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University of California Press
Open Access

Pipeline Cinema

The Cultural Infrastructure of Oil Extraction in Iran and Iraq

by Mona Damluji (Author)
Price: $12.99 / £10.99
Publication Date: Dec 2025
Edition: 1st Edition
Title Details:
Rights: World
Pages: 205
ISBN: 9780520424326
Trim Size: 6 x 9
Illustrations: 38 b/w figures, 1 map

About the Book

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

Pipeline Cinema explores the intertwined histories of documentary film and the oil industry in mid-twentieth century Iran and Iraq. Reading against the grain of oil company archives, Mona Damluji reveals how wells, pipelines, pumping stations, and refineries were sites of cinematic production and exhibition, at once normalizing and challenging neocolonial extraction. Shining a light on cultural workers and labor movements, this book offers a distinctly humanistic lens on an otherwise dehumanizing petroleum industry.

About the Author

Mona Damluji is Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara.