Women in the Cinemas of Iran and Turkey

i) the first comprehensive analysis of the cinemas of Iran and Turkey comparing the presence and absence of women on both sides of the camera from early days to present

ii) first-hand accounts of film-making practices by women in Iran and Turkey

iii) feminist readings of canonical works by distinguished male and female film-makers from Iran and Turkey

iv) focus on the representations of sexualities and LGBTI identities in the cinemas of two Islamic countries with diverse cultural, traditional and state-imposed restrictions

v) focus on one of the most important contemporary disasters, the refugee crisis and the issue of borders through the gaze of the woman film-makers who interpret the residues of traumas on the female body and memory through artistic expressions

vi) a rare comparison of the works of Abbas Kiarostami and Nuri Bilge Ceylan from a feminist perspective