Playlist: Cinema Asia: Iran
Forbidden to depict sex, obscenity, or violence, Iranian filmmakers carefully choose their subjects and practice skillfully indirect, allegorical storytelling. Movies featuring children—filled with intimacy and social commentary that would be harder to realize using adults—have become common. This program examines the evolution and enduring individuality of Iran’s film industry while envisioning its future both at home and abroad. Interviews with directors Majid Majidi and Abbas Kiarostami, and with film scholar Dr. Hamid Naficy, provide an inside look at the past and potential of the Iranian cinema. Kanun, a cultural organization central to the development of Iranian film, is also studied. Several film excerpts are included. (Portions in other languages with English subtitles, 51 minutes)
Iran is often perceived as a country with violence brewing just beneath the surface. Its films, however, are among the most beautiful and poignant produced anywhere. Most of Iran's films are based on oral tradition.
An international film festival in Tehran attracts thousands, even in a terrible snowstorms. Iran's filmmakers face severe restrictions from the Iranian government. These films avoid sex and violence in accordance with Islamic doctrine.
In Iran, movie making is scrutinized by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. The films focus on real characters and strong story lines, and they strike a chord with audiences born after the Iran Revolution.
In Iran, films featuring children are born out of necessity to tells stories in an environment governed by the Islamic code. Excerpts from "Children of Heaven" demonstrate the importance of children's roles.
Renown director Abbas Kiarostami's films are about simple themes, depicting the spirit of mankind. His austere style of story telling has inspired a new generation of Iranian film directors.
Children can say and do what they want, making them excellent for Iranian cinema, which places so many restrictions on adults.
The richest expression of art in Iran is the carpet. Colors and patterns of carpets remain in the minds of Iranians and influence their lives. From carpets to paintings to street performers, poetry remains at the heart of the Iranian soul.
In the 1970s, revolution in Iran turns the country on its head. The revolutionaries condemn anything Western. Cinemas and liquor stores are the primary targets, and arson the weapon to destroy them.
A black and white film made in 1969, "The Cow," revives Iran's film industry. The Ayatollah believes in its simple theme, asserting its educational value. His opposition is to "corrupt movies."
After the Revolution, Iranian filmmakers learned to make films in a "new, moral climate" of Islamic code. "The Hidden Half" depicts the years after the Revolution. The role of women in film changed.
Iranian actresses labor under restrictions. Iran's most famous actress argues that this distorts the reality of women. The Islamic government prefers that the idealized stereotype of women be portrayed in film.
A significant influence on Iranian women's literature, Forough Farrokhzad, Iran's first feminist poet, spoke in feminine language and expressed her feminine feelings.
Iranian women have a history of independence dating back to ancient times. Iranian women have the highest rate of nose surgery in the world. These cultural changes also show up in Iran's contemporary films.
The conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq inspire a new wave or Iranian films that touch audiences around the world. Today, Iranian directors tell stories about Iran's neighboring countries.