Siadat, Seyed Amir Hossein (2025) Exploring the Representation of Private Sphere in First-Person Documentaries by Iranian Women Filmmakers from 2011 to 2024: A Study on Amateurism and Home Movies. Masters thesis, Concordia University.
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Abstract
This thesis traces the aesthetic and political trajectory of Iranian women’s first-person documentary cinema, offering an alternative historiography of autobiographical filmmaking that highlights the intersection of private life and public discourse on the margins of Iranian cinema. These documentaries occupy a peripheral space—drawing on home movies and amateur aesthetics—to express what dominant cinema leaves unsaid, revealing its cracks and silences. The study argues that such marginal forms have evolved into powerful tools of cultural critique, challenging state narratives and reshaping gendered subjectivity in the post-digital era. The thesis begins by situating the emergence of first-person documentary within Iran’s broader political and cinematic context, especially the reform era and digital media’s impact. It then analyzes 21 Days and Me (2011) and Unwelcome in Tehran (2011), which use modest means and domestic experience to disrupt dominant documentary practices. The next chapter focuses on Profession: Documentarian (2014), Radiograph of a Family (2020), and The Silent House (2022), showing how personal archives and home movies raise the political stakes by linking familial memory to national history. The final section explores amateurism, authorship, and access in the digital era, with Impasse (2024) exemplifying how amateur aesthetics connect interior spaces with collective experience, particularly during moments of social unrest. By focusing on six documentaries over a decade, the thesis maps a gradual shift from intimate self-expression toward direct political engagement. It foregrounds women’s voices and evolving formal strategies, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of Iranian documentary cinema beyond official narratives.
| Divisions: | Concordia University > Faculty of Fine Arts > Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
| Authors: | Siadat, Seyed Amir Hossein |
| Institution: | Concordia University |
| Degree Name: | M.A. |
| Program: | Film and Moving Image Studies |
| Date: | 23 June 2025 |
| Thesis Supervisor(s): | Wasson, Haidee |
| Keywords: | Private sphere, microhistory, Amateur, Home movie, First-person documentary. |
| ID Code: | 995838 |
| Deposited By: | Seyed Amir Hossein Siadat |
| Deposited On: | 04 Nov 2025 16:23 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Nov 2025 16:23 |
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