More countries than shoes: Navigating radical territories of refugee filmmaking in the era of the "Death of Cinema”

While displaced peoples have been among the favourite topics of commercial filmmaking for decades, throughout the history of cinema, and especially in recent years, refugees themselves have stepped in by asserting their agency in making their own films. 

Whether about their experience of displacement or other topics, this exilic “cinema” has proven to be a significant agent of an ongoing movement towards a revolutionary redefinition of cinema. It was exactly at the time when “the death of cinema” was being announced from the high up that down below and in the grassroots refugees, in large numbers, found the possibility of producing their own “cinema”, “non-cinema”, or whatever else one might call it. 

In this so-called “post-cinematic” era marked by technological shifts, these filmmakers have become pivotal agents of social commentary and audio-visual resistance, challenging norms and amplifying marginalised voices. Through compelling examples and screenings, the talk examines the resilience and innovations of refugee filmmaking, showcasing its profound impact in shaping narratives and contributing to the ongoing redefinition of cinema in a rapidly changing landscape.

About the speaker

Dr Kaveh Abbasian is a documentary filmmaker and scholar with a special interest in archive-based audiovisual research, refugee filmmaking, Kurdish cinema, and the Islamic Republic of Iran's propaganda film culture. In 2019 he gained his PhD in Film and Television Studies from London's University of Roehampton on a project titled Chronicle of Triumph: Iranian National Identity and Revolutionary Shi'ism in Morteza Avini's Sacred Defence Documentaries. 

In Iran Kaveh was a student activist and a founding member of Students for Freedom and Equality. In 2008 and during the countrywide crackdown on the organisation, Kaveh had to leave the country and reside in the UK as a political refugee. He is a founding member of the Association of Iranian Film and Theatre Artists Abroad and the former director of programming for the London Kurdish Film Festival. Since 2021, he has been a lecturer in Film and Media Practice at the University of Kent.

Organised by the Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies