Pouring Water on Troubled Oil (w/director Nariman Massoumi)

The Cinematologists Podcast

For the latest episode of the podcast Neil talks to filmmaker and academic Dr Nariman Massoumi about his wonderful short documentary Pouring Water on Troubled Oil (2023).

MUBI: In 1951, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company set out to produce a publicity film promoting its activities in Iran. They hired the poet Dylan Thomas. This poetic film follows Thomas’s journey capturing his encounter with the country and its people as a political upheaval for oil nationalization unfolds.

The film is not available to view yet, having been criminally overlooked by UK film festivals, but it will be at some point [and we will let you know when]. That didn't stop Neil talking to Naz about the film because in form, content and theme it has much to offer contemporary cinematic and cultural conversations. Their chat ranges across subjects and themes including documentary practice, archive work, sound design, proto-cinema and the poetic, colonialism and decolonisation and practice research in the academy.

You can hear the Cinema16 conversation between Dylan Thomas, Maya Deren and others, from 1953, that Naz mentions here.

For more information on Naz, visit here.

Elsewhere in the episode, Neil recommends the music film Getting it Back: The Story of Cymande (Mackenzie-Smith, 2023), more information on that here.

He also slyly mentions his forthcoming book, which you can pre-order here, or anywhere you get books.

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Music Credits:

‘Theme from The Cinematologists’

Written and produced by Gwenno Saunders. Mixed by Rhys Edwards. Drums, bass & guitar by Rhys Edwards. All synths by Gwenno Saunders. Published by Downtown Music Publishing.