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

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