Forugh Farrokhzad's The House Is Dark – Screening & Discussion

Screening and discussion of Forugh Farrokhzad's film with Semyon Reshetov, as part of the series of events dedicated to Forugh Farrokhzad's book Second Birth.

The House Is Dark is Forugh Farrokhzad's only film and one of the most important short films in the history of Iranian cinema. A precursor to the Iranian New Wave, it made an impression on the then-unknown Bernardo Bertolucci, and anticipated the socially engaged and poetic cinematic language of Jafar Panahi, Abbas Kiarostami, the entire Makhmalbaf family, and other Iranian directors.

Shot in a leprosarium in northern Iran, The House Is Dark combines direct documentary with high poetry, turning the everyday life of isolated people into a profound humanist essay on the ugliness of indifference and the tragic beauty of human existence. 
20 min., 1963.

The screening and discussion will be led by Semyon Reshetov – director, art historian, and film researcher.

REGISTRATION

(12 September 2026 / 18:00)

The events are held with the support of the State Museum of Oriental Art, the Mardjani Foundation, the Institute for Oriental and Classical Studies at HSE University, and the HSE Master's Programme "Muslim Worlds in Russia".