Hamid Naficy: Iranian Internet Cinema, A Cinema of Embodied Protest

Dr. Hamid Naficy is a leading authority in the cultural studies of Iranian and Middle Eastern diaspora, exile, and postcolonial cinemas and media. Naficy is a Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University School of Communication, and has published nearly a dozen award-winning books and journal articles that have been cited, reprinted, and translated extensively. Additionally, he is a prolific filmmaker and curator, and has initiated Iranian film festivals in Los Angeles and Houston.

The sixth episode of Parse is an excerpt from a lecture given by Hamid Naficy titled “Iranian Internet Cinema: A Cinema of Embodied Protest” where he discusses Iranian cinema and the way it has been used to challenge the Iranian state’s broadcasting monopoly and monovocalism. According to this conception, cinema is a new legitimate artistic and expressive form regardless of its political uses.