveals two divergent aesthetic tendencies in this period of the 1970s: one inspired by medieval Persian miniature painting and other classic art forms, evident in the work of Karimi and and Ali Akbar Sadeghi, and the other having a more modernist spirit, as seen in the experimental figurative work of Mesghali.

Malek Jamshid. 1965. Iran. Directed by Nosrat Karimi. 10 min.
Zendegi (Life). 1965. Iran. Directed by Nosrat Karimi. 17 min.
Shahr-e Khakestari (Grey City). 1972. Iran. Directed by Farshid Mesghali. 8 min.
Siah Parandeh (Black Bird). 1973. Iran. Directed by Morteza Momayez. 8 min.
Atal Matal. 1974. Iran. Directed by Norrodin Zarrin-Kelk. 4 min.
Donya-ye Divaneh-ye, Divaneh-ye, Divaneh (The Mad, Mad, Mad World). 1975. Iran. Directed by Norrodin Zarrin-Kelk. 3 min.
Malak Khorshid. 1975. Iran. Directed by Ali Akbar Sadeghi. Digital restoration. World premiere. 17 min.
Behtar, Rahat-tar (Better, Comfier). 1977. Iran. Directed by Farshid Mesghali. Digital restoration. World premiere. 7 min.

Program 74 min.

This film accompanies Iranian Cinema before the Revolution, 1925–1979.

Wed, Nov 22, 6:30 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2
Sat, Nov 4, 4:30 p.m.

Introduced by Ali Bakhtiari

MoMA, Floor T2/T1, Theater 1

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 1

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