A Chance at Existence: Queer Iranian Cinema after the Islamic Revolution

Abstract

This thesis examines the elusive presence of queer cinema in post-revolutionary Iran, where state censorship and sociopolitical restrictions render explicit queer representation largely invisible. Drawing on reception analysis, it investigates how queer Iranian audiences interpret and define queerness in national cinema through personal readings of films produced under the Islamic Republic. Sixteen queer participants provided autobiographical narratives, analyzed thematically alongside selected films, to uncover interpretive practices that sustain queer visibility despite official erasure. The findings identify three key modes of queer reception: Explicit Queerness, where trans-centered narratives surface within state-sanctioned frameworks; Queer Potential, where homoerotic undertones and female intimacies are re-read as queer through audience interpretive labor; and Queer Sensibility, where affective, vibe-based identifications enable audiences to claim queerness in seemingly heteronormative texts. Together, these strategies demonstrate how Iranian queer cinema exists less as an overt genre than as a practice of subversive spectatorship, operating within a "glass closet" of coded silences and fleeting recognitions. By centering queer Iranian voices, this research challenges Western-dominated frameworks of queer film studies, foregrounds the specificity of local reception, and highlights the persistence of queer presence within one of the world’s most restrictive cinematic landscapes.