[Iranian film] How Has Iranian Cinema Achieved Success?

One of the most popular national cinemas today is Iranian. How did cinema, a western art form, become so popular, which is governed by Islamic rules, the government is allowed to meddle in social affairs and Western ideologies are not well received? The Palme d’Or and the Academy Award were won by Iranian directors at the Cannes Film Festival, what is their secret to success? In this article, I'll assess Iranian cinema in general and look at the factors that contributed to its popularity. It is appropriate to look at the relationship this Middle Eastern nation has built with cinema at this moment, when Asghar Farhadi’s film “A Hero” was released in South Korea.

Historical Perspective

Iranian cinema should be divided into pre- and post-revolutionary eras. The former era was despised due to the Islamic revolution. There were two distinct cinematic movements in Iran before the Islamic Revolution in 1979. The popular Farsi Film Movement, which featured imitations of foreign films that garnered recognition, and the Iranian New Wave Cinema, which both debuted after 1960, Iranian filmmakers who were not encouraged by the government during this time began to produce films that would be popular with the general audience. Common themes were love, melodrama, musicals, and the struggles of the underprivileged. Men battling constantly as women danced and sang while exposing their bodies was the foundation of the Farsi Film movement. That is why the harsh but contemporary Shah dynasty was overthrown while conservative Iranian society set fire to movie theaters. During the Islamic Revolution, numerous movie theaters were demolished. This is precisely why Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the revolution, said when he returned to Iran, “We are not against cinema, we are against the way it is used.”

After the Islamic Revolution, Iranian film

The Fajr Film Festival, which took place in Tehran in 2019 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, invited me to visit. In that year, Turkey published my book on Iranian cinema. The organizers of the festival wanted me to conduct a conference to launch the book and discuss the evolution of Iranian cinema over the previous 40 years. They invited me to the festival, along with specialists in Iranian cinema from all corners of the globe. After this 40-year experience, maybe the most significant development was the establishment of a cinema to discuss.

Iranian movie did not immediately become popular. This achievement developed gradually and piece by piece. The early years following the revolution were very turbulent. After the revolution, Iran's neighbor and former dictator Saddam Hussein declared war on it. Saddam Hussein believed he would achieve triumph quickly because of American assistance. But the conflict lasted eight years. Both nations suffered significant losses as a result of this conflict, which had no clear victors. Even though the battle went on, after the initial years, new institutions were created. There was a systematic investment in film following the Islamic Revolution. Production within the country was promoted. American movie imports were halted during this time. Only imperialist-opposing movies were brought in from overseas. For domestic film, the Farabi Cinema Foundation was founded in 1984. materials, a camera, a light source, etc. The state's resources were used to purchase the necessary equipment. The publications around this time spent a lot of time debating the appropriate type of cinema for Iran. Responses to the discussions regarding Islamic film varied. After a while, filmmakers started to have success with films that focused on people and depicted society’s daily existence.

Early Post-Revolutionary Successes:
“Where Is Friend's Home” and “The Runner”

The first big-budget international hit of the 1980s was Amir Naderi’s “The Runner” (1984). The movie, which depicts the tale of an ignorant homeless youngster, was clearly socially critical. The movie was successful because of its universal themes. On the other hand, Abbas Kiarostami's 1987 film “Where is Friend's House?” rose to the top of the list of most well-known movies in Iranian cinema during the second half of the 1980s. The movie, which won an award at the Locarno International Film Festival, was the first of the Köker Trilogy of the director. Following the 1990s, Iranian cinema was exposed to the world by Abbas Kiarostami, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Jafar Panahi, Majid Majidi, and Asghar Farhadi.

Success in the Cannes Film Festival in 1990s

Dariush Mehrjui’s 1969 version of the novel “The Cow”became Iranian cinema’s first big hit on the worldwide stage. When his beloved cow was taken away and forced to live in a barn, the villager in the movie began acting like a cow. At the Venice Film Festival, it received a prize.

Nearly 30 years after this achievement, Iranian cinema won the most significant international prize. Abbas Kiarostami’s “Taste of Cherry”, which he also directed, took home the Palme d’Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival. In the movie “Taste of Cherry”, which is about a guy who is thinking about suicide, the ideas of morality, the right to suicide, and compassion are all called into question. Returns on investments in Iranian cinema started to materialize about this time. At international film festivals, other directors have also started to establish their reputations.

The most significant female filmmaker from Iran, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, developed a cinematic style that emphasized female characters, the underprivileged, and laborers. His 1995 feature “The Blue Veiled” which won a prize at the Thessaloniki feature Festival, was his first commercial triumph abroad.

The post-revolution’s international director is Mohsen Makhmalbaf. The 1987 film “The Cyclist” was his first commercially successful effort after he spent the first few years making merely shallow Islamic flicks. The film focused on Afghan refugees. He made the 1995 film “Salaam Cinema” to celebrate the cinema’s 100th anniversary. In this work, fiction and truth are intermingled. At the Munich International Film Festival, the movie took home the Best Film Award. He began filming “Gabbeh” in 1997. He used a fairy-tale storyline to depict the Kashkay Turks’ way of life as they carried on their nomadic customs in Iran. Outside of Iran, “Gabbeh” was screened at more than fifty festivals. He was Iran’s nominee for the Academy Award. At the Cannes Film Festival, it was shown. At his home, Mohsen Makhmalbaf taught his wife and kids about movies. He converted his own home into Makhmalbaf Film House, a film academy, in the second half of the 1990s. His son Haysam, daughters Samira and Hanna, and wife Marzieh Meshkini studied cinema at Makhmalbaf Film House and went on to become directors. Mohsen Makhmalbaf was one of the most significant filmmakers, especially after the Nineties, despite the fact that he is no longer active and resides abroad.

Majid Majidi, who was born in 1959, is one of the filmmakers who entered the film industry following the Revolution. His 1997 movie “Children of Heaven” brought him fame. The first Iranian film to receive an Oscar nomination is “Children of Heaven”. He won a lot of prizes at international competitions. He depicted the life of a blind boy in the 1999 film “The Color of Paradise” The movie became one of the most viewed foreign movies in the country. With the films “Song of the Sparrows”, “Baran”, “Muhammad: The Messenger of God” and “Children of the Sun,” Majidi continued his career and vowed to use the medium of film to promote Islamic beliefs.

Jafar Panahi, a 1960-born man, worked as Abbas Kiarostami’s assistant. The screenplay for his debut film was written by Abbas Kiarostami. At the Cannes Film Festival, “White Balloon” took home the Golden Camera Award. At the Venice Film Festival and the Istanbul Film Festival, “Mirro” won the Special Jury Award and the Golden Tulip, respectively. In the 2000s, he continued the career that he had begun in the 1990s. His 2000 film Circle, which he directed, won the Golden Lion at the 57th Venice Film Festival. With the movies “Offside” in 2006 and “Bloody Gold” in 2003, he continued to enjoy popularity. At the Berlin picture Festival, his picture “Offside” won the Silver Bear Award. The offside movie dealt with the exclusion of women from football stadiums. Later, he was prohibited from producing movies for political reasons. He took on the character of a taxi driver and used a handheld camera to film the 2015 film “Taxi” as a result of this punishment. Berlin bestowed the Golden Bear Award for the movie. The director, who had lately been imprisoned once more, was let go in January.

Iranian Cinema Urbanizes and Wins the Oscar
with Asghar Farhadi

After directing “The Beautiful City” in 2004 and “Fireworks Wednesday” in 2006, Asgar Farhadi's first film, “Dancing in the Dust,” was released in 2003. For his 2009 film About Elly, he won the Best Director Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. In addition to receiving Iran’s first Oscar Award, the director, whose 2011 picture “A Separation” also took home the Golden Bear Award, also earned the honor. He shot the 2016 film “The Salesman,” which earned him his second Oscar, in Iran. Clarifying class conflicts in his films was one of the most significant elements that set Ferhadi’s cinema apart. Until Farhadi, there were no class distinctions in Iranian cinema. There were movies being produced with a mindful accounting theme. The triumph of Asgar Ferhadi, in my opinion, marked the beginning of the biggest change in Iranian cinema. His metropolitan characters caused the country film genre, which was based on Abbas Kiarostami, to be abandoned. Additionally, we can assert that the once-commonplace films featuring kids are no longer so prevalent. Young filmmakers with Ferhadi's vitality began to make movies about marriage issues, male-female relationships, and issues facing their young families in the city.

Recurring Themes of Iranian Cinema

The subject range in movies has greatly broadened when Iranian directors began to create projects focusing on the issues of city life. The difficulties faced by young people wanting to travel abroad in search of employment, the issues with the healthcare and insurance systems, the proscription of abortion, and the devastation brought on by drug misuse and the drug trade have all been extensively covered in films in recent years. The effects of the death sentence, which is used as a punishment mechanism, are a theme that is beginning to feature more regularly in Iranian cinema. He began to develop a rich literature with execution films from many perspectives, focusing on the prisoner, the trial, the judge, and the judgement itself in the execution-themed movies that Iranian directors provide with widely varied scenarios.

Iranian Cinema Is Growing Due to the
Short Film Culture

In Iran, there is a sizable but little-known short film industry. The creation of short films by Iranian adolescents is a significant aspect of their lives as artists. The visual arts are mostly used to depict how the country is affected by embargoes, how difficult it is to leave, and how young people express their economic limits. This circumstance naturally leads to a large number of Iranian applicants in international festivals. Without a question, the most significant contributor to the development and popularity of the short film culture is the Iranian Youth Cinema Association (IYCS). The Iranian Youth Cinema Association, which began operations about forty years ago and has branches in every province of Iran, is the primary cause of this achievement. Basically, the Iranian Youth Cinema Association engages in three main pursuits. giving a one-year fast-cinema training, attempting to offer the essential shooting possibilities, and distributing short films. Iran is home to the association’s sixty-six branches. Each year, it enrolls 6,000 students on average across the country. The Tehran International Short Film Festival, which has been organized each October for 35 years, is likewise executive-directed by this organization. Between 2011 and 2016, Iran submitted around 1700 proposals every year to the Tehran Short Film Festival. The organisation also sponsors local celebrations.

In 2018, I took part in the regional short film festival that took place in Meshginshahr, Ardebil Province. When I went, it was the festival’s 61st birthday. This information can be used to explain the institutionalized short film culture in the nation fairly well. Not all Iranian short films are produced under the auspices of this group. Every year, about 2000 movies are produced in Iran. Short films in the genres of fiction, animation, and documentaries are produced in each region with a variety of themes and styles. According to my data, nearly 600 Iranian-based films were accepted to the 1967 International Film Festival in 2017. Of these films, 375 received awards and 128 nominations. In the same year, in the section where the productions of cinema schools competed at the Cannes Film Festival, the film Animal, shot by Bahman and Bahram Ark brothers, which competed on behalf of the Iranian Youth Cinema Association, came in second among 626 schools.

The production of feature films in Iran is subject to a significant bureaucratic process. Both the making and the showing of movies require numerous permits. But short films are more liberated. Since short films are not screened in theaters, producing them is a more straightforward administrative process. With the short films they have made, many aspiring directors get the chance to travel both domestically and abroad. One of the simplest methods to travel overseas is to win a short film award. Short film culture is inseparable from Iranian cinema thanks to the state-sponsored association network’s productive work, young people’s perception of the short film as a way of life and a form of self-expression, as well as the digitalization of technology and its increased accessibility. We regularly see the earliest high-caliber films in Iranian cinema because these short film creators later began to make feature films.

Rıza Oylum was born in 1984 in Istanbul. He received his undergraduate education at Istanbul Kültür University Turkish Language and Literature Department and his master's degree at Trakya University Turkish Literature Department. He wrote books on Far East Cinema, Russian Cinema, German Cinema, Middle Eastern Cinema, Cinema Lessons from World Directors and Iranian Cinema. He worked as a jury, curator and publication editor at national and international festivals. He is a member of SIYAD (Turkish Film Critics Association -FIPRESCI-Turkey), FEDEORA (Federation of Film Critics of Europe and the Mediterranean) and PEN-Turkey. He is an academician at Üsküdar University and a columnist for Gazete Duvar.

 * 《Cultura》 2023 May(Vol. 107) *