Cinematic Resistance: Human Rights Narratives in Post 2005 Iranian Film

This paper explores how Iranian cinema, since 2005, has developed innovative aesthetic and narrative strategies to communicate human rights struggles and articulate resistance within an increasingly restrictive political environment. Following the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the tightening of state censorship, filmmakers have turned to new cinematic languages — minimalism, allegory, documentary hybridisation, and dispersed authorship — to expose structural violence, gender discrimination, and the suppression of civil liberties. Through case studies drawn from both internationally recognised directors and emerging independent voices, the presentation examines how film becomes a space for negotiating truth, witnessing injustice, and preserving collective memory in the absence of formal mechanisms of transitional justice. The paper argues that contemporary Iranian cinema functions as a parallel system of civic communication: it documents abuses that cannot be publicly acknowledged, amplifies marginalised voices, and circulates counter-narratives across transnational networks. By analyzing these films as acts of cultural resistance, the presentation highlights how Iranian filmmakers transform the constraints of authoritarian governance into creative opportunities for dissent, ultimately positioning cinema as a vital medium for articulating human rights claims and imagining more just futures.