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In film studies, Iranian films are kept at a distance, as ´other,´ different, and exotic. In reponse, this book takes these films as philosophically relevant and innovative. Each chapter of this book is devoted to analyzing a single film, and each chapter focuses on one philosopher and one particular aesthetic question.

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How Orphans Believe: Deleuze, National Cinema, and Majidi´s The Color of Paradise ´What are filmmakers for in needy times?´ On Heidegger and Kiarostami´s Taste of Cherry Committed Perception: Merleau-Ponty and Children of Heaven Regarding You: Lacanian Gaze and Ethics in Kiarostami´s Close-up Stolen Jouissance: Lacan, Feminism, and Meshkini´s The Day I Became a Woman Deafening Silence: Bahman Ghobadi´s Turtles Can Fly and Marginal Politics

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´A fascinating piece of work which brings the insights of Continental philosophy to bear on Iranian cinema and perhaps more importantly brings Iranian cinema to bear on those insights.´ - Simon Critchley, Hans Jonas Professor of Philosophy, New School for Social Research

´Erfani´s important and informative book makes a stunning contribution to the relatively new field of film and philosophy. In it, Iranian cinema and western philosophy peer into each other like facing mirrors, finding there both confirmation and disorientation. Lucid and sophisticated, this work will have wide appeal to those interested in cinema and contemporary theory.´ - Joan Copjec, professor of English, Comparative Literature, and Media Study, University at Buffalo

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FARHANG ERFANI Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the American University, USA, and a research associate at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa.

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