Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

Abbas Kiarostami. EVERETT COLLECTION. REPRODUCED BY
PERMISSION.
supporter of the Iranian New Wave and the work of
many local directors. Iranian films were seen by more
people around the world and won prestigious prizes at
film festivals. Jafar Panahi’s (b. 1960) Badkonake Sefid
(The White Balloon, 1995) won the Camera d’Or at the
Cannes Film Festival, and in 1997 Abbas Kiarostami’s
(b. 1940) Ta’m e guilass (A Taste of Cherry) won the
festival’s Palme d’Or. Many women came out of the
shadows and began to establish themselves once again
in the industry. Some key figures include Tahmineh
Milani and Derakhshandeh.
Most films of this time were funded by the government,
though once made, they often were banned from
screening in Iran. In terms of style and subject matter,
many directors took their lead from European cinemas
and movements, particularly Italian neorealism. This is
evident in such films as Kelid (The Key, Ebrahim
Forouzesh, 1987) and The White Balloon. Social commentary,
brought into the arena during the New Wave,
continued after the revolution, and many of the films
that were not banned revolved around stories of the
revolution disguised as adventure stories, such as Nun
va Goldoon (A Moment of Innocence, 1996). These films,
Iran
based on local people suffering from circumstances not of
their own making, tread a fine line between documentary
and fiction. Due to budget constraints, a majority of
these films were shot on location.
Many filmmakers had opposed the shah during
Iran’s revolution, believing that if his government were
overturned they would be given free reign to produce the
films they wanted, and not necessarily purely for profit,
but the new, clerical government took away equipment,
film stock, and resources from filmmakers in order to
control filmic representations of Iranian society. Every
film’s synopsis, screenplay, cast, and crew, and the completed
film, all have to be approved by the censorship
board if the film is to be made and exhibited in Iran.
Although the Islamic government began a process of
Islamization of the arts in 1979, filmmakers and other
artists have managed to free themselves from the constraints
of official ideology. One way in which artists
managed to do this was by moving out of Iran and
making diasporic films. Others based their films around
children and adventure stories with heavy undertones of
heroism and liberal principles. There was a shortage of
film theatres in the country due to the burning of cinemas
during the revolution, while many that still existed
were in very bad condition. With the government in debt
and with the United States–led boycott of Iran, the
rebuilding and refurbishment of film theatres was low
on the government’s list of priorities. However, over
time, theatres were rebuilt and refurbished. There are
many film theatres in the large towns and cities in Iran,
but not many in rural areas.
Among the most important directors of the New Wave,
Mohsen Makhmalbaf (b. 1957) came to the fore in the
1980s with films such as Dastforoush (The Peddler, 1987)
and Arousi-ye Khouban (Marriage of the Blessed, 1989).
Many of his films were banned from exhibition in Iran:
Gabbeh (1996), for example, was banned for being rebellious,
but his films have been released internationally and
very well received. Makhmalbaf has established a production
company that allows him to coproduce films
with France, and it was under this production house
that he produced the directorial debut of his daughter,
Samira Makhmalbaf (b. 1980), Sib (The Apple, 1998).
Makhmalbaf’s SafareGhandehar(Kandahar, 2001), one
of his most popular films, tells the story of Nafas, an
Afghan journalist who is exiled to Canada and returns to
Afghanistan to find her sister, who is fed up with the Taliban
regime. Like many of Makhmalbaf ’s films, Kandahar is a
combination of documentary and fiction, using a hand-held
camera and other techniques associated with documentaries
to give it a greater emotional power. Abbas Kiarostami
(A Taste of Cherry, 1997) is one of the best-known Iranian
directors internationally, although he is not as popular in
Iran. Like many other Iranian directors, Kiarostami blends
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