Film and ideology: narrative analysis of the student movement in Iranian Cinema (2001–2004)

Cinema has a complex relation with the state and social reality in Iran. Between 2001 and 2004, Iranian cinema was under the control of the ideology of the Islamic Left. Students who played a crucial role in the Islamic Left’s restoration to power in the mid-1990s became frustrated and depoliticised as advocates of the democratic movement in the early 2000s. Iranian cinema depicted this movement during that time, however to date there is a lack of systematic research on the representation of students in Iranian films during that period. In this article, we use the theoretical concept of Comolli and Narboni (in: Browne N (ed) Cahiers du cinema, volume III: the politics of representation BFI London, 1990, pp 58–67) who argue that every film is political, inasmuch as it is determined by the ideology which produces it. A narrative analysis was conducted in order to analyze and discuss the dominant themes and modes of representation of the student movement during that period. For this purpose, twelve Iranian films have been selected through purposeful sampling spanning the indicated study period. Based on the cultural policy of the Islamic Left, it was assumed that the students’ cinematic image would serve to depict the realm of civil society and elaborate on the student’s involvement in political matters. In contrast, however, our findings show that the common themes in these films rather display the students’ personal goals that consist of the search for a professional occupation, stable income and romantic relationship. Hence, the results show that the Islamic Left failed to empower the student movement with their culture policy and thereby weakens its authenticity for and connection with the student movement.