Irani Cinema

SIES College of Arts Science and Commerce
BAMMC
Academic Year 2021-2022
Semester- III
Course - Film Communication I
Name- RUCHITA ANAM
Roll no.- SMM2122004
PRESENTS
IRANI CINEMA
INTRODUCTION
Iran's cinema, often known as Persia's cinema, refers to the country's cinema and film
industries, which annually create a wide range of commercial films. Iranian art films have
gained international acclaim and now have a worldwide audience. Iranian films are almost
always written and spoken in Persian. Iranian cinema has gone through a lot of ups and
downs. Iran has been praised as one of the top cinema exporters in the 1990s, alongside
China. Some observers now consider Iran to be the world's most important national cinema in
terms of artistic value, drawing parallels with Italian neorealism and similar trends in
previous decades. In the last two decades, a number of international film festivals have
honoured Iranian filmmaking. Many film experts have regarded Iranian cinema as one of the
most important artistic cinemas in the world.
Commercial Iranian films now dominate the Iranian box office. Western films are
occasionally screened in cinemas. State television broadcasts both classic and recent
Hollywood films. Iranian art films are frequently not screened legally and are only available
on bootleg DVDs. Some of these critically regarded films were shown in Iran and were box
office hits. "I'm Taraneh, 15" by Rassul Sadr Ameli, "Under the Skin of the City" by
Rakhshan Bani-Etemadi, "Marooned in Iraq" by Bahman Ghobadi, and "Women's Prison" by
Manijeh Hekmat are just a few examples.
HISTORY
Throughout history, Iran has been a melting pot for various cultures. From Aryan civilization
to today, repeated introductions of foreign cultures by conquerors and traders have evolved a
kind of social subconscious filtration mechanism that absorbs only the advantageous features
of the frequently imposed, ever newer exterior cultures. Despite Moslem religious views
opposing it, this element made it simpler for Iran to adopt western-style cinema. Despite their
apparent adaptability, the bulk of Iranians remain Persian, that is, self-reliant individualists.
Prior to the introduction of cinema in Iran, entertainment was a luxury enjoyed by only a
small, wealthy portion of the population, with the vast bulk of the population living in
poverty. Morteza Ravadi, an Iranian historian, puts it succinctly:
"Class divisions, a lack of social and economic security, and feudalistic wars in the
country made life in the country so chaotic and uncertain for the people, especially the
vast majority of the working classes, that people wished only for security and equal
justice, to be able to make even a substandard living and continue their unbearable
lives." Obviously, leisure and recreation were of secondary importance in such
conditions....and the wealthy passed their leisure time drinking, making love to
beautiful girls and handsome boys, gambling, hunting, horseback riding, polo playing,
music and singing, attending ceremonial chess and backgammon parties, watching
clowns and comedians perform, attending dancing and singing parties, and listening
to entertaining stories."
The crowning of Muzaffar al-Din Shah in 1896, photographed by Rusi Khan, is said to be the
first film made in Iran. There is, however, no evidence to back up the assertion. However, it
is known that Shah saw moving pictures during his visit to Paris in 1900, enjoyed them, and
ordered his official photographer to obtain motion picture equipment. When it came to Iran,
cinema became a diversion for the royal court and the well-to-do portion of society (1900).
Early filmmaking in Iran was frequently financed by monarchs who were mainly concerned
in the medium's entertainment value. As a result, the majority of films from this era are
newsreels of events such as royal and religious rituals, which were largely broadcast in the
royal palace. During marriages, circumcision celebrations, and birth rituals, these newsreels
might be seen in dignitaries' residences.
ABI AND RABI, the first feature-length film, was not released until 1930, when Ovans
Ohanian, a young Iranian-American, returned to Iran after spending most of his life in Russia
and studying cinema at the Moscow Cinema Academy. He recognised from the beginning
that shooting movies without a professional cast and crew was nearly impossible. He founded
a film industry organisation, including an acting school that trains actors and actresses for
film roles. Because the general public believed that cinema could never develop into an art
form or a vocation.
NEW FILM INDUSTRY AND EXPERIMENTATION (1938-1965)

After World War II, Iran's film industry took on a new shape. The Iranian and US
governments, as well as other Iranian organisations, supported a group of innovative
filmmakers who experimented with news reels and documentaries. Dubbing foreign films
into Persian (Farsi) was also a simple and profitable profession for a number of technicians,
cinephiles, and financiers. Following the takeover of Iran by the troops of the three major
nations, the private sector arose (USA, USSR, and England). When American troops invaded
Iran in October 1941, they used the cross-country railway and important roadways to
transport military equipment to Russia, dubbed "The Bridge of Victory." This act, in addition
to having many negative consequences for Iranians, provided many new jobs, improving the
economic situation of a specific segment of the population. As a result, new entertainment
centres popped up, and movie theatres grew in popularity. And, since translating foreign
films into Farsi was increasing the number of people who went to the movies, it appeared that
making films in the Iranian language (Farsi) would be a profitable venture.
The motion picture industry in Iran did not make a single film from 1937 to 1947 due to
global economic conditions and subsequently the country's involvement in World War Two,
although the flow of foreign films into Iran did not stop. Esmail Kushan, a young Iranian who
underwent film training at Universum Film Aktienge-Sellschafe (UFA) in Germany, returned
to Iran in 1947. He had dubbed two foreign films, ARCHIN MAL ALAN, a Russian film,
and THE FIRST RENDEZVOUS, a French film, into Farsi while in Turkey. He founded
Mitra Films (1947) with the support of some of his colleagues, which was Iran's first real film
studio. Local feature film production was born and survived as a result of their perseverance.
Farrokh Gafary, a French-educated film-maker who studied filmmaking at Cinematheque
Francaise, was the first to urge the Iranian film industry to produce higher-quality films that
mirrored the social conditions of the day in 1958. SOUTH OF THE TOWN (1958) was his
first film, a parody of Vittoria Desica's UMBERTO D (1952), but a totally Persian depiction
of neorealism about the poverty-stricken life of Tehran's southern area. It's a description of
pop culture's psychological values in their societal context. At the same period, Ebrahim
Golestan, a pioneering Iranian writer-turned-filmmaker, released ADOBE AND MIRROR
(1963), a dramatic film. Both films were met with disinterest from the public and were
censored.
During the (1938-1965) period, the Iranian film industry's main productions were purely
entertaining or escapist. Also at this time, the film and television markets were monopolized
through an explosion of investment by foreign countries, particularly the United States. Some
television film distributors also offered receivers and transmitters; some provided consulting
services, while others invested in foreign stations, production firms, dubbing services,
animation studios, and theatres.
Some television film distributors also offered receivers and transmitters; some provided
consulting services, while others invested in foreign stations, production firms, dubbing
services, animation studios, and theatres.
TOP 5 MUST WATCH IRANIAN MOVIES

1. The House Is Black
Forough Farrokhzad, a 20th-century Iranian poet, created this short film/documentary in

1962. A film that depicts the lives of people who have been diagnosed with leprosy and are
being cared for in a leper colony hospice. This picture, which has been described as a poetic
essay film, has gotten a lot of buzz in recent years.
2. The White Balloon
This is a timeless classic. It tells the storey of a young girl who wishes to buy a fish for Nuroz
(the Iranian New Year). It examines socioeconomic and economic concerns that people
encounter, as do many of Jafar Panahi's other films. It's a film about real people, and it'll
provide viewers a better understanding of our traditional beliefs.
3. Offside
Another Jafar Panahi classic, this one addressing the Iranian prohibition on female spectators
in football stadiums. Women are not permitted to enter football stadiums in Iran, despite
numerous women-led rallies. This film investigates this problem while also examining
societal misogyny. Because of his political activism and the nature of his filmmaking, Panahi
served an eight-year sentence in prison.
4. 10 + 4
This film is a sequel to Kiarostami's film 10, which inspired Mania Akbari to direct and star
in this documentary. The storey follows Mania Akbari as she travels throughout Iran while
battling breast cancer and the stigmas associated with the disease, which affects women
whose bodies are rarely discussed. Akbari's goal was to dispel these stereotypes and start a
dialogue about body politics among Iranian women.
5. Close-up
This Abbas Kiarostami documentary from 1990 depicts the real-life trial of a guy who is so
obsessed with cinema that he impersonates film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, duping a
family into acting in his film and even allowing them to use his home as a set.

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SIES College of Arts Science and Commerce

NEW FILM INDUSTRY AND EXPERIMENTATION (1938-1965)

TOP 5 MUST WATCH IRANIAN MOVIES

Forough Farrokhzad, a 20th-century Iranian poet, created this short film/documentary in

2. The White Balloon

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