Book | Women in the Cinemas of Iran and Turkey by Gönül Dönmez-Colin

Gönül Dönmez-Colin is film scholar and author of several books on cinema. including Women, Islam and Cinema, Turkish Cinema: Identity, Distance and Belonging and The Routledge Dictionary of Turkish Cinema. Her latest monograph, Women as Images and as Image-makers in the Cinemas of Iran and Turkey is forthcoming from Routledge.

"In this intelligent analysis of Turkish and Iranian cinemas the author highlights the role of women both as objects and as creative forces. She provides a close reading of the genre and raises a series of intriguing questions and observations. The book is a noteworthy achievement as well as a stimulating read. Anyone interested in Middle Eastern culture and society will find Dönmez-Colin’s ideas on the topic rewarding."


Oliver Leaman, University of Kentucky, USA 

Mavi Boncuk |

Women in the Cinemas of Iran and Turkey
As Images and as Image-Makers, 1st Edition
By Gönül Dönmez-Colin[1]
Routledge
400 pages | 70 B/W Illus.
9781138485112
pub: 2019-07-15
Available for pre-order


Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Inflated Plastic Dolls, Patience Stones, Honour Bearers and Home-Breakers and 'Commodified Others' to Free Agents: Screen Images of Women
2. Women on the Thorny Trail of Image-Making
3. Post-Traumatic Cinema and Gender
4. Narratives of Resistance
5. Sexualities and Queer Imaginaries
6. Border-Crossings and 'Deterritorialized' Film-Makers
7. His Films: Abbas Kiarostami and Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Afterword

This volume compares the cinemas of Iran and Turkey in terms of the presence and absence of women on both sides of the camera. From a critical point of view, it provides detailed readings of works by both male and female film-makers, emphasising issues facing women's film-making.

Presenting an overview of the modern histories of the two neighbouring countries the study traces certain similarities and contrasts, particularly in the reception, adaption and representation of Western modernity and cinema. This is followed by the exploration of the images of women on screen with attention to minority women, investigating post-traumatic cinema's approaches to women (Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran and the 1980 coup d’état in Turkey) and women's interpretations of post-traumatic experiences. Furthermore, the representations of sexualities and LGBTI identities within cultural, traditional and state-imposed restrictions are also discussed. Investigating border-crossing in physical and metaphorical terms, the research explores the hybridities in the artistic expressions of 'deterritorialized' film-makers negotiating loyalties to both vatan (motherland) and the adopted country.

This comprehensive analysis of the cinemas of Iran and Turkey, based on extensive research, fieldwork, interviews and viewing of countless films is a key resource for students and scholars interested in film, gender and cultural studies and the Middle East.

[1]Gönül Dönmez-Colin is a film scholar specializing in the cinemas of the Middle East and Central Asia. She is the author of The Routledge Dictionary of Turkish Cinema, Turkish Cinema: Identity, Distance and Belonging, Cinemas of the Other: A Personal Journey with Filmmakers from the Middle East and Central Asia, Women, Islam and Cinema among other works. 

Gönül Dönmez-Colin is the author of "Women, Islam and Cinema" (2004), "Cinemas of the other: A Personal Journey with Filmmakers from the Middle East and Central Asia" (2006), "The Cinema of North Africa and the Middle East" (ed.) (2007) and "Turkish Cinema: Distance, Belonging and Identity" (2008).

As a Jury Member
17th Montreal World Film Festival 1993
35th Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival 1998
10th Ankara International Film Festival 1998
26th Montreal World Film Festival 2002
22nd Istanbul International  Film Festival 2003
2nd Shaken's Stars Film Festival in Almaty 2004
7th Flying Broom International Women's Film Festival 2004
11th Vesoul Festival of Asian Cinemas 2005
10th Osean's Cinefan in New Delhi 2008
10th Mumbai International Film Festival (MAMI) 2008
13th Kerala International Film Festival 2008
39th International Film Festival of India Goa 2008
8th Third Eye Asian Film Festival Mumbai 2009
46th Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 2011
21th Vesoul Festival of Asian Cinemas 2015



See also:

Women, Islam and Cinema | Gönül Dönmez-Colin
Distributed for Reaktion Books
208 pages | 6.6 x 4.5

This is the first book to examine the troubled relationships between women, Islam and cinema. Film critic and author Gönül Dönmez-Colin explores the role of women as spectators, images and image constructors in the cinemas of the countries where Islam is the predominant religion, focusing on Iran and Turkey from the Middle East, drawing parallels from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the two Central Asian Republics of the former Soviet Union, and Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia, the prominently Muslim Asian countries with a challenging film industry. Some of the relevant films made in India by and for Muslim Indians are also explored.

Dönmez-Colin examines prevalent cinematic archetypes, including the naïve country girl who is deceived and dishonored, or the devious seductress who destroys the sanctity of marriage, and looks well at controversial elements such as screen rape, which, feminist film critics claim, caters to male voyeurism. She also discusses recurring themes, such as the myths of femininity, the endorsement of polygamy and the obsession with male children, as well as the most common stereotypes, depicting women as mothers, wives and daughters.

Given the diversity of cultures, rather than viewing national cinemas as aspects of a single development, the author focuses on individual histories, traditions and social and economic circumstances as points of reference, which are examined in the context of social and political evolution and the status of women within Islam.

Women, Islam and Cinema is a much-needed and timely work that will appeal to the curious reader as well as to the student of film.