Mossavar-Rahmani Center Princeton University

This talk was presented as part of The Sharmin & Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center's 2025 Seminar Series at Princeton University. The talk took place on March 26, 2025.

Title: Distribution Stories: Iranian Cinema in the Global Film Market
Speaker: Professor Blake Atwood

Abstract
The American film market is notoriously hostile to foreign films. Yet, over the past three decades, Iranian cinema has defied expectations by garnering accolades, securing theatrical and streaming releases, and becoming the centerpiece of numerous festivals and retrospectives. Films by directors such as Asghar Farhadi, Abbas Kiarostami, and Jafar Panahi have achieved widespread circulation, helping to shape perceptions of Iran through their promise of authenticity. These films not only challenge Hollywood’s problematic portrayals of Iran but also play a central role in academic discourse, particularly within Iranian studies, where they form the core of syllabi on Iranian cinema and inspire extensive scholarship.

This presentation examines the mechanisms of distribution that determine why certain Iranian films reach American audiences while others remain unseen. Despite the prolific nature of Iran’s film industry, which produces over 100 feature-length films annually, only a fraction secures international distribution. Contrary to the assumption of unfettered access in the digital era, I argue that distribution companies act as gatekeepers, driven by political and corporate imperatives. These processes, far from neutral, commodify Iranian films in line with the logics of neoliberal multiculturalism. I theorize these dynamics through the concept of the “touristic gaze,” a mode of spectatorship shaped by distribution practices that frame Iranian films for voyeuristic consumption. This gaze, I argue, is uncritical, rooted in individualistic pleasure, and reflective of broader commodification trends. By interrogating the intersection of distribution and spectatorship, this research offers new insights into the circulation and interpretation of Iranian cinema in the United States.

Bio
Blake Atwood is Associate Professor of Media Studies and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies at the American University of Beirut. His research and teaching focus on the intersection of technology, culture, and politics in the Middle East. Blake has published extensively on the Iranian film industry, materiality, infrastructure, distribution, and labor. He is the author of two books: Underground: The Secret Life of Videocassettes in Iran (MIT Press, 2021) and Reform Cinema in Iran: Film and Political Change in the Islamic Republic (Columbia University Press, 2016). Blake is also an award-winning teacher. He won the Leslie Waggener Centennial Teaching Fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin in 2017 and the Innovation in Teaching with Technology Award at AUB in 2021. Before​ coming to AUB, he taught at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Texas at Austin.