NYU will host a screening of Robert Adanto’s “Pearls on the Ocean Floor,” a documentary on the lives and works of female Iranian artists, followed by a panel discussion moderated by journalist Laura Secor, on Thursday, September 29, 7 p.m. at the university’s Cantor Film Center.

NYU to Host Screening of Documentary on Lives and Works of Female Iranian Artists—Sept. 29
NYU will host a screening of Robert Adanto’s “Pearls on the Ocean Floor,” a documentary on the lives and works of female Iranian artists, followed by a panel discussion moderated by journalist Laura Secor, on Thursday, September 29. The above image is courtesy of Shadi Ghadirian's "Qajar Series".

“Pearls on the Ocean Floor” examines the lives and works of female Iranian artists living and working in and outside the Islamic Republic. The work features interviews with art luminaries Shirin Neshat, Shadi Ghadirian, Parastou Forouhar, Sara Rahbar, who express what is seldom seen in the western media: unique individual perspectives regarding issues of identity, gender, and the role that art plays in challenging the traditional stereotypes often associated with women in Iran. 

Following the screening, Secor, who covers contemporary Iran for the New Yorker and the New York Times Magazine, will moderate a panel discussion featuring: Adanto, who directed and produced the film; Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran; Shouleh Vatanabadi, a professor in NYU’s Global Liberal Studies program and co-editor of A Feast in the Mirror: A Collection of Short Stories by Iranian Women, among other works.

The screening is presented by NYU’s Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies and the university’s Iranian Studies Initiative.

Tickets, which may be purchased at the door, are $10 and $3 for students with a valid ID. For more information, call 212.998.8877. Subways: N, R (8th Street); 6 (Astor Place).

“Pearls on the Ocean Floor” was an Official Selection at the UK Iranian Film Festival in London, the Glasgow International Film Festival, the New Orleans Middle East Film Festival, and the Petaluma International Film Festival. It received the Bronze Palm award for Best Documentary at the 2011 Mexican International Film Festival.  Adanto holds an MFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Press Contact

James Devitt
James Devitt
(212) 998-6808