Independent study on Forugh Farrokhzad's Film and Poetry

it has been a long time since I updated the blog

2007-04-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

I have been working on my paper and the shootings during this time.
I have found some funding and I am very happy about that ..
Unfortunately You Tube somehow got rid of the copy of "The House is Black" and it is
not to be seen on You Tube anymore..
I guess we all need to purchase the DVD..
I just got a copy of "The Mirror of the Soul: The Forugh Farrokhzad Trilogy" by Nassar Saffarian.
I tried to contact him before but I guess it was a useless attempt yet I found his documentary very interesting, at some points though non- familiar people may find the film boring.
Because I am interested and I am curious about the "new scholarship on Forugh", I thought this was a great piece.

The trilogy is very interesting and it happens to be one of my sources as well..

Still working + studying+ such..

News on Conferences

2007-03-14T15:54:00.000-07:00

Two of the conferences I have applied to just replied me :) and I am accepted to both of the conferences.

Words and Images. Language/Literature/Moving Pictures. Xth Cinema and Media Studies Conference in Transylvania
25 to 26 May 2007
Cluj-Napoca, ROMANIA, Romania

1st Global Conference: Visual Literacies: Exploring Critical Issues
3 to 5 July 2007
Oxford, United Kingdom

Currently I am looking for travel grants, actually any kind of funding. I know that undergraduates are never funded but I am doing my search. Almost all my sources have arrived including the short films by Ebrahim Golestan. I will be putting up the web page soon so that everything will be all together.

about the international women's day event and more..

2007-03-09T08:36:00.000-08:00

I was at Montclair State University yesterday, I thought it would be difficult to find my way around but I managed.

[There were so many technical problems and I chose not to interfere(since I did not want to responsible for another school's equipment) but I helped a bit. I realized once more that there is a need for Computer Science majors minoring in Women's Studies :)]

There were three Iranian women invited as speakers:
Nahid Rachlin, Iranian-American author
Dr. Faegeh Shirazi, Associate Professor, Dept. of Middle Eastern Studies, Islamic Studies Program, University of Texas, Austin
Maryam Habibian, Playwright, director, and independent scholar

I had a chance to meet them all, I actually have Maryam Habibian's contact information as well as her film :Forough Farrokhzad Young Revolutionary Poetess of Tehran.
It was a great great experience for me. I also have her translations of Forough now that I got all I needed for my research.

I also got a very nice reply after I submitted my abstract. Even though I don't get accepted I feel good because they found my topic to be very interesting and I am waiting for some other e-mail hopefully I will be "accepted" :)

The House is Black and Forough Farrokhzad on YouTube

2007-03-06T09:27:00.000-08:00

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcBDO9sRtb4&watch_response
www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2qDGXHQm30&mode=related&search=

The House is Black is available on YouTube,
There are also some other things that are interesting on Forugh as well.

OK so everyone can actually watch the whole film :)
(Technology just moves me )

ps: title found:) abstract in the last phase :)

I am going :)

2007-03-05T16:35:00.000-08:00

Well the event I have mentioned in NJ, I am not going to miss it.
I am very very happy considering the fact that I did not have the opportunity to contact Maryam Habibian. It is kind of late to find out about her but I have read her play today on Forugh Farrokhzad and she will be showing the klips I believe on Thursday. (I am very very very curious )

I am looking for a title..

2007-03-01T11:21:00.000-08:00

Well, I have finished the abstract, it needs to be polished but skeleton seems solid.
What I am looking for now is the title..

Asrar ganj dareheye jenni (1974)

2007-02-28T11:27:00.000-08:00

One of Ebrahim Golestan's films arrived just now from the University of Chicago Film Studies Center. It is a DVD in Farsi with English Subtitles..
ENGLISH TITLE: "SECRET OF THE TREASURES OF DJINN VALLEY"

Netflix, reviews

2007-02-27T09:47:00.000-08:00

http://www.netflix.com

please check out the reviews on "The House is Black"...
(and smile because that is what I can do right now and I enjoy the scenery)

Professor Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa's email..

2007-02-25T17:51:00.000-08:00

Professor Mehrnaz Saeed-Vafa emailed me back on further research on Ebrahim Golestan.
Unfortunately his films are not available..but The Golestan event( in May and in Chicago) is open to public :))))) . (I will be going. I mean I have to go..)

I hope to give more updates when I learn more.

currently, writing my abstract...

just a "perfect" day..

2007-02-23T11:33:00.000-08:00

The items that are not available (and not going to be available) are

Khist va a¯yinah
I Shall Salute the Sun Once Again..both videos.. :(

*******Suggestions : Shirin Neshat's "Woman Moves" -DVD about 45 mins..very well done..
It is available in Suny Binghamton Main Library

Articles for today

2007-02-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

Cichocki, Nina. Veils, Poems, Guns and Martyrs: Four Themes of Muslim Women's Experiences in Shirin Neshat's Photographic Work
Shahidian Hammed. Iranian Exiles and Sexual Politics: Issues of Gender Relations and Identity
Oehler-Stricklin, Dylan Olivia. `And This is I: The Power of the Individual in the Poetry of Forugh Farrokhzad

I started reading already.. (hopefully) great sources!!

Women's Studies Event in March: http://www.chss.montclair.edu/ws/events.html

2007-02-21T20:10:00.000-08:00

Events taking place in Monclair State University,
I would like to go there wouldn't I...

Iranian Women: A Revolution of the Senses

On Thursday afternoon, March 8th (International Women’s Day)—The Visiting Writer’s Committee of the Department of English, with assistance from the Women’s Studies Program, the Honors Program, and Global Education —

invites you to an exciting panel introducing the artistic and scholarly work of Three Creative Iranian Women. The event will be held in Cohen Lounge, from 11:30 a.m till 2:30 p.m., with a reception and book-signing in between classes (i.e. from 12:45-to approx 1p.m).

The program will be in the following order:

11:35-12:00: Nahid Rachlin will read from her recently-published memoir, Persian Girls.

12:00-12:30: Faegeh Shirazi will share research from her book, The Veil Unveiled through a power point presentation.

12:30-12:45: Q and A; reception

1-1:30: Nahid Rachlin will read from her memoir, share creative non-fiction strategies, and answer questions about the writing process.

1:30-2:00: Maryam Habibian will read her translations of Iranian feminist poet Forugh Forrukhzad’s poetry and show clips of her film on Forugh’s life and on Tehran.

2-2:30 p.m: Q and A, followed by book signing.

keep me busy :S

2007-02-21T19:27:00.000-08:00

now.. for weeks I have had these books and I still need them for further research..
Those books are..

Dabashi Hamid. Close Up Iranian Cinema Past,Present and Future
Corrigan, Timothy J. A short guide to writing about film
Rosenbaum, Jonathan. Saeed-Vafa, Mehrnaz. Abbas Kiarostami
Turovskaya, Maya. Tarkovsky
McCabe. Cinematic Modernism
Forugh Farrokhzad. Another Birth(Translated by Hasan Javadi, Susan Sallee)

and many more articles..

A Brief Critical History of Iranian Feature Film(1896-1975)
Hansen, Miriam B. Introduction to Adorno, "Transparencies on Film"(1966)
Allen, Richard W. The Aesthetic Experience of Modernity: Benjamin, Adorno, and Contemporary Film Theory
Mir-Hosseini, Ziba. Iranian Cinema: Art,Society and the State
Mayne, Judith. The Women at the Keyhole: Women's Cinema and Feminist Criticism
Aicken, Frederick. Film as Poetry
Harris, William. Cinema and Latin Poetry

the ones I liked are..

Debrix, Jean. Cinema and Poetry
Filippini, Bianca Maria. Forough Farrokhzad

and today I have noticed that I had someone missing in the picture:
Sergej Parajanov.. here are the books I will need..

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/52098502&referer=brief_results
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40592753&referer=brief_results
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/53476450&referer=brief_results

expectations

2007-02-21T19:25:00.000-08:00

sometimes we never hear back do we?

2007-02-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

As a student of "confusion", I need help and there are people who helped A LOT and who are still helping A LOT..
Jonathan Rosenbaum,M. R. Ghanoonparvar ,Majid Mohammadi ,Emese Latkoczy,Hamit Toprak,Ingeborg Majer-O'Sickey,Devan Bissonette,Jeffner Allen..
but not everybody is available..
I tried to get in touch with University of Tehran , Professor Farzaneh Milani, Professor Hamid Dabashi, facet sales (for further copyright information on films, I currently know it costs 150$) unfortunately I have not heard back
I hope you do not take this personally, as I said this is my log so I sort of have a list of people I have contacted..:) no offense.. no worries.. I am still working on finding more resources, watching more films and learning more...

phases..

2007-02-21T17:21:00.000-08:00

Mainly when I decided to decide what to do for my women's studies independent project, I was thinking of working with a professor who would "understand" and "support" me without worrying about me being in engineering. I had Professor Allen before so she knew me. She also has been very supportive, we even had couple of meetings last semester so that I would have time to dig in the books I have back home.

Well, I was reading over the break..

Furug Ferruhzad. Ask siirleri (kirmizi ) ISBN:975-9169-19-3
Furug Ferruhzad,Cavit Mukaddes. Sadece ses kalicidir (YKY) ISBN:975-363-144-8
Ahmed Samlu, Hasim Husrevsahi.Bana Aydinliktan Soz Et.(Adam) ISBN: 975-418-601-4
Ahmed Samlu, Cavit Mukaddes.Ey Ask, Ey Ask! Mavi Yuzun Gorunmuyor (YKY) ISBN:975-08-0785-5
Furug Ferruhzad.Dunya sevmek icin cok kucuk(gri) ISBN:975-98437-5-7
Mantegh at-Tayr (The Conference of the Birds) by Farid od-Din Attar

Other than those;
I had sources from the University,

Hillmann, Michael C. Forugh Farrokhzad and Her Poetry: A lonely Woman
Milani, Farzaneh.Forugh Farrokhzad: a feminist perspective
Milani, Farzaneh. Veils and Words: The emerging voices of Iranian women writers
Also there is an article on Jstor that I worked on, by Girdhari Tikku

I have seen the movie she directed "The House is Black"

Then, I made up my mind. I loved the film.. I would do something with words and images..

The "first" entry...

2007-02-21T16:21:00.000-08:00

Well, today I decided to put up a blog related to this project. Mainly, I want to keep track (digital track).
I do my readings almost everyday(well, I try I have programs to write, projects to submit, problems to solve...etc...etc) and I learn so many things I figured I would put them up here.. whether useful or completely unnecessary I need to put them down(somehow somewhere).
I do want to see how this project will come out, if it ever does..:)