Religious Studies of the Media

Religious Studies of the Media

An Analysis of the Formal and Content-Related Components of the Shahid Avini Award–Winning Films at the Cinema Haghighat Festival, with Emphasis on Seyyed Morteza Avini’s Cinematic Thought

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mahdi Eshghi Rezvani 1
Javad Amin Khandaqi 2
1 M.A. in Art Research, Faculty of Art, Ferdows Institute of Higher Education, Mashhad, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Art Research, Faculty of Art, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jmrs.2026.586073.1261
Abstract
Objective: Seyyed Morteza Avini was a filmmaker, writer, and theorist with a distinctive style and approach to documenting the Sacred Defense. Since the Shahid Avini Award at the Cinema Haghighat Festival is conceived as a continuation of this documentary tradition, this study analyzes the formal and content-related components of the award’s winning films in light of Avini’s cinematic thought. The central research question concerns the extent to which these films correspond to the formal and content-related components of Avini’s cinema.
Method: This applied study adopted a descriptive-analytical design. Data were collected through library research and the viewing of audiovisual works. The films were analyzed qualitatively using an aesthetic approach derived from Avini’s views on cinema. The study population comprised ten leading films that received the Shahid Avini Award at the Cinema Haghighat Festival and were selected through non-random purposive sampling.
Findings: The findings indicate that the films Hejdah Hezarpa, Khaterate Khabarnegar-e Jang, Zanani ba Goushvareh-haye Barouti, Abi Kamrang, Ebrahim dar Atash, and Mashti Esmaeil exhibit the closest affinities with Avini’s filmmaking and directorial style. Among these works, the documentary Mashti Esmaeil was assessed as the closest to Avini’s cinema.
Conclusion: In terms of content, the films examined remain influenced by Avini’s Illuminationist cinema and continue to draw on his approach. Formally, however, they have departed from Avini’s model under the influence of developments in filming and editing technologies, attention to audience preferences, festival policies, and commissioning organizations’ preferences.
Keywords
media
documentary
Illuminationist documentary
Seyyed Morteza Avini
documentary directing
Cinema Haghighat
Shahid Avini Award
Arvin, Shokoufeh, & Dadvar, Abolghasem. (2014). Illuminative Cinema: Meaning-Oriented Cinema from the Perspective of Martyr Avini’s Ideas. Comparative Studies of Art, 4(7), 107–117.
Aghamohammadian, Shafie. (2011). Speech at the Closing Ceremony of the Third Martyr Avini Biennial Award. Retrieved October 16, 2022, from https://www.beytoote.com/news/cultural-news/closing-ceremony1.html
Avini, Seyyed Morteza. (2011). Development and the Foundations of Western Civilization. Tehran: Vaheh
Avini, Seyyed Morteza. (2011). Resurrection of the Soul. Tehran: Vaheh.
Avini, Seyyed Morteza. (2011). The Magic Mirror 1: Film Essays. Tehran: Vaheh.
Avini, Seyyed Morteza. (2020). The Magic Mirror 2: Film Criticisms. Tehran: Vaheh.
Avini, Seyyed Morteza. (2020). The Magic Mirror 3: Interviews, Speeches, and Film Essays. Tehran: Vaheh.
Emami, Homayoun. (2008). Documentary Film: Drama and Dramatic Structure. Tehran: Saqi.
Faghihi, Seyyed Hamid. (2016). Cinema at the Level of the Islamic Revolution: A Critical Approach to the Performance of Cinema in the Field of Politics and the Presentation of an Ideal Model. Doctoral dissertation in Islamic Studies Education, Faculty of Islamic Revolution Studies, University of Islamic Studies.
Farrasti, Masoud. (2013). The Culture of Iranian War and Defense Films, 1980–2012. Tehran: Saqi.
Golkar Tehrani, Seyyed Ahmad, Bankchi, Maryam, & Safajo, Shahnām. (2009). Filmography of the Second Biennial of the Martyr Avini Grand Award. Tehran: Matikan.
Hosseini, Seyyed Emad. (2018). A Non-Western Approach to Film Studies, with Emphasis on Iranian Cinema. Doctoral dissertation in Art Research, Faculty of Advanced Studies in Art and Entrepreneurship, Art University of Isfahan.
Madadpour, Mohammad. (1998). Illuminative Cinema: Truth in the Thought of Martyr Avini. Tehran: Farabi Cinema Foundation.
Madadpour, Mohammad. (2009). Religion and Cinema. Tehran: Sureh Mehr.
Madadpour, Mohammad. (2011). Illuminative Cinema: Religious Cinema and the Illuminative Art of Martyr Avini, with a Reflection on Illuminative Photography. Tehran: Sureh Mehr.
Motahari, Seyyed Meysam, Delkhah, Masoud, Bani-Ardalan, Esmail, & Sarsangi, Majid. (2015). A Comparative Study of the Defense Sacred Cinema Productions of the Art Center in the 1980s Based on the Theories of Seyyed Morteza Avini: An Inquiry into Iranian Cinema Management. Culture–Communication Studies, 16(30), 161–184.
Nafisi, Hamid. (1978). Documentary Film. Tehran: Islamic Azad University.
Nichols, Bill. (2010). Introduction to Documentary. Translated by Mohammad Tehaminejad. Tehran: Jameh Now.
Nikoul, Anis. (2020). Narrating War in the Heart of War: A Look at the Documentaries of Seyyed Morteza Avini. Translated by Mohammad-Mehdi Shakeri. Tehran: Vaheh; Farabi Cinema Foundation.
Ostadi, Masoud. (2008). A Look at the Filmmaking Activities of Martyr Seyyed Morteza Avini: The Image of Immortality and the Truth of the Pilgrim of Dukouheh. Shahed Yaran, New Series(31), 90–94.
Zat-Asghar, Ahmad. (2007). An Aesthetic Study of Form in Iranian War Documentaries, with Emphasis on the Documentary Series Ravayat-e Fath. Master’s thesis in Television Production, Faculty of Production, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting University.
Vatandoust, Mohammadreza. (2011). A Pathological Study of Iranian Documentary Cinema after the Islamic Revolution. Master’s thesis in Art Research, Faculty of Art, Shahed University.
Religious Studies of the Media
Volume 7, Issue 28
Winter 2026
Pages 38-71