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A film within a film, Shirin Neshat's second feature film, Looking for Oum Kulthum, captures the plight of an Iranian woman artist/filmmaker living in exile, as she embarks on a project about the life and art of the legendary female singer of the Arab world, Oum Kulthum. Much like her subject, the filmmaker faces the struggles and sacrifices that a woman must pay if she dares to cross the lines of a conservative, male-dominated society. The screening will be followed by a conversation with Neshat.
Shirin Neshat is an Iranian-born artist and filmmaker living in New York. Neshat's early photographic works include the Women of Allah series (1993-1997), which explored the question of gender in relation to Islamic fundamentalism and militancy. Her most recent bodies of work include the photographic series The Book of Kings (2012), The Home of My Eyes (2013), Roja (2016), and Sarah (2016). In 2009, Neshat directed her first feature-length film, Women Without Men, which received the Silver Lion Award for Best Director at the 66th Venice International Film Festival. Neshat continues to explore and experiment with the mediums of photography, video and film.
Neshat has held numerous solo and group exhibitions at galleries and museums worldwide, including the 48th Venice Biennale of Art (1999), the Whitney Biennial (2000), Documenta XI (2002) and Prospect.1 New Orleans (2009). Neshat was the recipient of the Grand Prix at the Gwangju Biennial (1999), among others. Her work is included in the collections of museums and public institutions around the world