The Power of Close-ups and the Poetics of Silence: The House is Black by Forough Farrokhzad

Abstract The House is Black is a lyrical documentary by a modernist Iranian poet and filmmaker, Forough Farrokhzad. It is a kind of symbolic visual poem about leper patients of a leprosarium in Iran made in 1962, which transcends time and place. This paper describes the ways in which the emphasis on the human body, references to historical and religious sources, and the use of the Biblical verses replace conventional interviews to create a narrative in the film. Utilizing Gilles Deleuze’s concept of affect, the paper analyses the camera’s focus on hands and feet, in contrast to absent facial expressions, which engages the audience.