In addition to box office success, Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s films have achieved national and international critical acclaims. However, it is not only this rare achievement of critical and commercial success that sets Farhadi apart from other Iranian filmmakers, but also, his new approach to the issues of truth and morality which have been age-long themes in the history of Iranian art, literature, and cinema. Compared to his predecessors such as Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Jafar Panahi, Farhadi’s viewpoint on these themes is distinctly secular. This thesis focuses on the significance of the change Farhadi’s approach has brought on Iranian cinema by analyzing three of his critically acclaimed films, About Elly (2009), A Separation (2011), and The Salesman (2016). By creative use of narrative techniques such as narrative gaps and open endings and filmic techniques such as indirect-subjective point of view and handheld camera, Farhadi’s films highlight the relativity of the concepts of truth and morality through a secular and modernist lens. Such an approach marks a shift in Iranian cinema which, in turn, indicates an ideological shift within the contemporary Iranian society as well.
","abstract_html":"<p>In addition to box office success, Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s films have achieved national and international critical acclaims. However, it is not only this rare achievement of critical and commercial success that sets Farhadi apart from other Iranian filmmakers, but also, his new approach to the issues of truth and morality which have been age-long themes in the history of Iranian art, literature, and cinema. Compared to his predecessors such as Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Jafar Panahi, Farhadi’s viewpoint on these themes is distinctly secular. This thesis focuses on the significance of the change Farhadi’s approach has brought on Iranian cinema by analyzing three of his critically acclaimed films, <em>About Elly</em> (2009), <em>A Separation </em>(2011), and <em>The Salesman</em> (2016). By creative use of narrative techniques such as narrative gaps and open endings and filmic techniques such as indirect-subjective point of view and handheld camera, Farhadi’s films highlight the relativity of the concepts of truth and morality through a secular and modernist lens. Such an approach marks a shift in Iranian cinema which, in turn, indicates an ideological shift within the contemporary Iranian society as well.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mahdavifar, Mazyar"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts (MA)","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Film Studies","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Nam Lee, Ph.D.","Roxanne Varzi, Ph.D.","Federico Pacchioni, Ph.D."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-04-12T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2019-04-12T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:00Z","subjects":["Asghar Farhadi","Iranian Cinema","religion","social realism","truth","relativism","Film and Media Studies"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/film_studies_theses/2","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Nam Lee, Ph.D.","Roxanne Varzi, Ph.D.","Federico Pacchioni, Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mahdavifar, Mazyar"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2021-04-01T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Film Studies"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts (MA)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Asghar Farhadi","Iranian Cinema","religion","social realism","truth","relativism","Film and Media Studies"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/film_studies_theses/2"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["In addition to box office success, Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s films have achieved national and international critical acclaims. However, it is not only this rare achievement of critical and commercial success that sets Farhadi apart from other Iranian filmmakers, but also, his new approach to the issues of truth and morality which have been age-long themes in the history of Iranian art, literature, and cinema. Compared to his predecessors such as Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Jafar Panahi, Farhadi’s viewpoint on these themes is distinctly secular. This thesis focuses on the significance of the change Farhadi’s approach has brought on Iranian cinema by analyzing three of his critically acclaimed films, About Elly (2009), A Separation (2011), and The Salesman (2016). By creative use of narrative techniques such as narrative gaps and open endings and filmic techniques such as indirect-subjective point of view and handheld camera, Farhadi’s films highlight the relativity of the concepts of truth and morality through a secular and modernist lens. Such an approach marks a shift in Iranian cinema which, in turn, indicates an ideological shift within the contemporary Iranian society as well.
"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Mahdavifar, Mazyar. \"Iranian Cinema in Transition: Relative Truth and Morality in Asghar Farhadi’s Films.\" Master's thesis, Chapman University, 2019. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000050"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Iranian Cinema in Transition: Relative Truth and Morality in Asghar Farhadi’s Films"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Nam Lee, Ph.D.","Roxanne Varzi, Ph.D.","Federico Pacchioni, Ph.D."],"dc:creator":["Mahdavifar, Mazyar"],"dc:date.available":["2021-04-01T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["In addition to box office success, Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s films have achieved national and international critical acclaims. However, it is not only this rare achievement of critical and commercial success that sets Farhadi apart from other Iranian filmmakers, but also, his new approach to the issues of truth and morality which have been age-long themes in the history of Iranian art, literature, and cinema. Compared to his predecessors such as Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Jafar Panahi, Farhadi’s viewpoint on these themes is distinctly secular. This thesis focuses on the significance of the change Farhadi’s approach has brought on Iranian cinema by analyzing three of his critically acclaimed films, About Elly (2009), A Separation (2011), and The Salesman (2016). By creative use of narrative techniques such as narrative gaps and open endings and filmic techniques such as indirect-subjective point of view and handheld camera, Farhadi’s films highlight the relativity of the concepts of truth and morality through a secular and modernist lens. Such an approach marks a shift in Iranian cinema which, in turn, indicates an ideological shift within the contemporary Iranian society as well.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/film_studies_theses/2"],"dc:source":["Mahdavifar, Mazyar. \"Iranian Cinema in Transition: Relative Truth and Morality in Asghar Farhadi’s Films.\" Master's thesis, Chapman University, 2019. https://doi.org/10.36837/chapman.000050"],"dc:subject":["Asghar Farhadi","Iranian Cinema","religion","social realism","truth","relativism","Film and Media Studies"],"dc:title":["Iranian Cinema in Transition: Relative Truth and Morality in Asghar Farhadi’s Films"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Film Studies"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts (MA)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:38:00Z"}