Ebrahim Golestan’s Modernist Cinema and Literature

This book encompasses Ebrahim Golestan’s (1922-2023) multifaceted contributions as a modernist writer and filmmaker, and as an influential cultural and intellectual figure in Iran. Golestan emerged as a leading figure in the evolution of modern Persian fiction, and later, he played a crucial role in the emergence of the New Wave Cinema movement in Iran in the 1960s. However, despite his profound influence on Iranian cinema and its New Wave, Golestan's literary works and cinematic contributions have largely remained unexplored within Western academia. Additionally, the intricate interplay between Golestan's literary oeuvre and his cinematic legacy has never received comprehensive scholarly attention. Golestan’s association with the Iran Oil Company and the Iran and British Oil Consortium led him to create some of Iran's earliest industrial and poetic documentary films including A Fire (1961) and Wave, Coral, Rock (1958). He established his own independent film studio in 1957, pioneering independent filmmaking in Iran. Collaborating with Forough Farrokhzad, the great Iranian feminist poet and his lover, he produced The House is Black (1963) which is considered one of the greatest documentaries ever made. Golestan’s landmark debut feature, Brick and Mirror (1965) delivered a jolt of modernism to pre-revolution Iranian cinema, laying the groundwork for the New Wave cinema in Iran. This book sheds light on a hitherto underappreciated facet of modern Iranian cinema and literature, offering a deeper understanding of Golestan's significant impact on the evolution of both art forms and their intersection within the broader socio-political context of Iran.