Tehran Flashcards
Production
- Transnational co production between Cineflix, Kan 11, Paper Entertainment, Paper Plane Productions
- Produces in Athens, Greece due to the similar architecture and because they weren’t allowed to film in Tehran due to political tensions
Who wrote and created Tehran
Moshe Zander
Distribution of Tehran
- Cineflix acquired international distribution rights
- Cineflix then struck a co production with Apple TV+ to launch Tehran
- This made Tahran the first non English series to be released on Apple TV+
How much did Apple pay for it
$1 million per episode
S1 Trailer music
- Composer: Mark Eliyahu
- Enigmatic score with fast paced, tension building music
- Iranian instruments (eg. kamancheh) anchor cultural context of the show
Tehran and genre
- Tehran conforms to the typical codes and conventions
The narrative is based around the real context of the Iran- Israel proxy conflict
- Makes the show culturally and socially relevant for global audiences
Casting
- Careful and high value casting used (Navid Nagahban and Shaun Toub)
- Female protagonist widens audience appeal, by offering a more diverse representation
- Opportunity to reflect on the dynamic and evolving nature of the genre
- Personal identity
Tehran and Steve Neale
- Balance between containing enough traditional spy thriller genre conventions to have global appeal
- But, is a contemporary example with it’s own unique spin of the typical genre conventions
OPENING SEQUENCE - audio and technical codes
- music amplifies fear of events
- hum, tone of unease and high tension - creates enigma
- dialogue - mixture of three languages helps audiences understand character context and creates a sense of verisimilitude
- Handheld camera positions audience within the action
- FOcuses on the back of Tamar and Ashraf
- Shallow depth of field signifies Tamar as undercover
OPENING SEQUENCE - gesture codes
- Extreme close up of shaking hand and body language - hermeneutic codes - sense of unease created
- “It’ll be okay don’t be afraid” - Enhances enigma and further builds anticipation
- Israeli student’s fear portrayed through body language, facial expressions and panicked dialogue
OPENING SEQUENCE - dress codes
Israeli students
- wearing colourful and informal attire, adidas- Western brand
- Signifies their identity and ideological stance
Iranian students
- Niqab and formal attire - traditional, reflects the value of their nation
Creates a binary opposition between these two pairs of students
Steve Neale genre application
- Tehran strikes a balance between containing enough of the traditional spy thriller genre conventions to have global appeal
- DIFFERENCE, plays on traditional tropes establishing itself as a contemporary version of this genre with its own unique spin of the genre conventions
Differences in genre (Steve Neale)
- based within verisimilitude and the real life Israel - Iran proxy conflict
- Female lead protagonist - allows for more dynamic and original characters
- Middle Eastern setting
- Convention of muslim terrorists are being subverted (pessimistic view in the post 9/11 zeitgeist)
Todorov application
- Todorov’s narrative structure has clear limitations when considering the long form nature of TV
- Tehran utilises a flexi-narrative, a more complex narrative structure that combines aspects of the series and the serial
Iranian representation
- Violent interrogation of Israeli students portrays Iranian regime as brutal and unforgiving
- Further reinforced when the Iranian woman states that she would “rather die” than stay in Iran - reinforces stereotypes
- binary opposition between modern tech of airport and medieval execution (hanging)
- binary opposition between good and evil
representation of gender
- hijab history
- iran’s history of protest
- iran’s cameras
