In this episode, Rustin speaks with Leyli Gafarova, an independent filmmaker and the co-creator of Salaam Cinema, a community-driven independent cinema space showcasing non-commercial, locally-made, and historical films in Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital. Named after Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s [1995 movie of the same name](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hello_Cinema) , Baku’s Salaam Cinema is a venue for the performing arts and offers a wide program of exhibitions and educational workshops. Following their opening in January 2019, Salaam Cinema moved into their current venue, a [historic Molokan prayer house](https://www.google.com/maps/place/Salaam+Cinema/@40.3801135,49.8436259,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x40307dd716cb339d:0x212e232413554cac!8m2!3d40.3801135!4d49.8458146?shorturl=1) in the heart of Baku. [Molokan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molokan) is a term describing Eastern Christian groups that developed in Slavic lands but rejected central Orthodox rites. In the 1830s, the Russian Empire forcibly transferred many Molokans to the periphery of the empire, and a group was settled in Azerbaijan. In 1913, an architect of Molokan origin [built the prayer house](https://www.facebook.com/atelierpille/posts/845848332443258?__tn__=K-R) with the aim of gathering the dispersed Molokan populations across Azerbaijan. Following the Bolshevik Revolution, the prayer house was converted into a radio broadcasting building in 1926. The home of the radio show, Danışır Bakı (Baku is on air), the building became a bastion of the Azerbaijani language and an everyday fixture of Baku cultural life. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the building was privatized and then rented out as office space, but it had fallen into disrepair. Salaam Cinema, with the help of the community, refurbished the building and once again transformed it into a cultural landmark. However, as of March 2019, the landlords have moved forward with plans to demolish the historic building, fitting with the general trend of gentrification and property speculation that has driven [Baku’s rapid urban development](https://ajammc.com/2016/10/10/mehelle-recording-life-endangered-neighborhoods/) since the early 2010s. Salaam Cinema, ...
In this episode, Lindsey is joined by Dr. Johan Mathew, Assistant Professor of History at Rutgers University, to talk about the circulation of goods and people in the 19th century Indian Ocean. He is the author of **[Margins of the Market: Trafficking and Capitalism across the Arabian Sea](https://history.rutgers.edu/people/faculty/publications/publication-details/1093-margins-of-the-market-trafficking-and-capitalism-across-the-arabian-sea)** (University of California Press, 2016). The seasonal monsoon winds drew its distant shores together over the centuries, - and places as far afield as Burma and Bandar Abbas relied on one another for staples like rice and dates. Dr. Mathew explains how these flows transformed in the 19th century with new technologies and power dynamics. These connections were simultaneously strengthened through technological innovations like steamships while also being hindered by political changes that rerouted trade. Yet even with the disruptive influence of European imperialisms, Mathew suggests that even they were incapable of curtailing the circulation, passage, and interconnectivity that continues to defines the Indian Ocean today. ...
In this episode, Rustin interviews Golbarg Rekabtalaei, an Assistant Professor of History at Seton Hall University. She is the author of [Iranian Cosmopolitanism: A Cinematic History](https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/iranian-cosmopolitanism/729C8936B157EC6DA38BE4), published by Cambridge University Press in 2019. Dr. Rekabtalaei traces how the diverse ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds of cinematographers, cinema owners, and cinema goers shaped Iran's urban culture and its citizenry's understanding of modernity. The interview opens with a discussion of the first films produced in Iran: what they looked like, where they were shown, and who was watching them. Then, Dr. Rekabtalaei explains how this cosmopolitanism fed into Iranian national identity and notions of sovereignty in the 1920s and 1930s. The conversation ends with the emergence of both popular cinema (derogatorily labelled "Film Farsi") and alternative cinema (*sinema-ye motevavet*) in the 1950s and 60s. Episode No. 19 Release Date: 20 July 2020 Recording Location: New York City, NY. Produced by Rustin Zarkar and Ali Karjoo-Ravary Audio editing: Nicholas Gunty Music: Yavaran (Intro: "404 day in heaven" Outro: "Har Chi") ...
