Underground: Music as a Door through the Absurd World of Yugoslavian History

In Emir Kursturica's 1995 Palme d'or winning film Underground, music is used as a way to digest, satirize and travel into the absurd world of Yugoslavian history

An Islamic Reading of Kiarostami’s Closeup

Close-Up (1990) by the internationally renowned Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami is a seminal work that has been recognized by prominent film critics in the U.S. and Europe as exceptional in its subject matter, characterization and style. It is interesting to examine the varying, sometimes banal and sometimes inaccurate conclusions about the film. First is the ever-present association with politics under which most Iranian films are placed to some extent by critics in the West

Dil Se...

The 1998 Indian film Dil Se... has made a lasting impact on international cinema in several ways. Recent Indian cinema has become a source of entertainment for non-South Asian audiences and a curious cinematic resource for 'auteurs'. Dil Se... is indicative of the larger recent upsurge of interest in 'Bollywood' and its cinematography, musical content, politics, language and commercial success make it the perfect poster boy for the artistic merits of 'Bollywood'

Utopian Landscapes

Directions Screening #3: Short films that embody ideas of Utopia and sometimes descend into strange dystopian shadow plays

Faith, Society, Politics: How the Coronavirus is Changing the World

Across the political spectrum, this is a period of the unknown; the neo-liberal or leftist perspective that has clamored for change away from an over-industrialized, air-polluting and ultra-capitalist world has remained largely ambivalent about the radical developments and grounding of global capitalism

Argo, Orient Yourself!

Argo is problematic on many counts. The film opens with a cartoon historical overview which gives context to the hatred most Iranians feel towards the Shah and points out American complicity in the 1953 coup that overthrew democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad Mosaddegh. The closing shot is a lineup of Star Wars action figures and toys in the bedroom of Mendez's son. This bracketing is noteworthy because it reflects Affleck's desire to come across as credible by acknowledging the American involvement in 1953 while also playing to his action-fantasy childhood memories of the time (I also grew up collecting action figures in suburbia and my bedroom looked quite similar to the one in Argo)

DLN Reddy

DLN Reddy's new group of paintings combines a tranquil and simultaneously aggressive current. The paneled paintings are dense and have a sweeping flourish to them that feels almost supernatural. Upon closer inspection couples and bodies float and engage in erotica in what seems like a stadium or theatre setting

Turkey 2016: Black Dogs and a Vanquished Coup

"Deccani Souls", "The Battle of Algiers" and "Staging a Revolution" remind us that contemporary Turkey also has a Muslim soul that is able to resist attempted militarized coups and the global hegemony

Slavery and Colonialism Go Deeper than Toppling Statues

The danger is to mistake tokenistic gestures of racial and ethnic equality by the symbolic overthrow of bronze statues of easily targeted, long-dead historical figures with a long-term commitment to a radically different world-view

The Jameel Prize in Istanbul

The Jameel Prize is ‘an award for contemporary art and design inspired by Islamic tradition’ and is currently on view at the Pera Museum until August 14th 2016. This is the fourth edition of the award and exhibition which is organized by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the organization Art Jameel