Representations of Afghans in Iranian Cinema

The historic events of 1979 transformed both Iranian as well as Afghan society and politics—leading to the migration of millions of Afghans to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Despite the significant cultural commonalities and other ties between Afghanistan and Iran, or the sizeable Afghan community in Iran, scholars have scarcely researched representations of Afghans in Iranian culture. My paper addresses representations of Afghans in Iranian cinema, with special focus on constructions (and deconstructions) of the Iranian “Self” vis-à-vis the Afghan “Other”. Specifically, my paper analyzes three contemporaneous films by different filmmakers dealing with Afghan subjects living in Iran: Djomeh (2000), Delbaran (2001), and Baran (2001). Likewise, my paper examines The Cyclist (1987), so as to provide historical and comparative perspectives on this theme. My paper discusses the films’ humanization of the Afghan subjects—as well as depictions of their dehumanization—and focuses on the rendering of the Afghan subjects’ identity and otherness. My paper argues that, regardless of differences in their portrayals of the plight of Afghans living in Iran, the films defamiliarize the otherness of Afghan subjects by highlighting cultural affinities between the Iranian Self and the Persian-speaking Afghan Other. By closely examining these films, my project increases our understanding of minorities in post-revolutionary Iranian culture, as well as of the understudied issue of transnationalism in constructs of Persianate identity more globally.