Shab-Nameh: Women of Iran’s Forgotten Left

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Please note that access will not be permitted 15 minutes after the start of the event.

This event will be held in English.

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Maryam Tafakory will present a performative iteration of her research-based project through archival documents, including declassified files from the final years of imperial Iran and the early post-revolution period, to offer glimpses into the role of women in a popular leftist movement that was suppressed on all fronts.

Maryam Tafakory, (born and raised in Iran) works with film and performance. She teaches on the MA Fine Art program at the University of Oxford’s Ruskin School of Art and holds a PhD from Kingston University, London.

She received the 2024 Film London Jarman Award, and her work has been presented in solo screenings at MoMA (New York), BOZAR (Brussels), the National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), and the Academy Museum (Los Angeles), among others. Her first U.K. solo exhibition was one of Artforum’s Critics’ Picks of 2023.

Her films have received numerous awards, several of them Oscar-qualifying, including the Gold Hugo at the 58th Chicago International Film Festival, Best Documentary Short at the 72nd Melbourne International Film Festival, the Tiger Short Award at the 51st International Film Festival Rotterdam, and the Cinema & Gioventù award at the 77th Locarno Film Festival, among others. They have also screened at NYFF (New York), TIFF (Toronto), BFI London Film Festival, and Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.

The Rendez-Vous de l’Institut Series is generously supported by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

This event will take place in Reid Hall’s Grande Salle Ginsberg-LeClerc, built in 1912 and extensively renovated in 2023 thanks to the generous support of Judith Ginsberg and Paul LeClerc.

This event will be recorded and may be broadcast as part of our SNF Rendez-vous de l’Institut podcast series. By participating and asking questions, you consent to the use of your voice in this context.