In the past decade, Iranian filmmakers have taken to the spotlight, championing the country’s national cinema and bringing it to the limelight globally. While a director like Abbas Kiarostami has reached a legendary status globally, Iranian cinema is often overlooked and misunderstood in favor of the mainstream narratives that dominate discussions about Iran and its people. Asghar Farhadi, in the 2010s, took home two Academy Awards for his films A Separation and The Salesman, which offer glimpses into contemporary Iranian life and the struggles people face in their daily lives. However, Iranian cinema has a deep and complex history, especially after the Iranian Revolution.

While censorship was rampant in the years after the Iranian Revolution, and still is present today, directors, writers, and actors have continued to push back against the regime’s image of what the country is and is not. There is a clear thread between the culture’s past and what is depicted on the screen, as the lush visuals and poetry that accompany Iranian movies are a nod to the deep artistic traditions of the country. But, at the same time, many writers and directors are adopting aspects of modernity to convey a unique form of resistance that can only be described as uniquely Iranian. Recent movies like Holy Spider have only continued this new tradition in Iranian cinema, making movies out of the country in the future exciting to watch as a form of true representation.

Social Realism and Everyday People

Two men on a motorcycle in Close-Up from Abbas Kiarostami
Celluloid Dreams

When Abbas Kiarostami received worldwide acclaim for his 1997 movie Taste of Cherry, launching his movies onto an entirely new set of eyes and translations, he exposed a new standard that was becoming a trademark of Iranian cinema. He often utilized traditional Persian poetry, as well as his own, blended with footage taken in Iran’s rural villages. Filmed in a style like a documentary, following people around and interviewing them at times, Kiarostami’s work adopted a specific brand of social realism on the screen. As the Iranian New Wave further developed in the upcoming decades, and new directors entered the scene, this became the style many sought to emulate in their work.

Women filmmakers and directors, too, have continued to push the boundaries of what is considered acceptable to be filmed in Iran. Forugh Farrokzhad, a poet, writer, and filmmaker, was considered one of the most scandalous women of her generation. Her crime was that she wrote about female desire in a conservative, patriarchal society in the late-1950s and early-1960s, but in the filmmaking world, she continued her defiance. Her documentary The House is Black is considered to be one of the biggest movies in the Iranian New Waves, and she gave a voice to those hidden in Iranian society: people suffering from leprosy. Other trailblazing artists, like Shirin Neshat and Ana Lily Amirpour, continued with her legacy and produced thought-provoking work that centers on female narratives in a society that deliberately tries to smother them.

By depicting things as they are through social realism, Iranian movies defy the expectations and resist narratives placed upon them. Although the strict nature of censorship makes it so that some filmmakers are unable to say what they want, some have used their artistry to still convey as much as they can on the screen. Movies and television have become a medium of self-expression, a way to show the world what truly is happening to people.

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The Politics of Having a Movie Made in Iran

Women in chador looks to her left
Memento Films

Jafar Panahi is one of the most well-known directors in Iranian cinema, and one of the most notorious ones operating in the country. Many of his movies were banned in Iran due to their content, and after multiple times of being arrested, he finally was put on house arrest after pushing the government’s buttons too many times. His movies, which focused on the issues faced by some of the most vulnerable populations in his home country, were simply too radical for the censorship boards. Panahi was banned from leaving the country and was eventually put on house arrest, which he continued to make movies under. One of them, This is Not a Film, was smuggled out of the country via a flash drive put in a cake.

This is not an uncommon narrative for artists, writers, and directors working in Iran. Evin Prison, one of the biggest prisons in Tehran, largely houses some of the country’s creatives, intellectuals, and academics. The prison is known for its gross violation of human rights, and many of those jailed there will never leave it alive. Regardless, Iranian filmmakers have continued to push the boundaries of what they can make. Although artistic freedom is technically limited by the law and censorship by the government, their work interrogates the foundations of contemporary Iran’s problems.

Related: These Are Some of The Greatest Iranian Movies Ever Made

Some, like Asghar Farhadi, have found international attention for their movies, and even used their platform to protest against policies — Farhadi notably did not attend the Academy Awards, despite winning, as a protest against a Trump-era policy. Neither Kiarostami nor Panahi, who were punished and in exile for the work they created throughout their careers, were ever chosen by the Iranian government as their pick for the Oscars' Best International Feature Film category. Actress Taraneh Alidoosti, known for appearing in Farhadi's About Elly, was arrested in 2020 for protesting police crackdowns on hijab enforcement, and Golshifteh Faranahi, her co-star in About Elly, lives in exile.

New filmmakers not brought up in the era of 90s movies are continuing to stay and make work in Iran, creating larger risks for their safety, but they are innovating in new ways. But now, as the country goes through a different form of resistance, perhaps the cinema that comes out of it will be revolutionary, too. Only time will tell in the near future.