Hamid Reza Sadr
Encyclopedia
Hamid Reza Sadr حمیدرضا صدر born 19 March 1956, is an Iran
ian film critic
. He is well known for his columns in Film Magazine and Haft Magazine on cinema
.
He married Mehrzad Dolati in 1983. She is an artist who studied in the United States and then came to Iran and went to Tehran University. She has been teaching painting for many years. They have a daughter, Ghazaleh, born in 1990. She studies at Shahid Beheshti University
for getting her BA in English Literature
. He currently lives in Tehran, Iran and lectures in different Iranian and European universities besides his professional engineering work. He is mainly working on new books.
, and MA in Urban Planning
in Faculty of Fine Arts, Tehran University. His thesis title was Location Modeling of Persian Gulf
Cities.And he got his PhD in Urban Planning
from Leeds University.
films. The originality of his opinions, as well as the vigorous way in which he spoken them, won his eager supporters as well as angry critics.'
He translated "From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies", the influential book by Molly Haskell
which published in Zan-e Rooz magazine.
He has written a book on politics and Iranian cinema, called Iranian Cinema: A Political History. The comprehensive analysis provided in this book gives refreshing, up-to-date introduction to those interested in Iranian cinema and its socio-political dimensions and history, observing recurrent themes and genres as well as giving lights to lesser-known thematic concerns and figures. Sadr, while acknowledging the lack of imaginative expression in mainstream Iranian cinema: the weak scripts, the poor performances, the repetitive and conservative nature and content and poor performances, argues for and analysis the political contexts and its constant shifts embedded within the apparently least noteworthy of Iranian films.
Sadr was known for his monthly column called "Shadow of Imagination" {سایه خیال} appearing in Film Magazine and his reports on international film festival particularly on London Film Festival
. He interviewed many famous actors, directors and film critics including: Anthony Hopkins
, Peter O'Toole
, Mike Leigh
, Jim Jarmusch
, Carlos Saura
, Andrei Konchalovsky
, Peter Wollen
, Laura Mulvey
, Jeffrey Noel Smith, John Gillett, Sohrab Shahid-Sales and Farokh Ghafari.
He is a co-producer of Looking for Scheherazade movie, a documentary directed by Safi Yazdanian in 2003.
He is a football lover and has written several features on sociology, politics and football. His book Once Upon a Time Football is about politics and football but it also tells the story of the Sadr's relationship with football and sometimes relates them to his own personal life.
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian film critic
Film criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
. He is well known for his columns in Film Magazine and Haft Magazine on cinema
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
.
He married Mehrzad Dolati in 1983. She is an artist who studied in the United States and then came to Iran and went to Tehran University. She has been teaching painting for many years. They have a daughter, Ghazaleh, born in 1990. She studies at Shahid Beheshti University
Shahid Beheshti University
Shahid Beheshti University was formerly The National University of Iran . The university's name was changed during the cultural revolution in Iranian universities, 1980-82. It is located in Evin District and extends into Velenjak District in northwestern Tehran, Iran, on a main campus of...
for getting her BA in English Literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
. He currently lives in Tehran, Iran and lectures in different Iranian and European universities besides his professional engineering work. He is mainly working on new books.
Education
He entered Tehran University in 1974 and gained BA in EconomicsEconomics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, and MA in Urban Planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
in Faculty of Fine Arts, Tehran University. His thesis title was Location Modeling of Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
Cities.And he got his PhD in Urban Planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
from Leeds University.
Career
Sadr's movie reviews are published in many Iranian journals since 1981 including Zan-e Rooz, Soroush, Film Magazine, Film International, and Haft magazine. Sadr has explained his critical approach to films as "relative, not unconditional"; he analysis a film for what he feels will be its likely audience, yet he usually approaches movies emotionally, with a strongly touching writing style. He was especially cruel to some films that had been roasted by many critics, such as Bahram Beizai and Masoud KimiaiMasoud Kimiai
Masoud Kimiai is an Iranian director, screenwriter and producer. He was born in 1941 in Tehran, Iran.- Biography :Kimiai started his career as an assistant director and made his debut, Come Stranger, in 1968. With his second film, Kaiser , he and Dariush Mehrjui with The film Cow, caused a...
films. The originality of his opinions, as well as the vigorous way in which he spoken them, won his eager supporters as well as angry critics.'
He translated "From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies", the influential book by Molly Haskell
Molly Haskell
Molly Haskell is an American feminist film critic and author. Her most influential book is From Reverence to Rape: the Treatment of Women in the Movies...
which published in Zan-e Rooz magazine.
He has written a book on politics and Iranian cinema, called Iranian Cinema: A Political History. The comprehensive analysis provided in this book gives refreshing, up-to-date introduction to those interested in Iranian cinema and its socio-political dimensions and history, observing recurrent themes and genres as well as giving lights to lesser-known thematic concerns and figures. Sadr, while acknowledging the lack of imaginative expression in mainstream Iranian cinema: the weak scripts, the poor performances, the repetitive and conservative nature and content and poor performances, argues for and analysis the political contexts and its constant shifts embedded within the apparently least noteworthy of Iranian films.
Sadr was known for his monthly column called "Shadow of Imagination" {سایه خیال} appearing in Film Magazine and his reports on international film festival particularly on London Film Festival
London Film Festival
The BFI London Film Festival is the UK's largest public film event, screening more than 300 features, documentaries and shorts from almost 50 countries. The festival, , currently in its 54th year, is run every year in the second half of October under the umbrella of the British Film Institute...
. He interviewed many famous actors, directors and film critics including: Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
, Peter O'Toole
Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus Lorcan O'Toole is an Irish actor of stage and screen. O'Toole achieved stardom in 1962 playing T. E. Lawrence in Lawrence of Arabia, and then went on to become a highly-honoured film and stage actor. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards, and holds the record for most...
, Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
, Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch
James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
, Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura
Carlos Saura Atarés is a Spanish film director and photographer.-Early life:Born into a family of artists , he developed his artistic sense in childhood as a photography enthusiast.He obtained his directing diploma in Madrid in 1957 at the Institute of Cinema Research and Studies...
, Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky is a Soviet-American and Russian film director, film producer and screenwriter....
, Peter Wollen
Peter Wollen
Peter Wollen is a film theorist and writer. He studied English at Christ Church, Oxford. Both political journalist and film theorist, Wollen's Signs and Meaning in the Cinema , helped to transform the discipline of film studies by incorporating the methodology of structuralism and...
, Laura Mulvey
Laura Mulvey
Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist. She was educated at St Hilda's College, Oxford. She is currently professor of film and media studies at Birkbeck, University of London...
, Jeffrey Noel Smith, John Gillett, Sohrab Shahid-Sales and Farokh Ghafari.
He is a co-producer of Looking for Scheherazade movie, a documentary directed by Safi Yazdanian in 2003.
He is a football lover and has written several features on sociology, politics and football. His book Once Upon a Time Football is about politics and football but it also tells the story of the Sadr's relationship with football and sometimes relates them to his own personal life.
Books
Sadr's books included:- Comedy Cinema (Tehran, 1987,Film Publication)
- An Introduction to the Political History of Iranian Cinema (Tehran, 2001, Ney Publications)
- Against the Wind: Politics of Iranian Cinema (Tehran, 2002, Zarrin Publications)
- Iranian Cinema: A Political History (London, 2006, I.B. TaurisI.B. TaurisI. B. Tauris is an independent publishing house with offices in London and New York.-History:I.B.Tauris was founded in 1983. Its declared strategy was to fill the perceived gap between trade publishing houses and university presses—that is, to publish serious but accessible works on international...
) - Once Upon a Time Football (Tehran, 2000, Avige Publication) which is a personal review of football based on political and social events.
- A contributor in Life and Art : The New Iranian Cinema (BFIBritish Film InstituteThe British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
, 1999,London) - A contributor in The New Iranian Cinema: Politics, Representation & Identity (London, 2002, I.B. TaurisI.B. TaurisI. B. Tauris is an independent publishing house with offices in London and New York.-History:I.B.Tauris was founded in 1983. Its declared strategy was to fill the perceived gap between trade publishing houses and university presses—that is, to publish serious but accessible works on international...
) - The Damned Utd (Tehran, 2010, Cheshmeh Publications) which is a translation of David Peace's novel.
- Once Upon a Time Football (Tehran, 2011, Cheshmeh Publications) which is the updated version of the previous book.