Other in Neorealist Cinema of Iran

The representation of Kurds in post-revolutionary Iranian cinema is based on a binary opposition according to which they are either a traditional, hospitable and simple-hearted people or some aggressive, deceived and restive one. This picture which has been showed especially in a genre named Defamogadas and some other films and serials was itself basically the result of tensions occurred during the early years of revolution and Iraq war. After the war this image of the Kurds changed gradually. Some writers and artists tended to represent a more realistic image of this ethnic group. Takhtesyah and Bad Ma ra Khahad Bord are the products of this period. These two films were produced at the end of eightieth and tried to show a very different picture of the Kurds. This article attempts to interpret this image using postcolonial theoretical concepts and symptomatic reading in methodology. The findings show that the image of the Kurds in these two films is made through using old and common perceptions of them in Iranian oral culture. According to this perception, the Kurds are identifies with images like pure nature, old lifestyle, simple-mindedness and resistant to progress.