Iranian Cinema at Oxford

The Middle East Centre (St. Antony's College, University of Oxford) in association with the Iran Heritage Foundation

Dr. W. Armbrust (Director of the Middle East Centre)
Mr. P. Khosronejad (Junior Research Fellow, the Middle East Centre)

Nissan Lecture Theatre

The Messiah - The life and light of Jesus revealed through the lens of Islam Nader Talebzadeh, dir.

A film that reflects on the story of Christ from an Islamic perspective. Five years in the making, this well researched film tries to challenge many contemporary beliefs. of Christians and Muslims. The Messiah was filmed, directed and produced in Iran, a country, which harbours a rich Christian heritage and was home to the early followers and disciples of Jesus. With a cast of over a thousand, 'The Messiah' is one of the largest film productions in the history of Iranian cinema. It is a two-hour feature film, as well as a twenty part television series.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with the director Nader Talebzadeh. Nader Talebzadeh is a film teacher who studied cinema at Columbia University in the 1970s.

Dahrendorf Room

A discussion with Iranian film critic Robert Safarian on 'War in Post-revolutionary Cinema of Iran'. Robert Safarian studied cinema in the Television and Cinema College of Tehran. He is one of Iran's leading film critics and has published numerous film reviews and articles in Persian dailies and periodicals. He has also translated many articles on film theory and teaches at Sureh University in Tehran.

The discussion will be followed by a screening of 'Leyli is with me' (Kamal Tabrizi, dir.). 'Leyli is with me' launched a new trend in treating war and the sacred defence themes in a comedic, satirical vein. It has been presented at numerous local and international film festivals and won the prize of Best Script and Diploma of Honor for Best Actor at the Fajr Festival in 1998.