The cinema of Iran, or of Persia, refers to the film industry in Iran. In particular, Iranian art films have garnered international recognition. Iranian films are usually written and spoken in the Persian language.
Jafar Panâhi is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film editor, commonly associated with the Iranian New Wave film movement. After several years of making short films and working as an assistant director for fellow Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, Panahi achieved international recognition with his feature film debut, The White Balloon (1995). The film won the Caméra d'Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, the first major award an Iranian film won at Cannes.
The Circle is a 2000 Iranian drama film produced and directed by Jafar Panahi that criticizes the treatment of women in Iran. The film has won several awards, including the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2000, but it is banned in Iran.
Once Upon a Time, Cinema is a 1992 Iranian comedy fantasy film written and directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
Fereshteh Taerpour was the first Iranian female independent film producer and writer.
Docufiction is the cinematographic combination of documentary and fiction, this term often meaning narrative film. It is a film genre which attempts to capture reality such as it is and which simultaneously introduces unreal elements or fictional situations in narrative in order to strengthen the representation of reality using some kind of artistic expression.
Café Transit is a 2005 Iranian film directed by Kambuzia Partovi. It was Iran's submission to the 79th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not nominated for the award. It was awarded best film in the 9th Dhaka International Film Festival.
The 57th annual Venice International Film Festival was held between 30 August to 9 September 2000.
The White Meadows is a 2009 Iranian film written, directed and produced by Mohammad Rasoulof. The film was edited by Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi and stars Hassan Pourshirazi as Rahmat. Lake Urmia, which is affected by falling water level and increasing salinity, was the filming location for the fictional setting of a salt-encrusted land.
The 63rd annual Berlin International Film Festival took place in Berlin, Germany, between 7 and 17 February 2013. Chinese film director Wong Kar-wai was announced as the president of the jury and his film The Grandmaster was the opening film of the festival.
Mojtaba Mirtahmasb is an Iranian filmmaker and film producer. He co-directed This Is Not a Film (2011) with Jafar Panahi.
Closed Curtain is a 2013 Iranian docufiction film by Jafar Panahi and Kambuzia Partovi. It premiered at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 12, 2013 where Panahi won the Silver Bear for Best Script. It was shot secretly at Panahi's own beachfront villa on the Caspian Sea. Panahi stated that he began shooting the film in a state of melancholy but managed to recover by the film's completion. Closed Curtain is Panahi's second film since his 20-year ban on filmmaking after 2011's This Is Not a Film.
Hossein Shahabi was an Iranian film director, screenwriter and film producer.
The 65th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 February 2015, with American film director Darren Aronofsky as the president of the jury. German film director Wim Wenders was presented with the Honorary Golden Bear. The first seven films of the festival were announced on 15 December 2014.
Taxi, also known as Taxi Tehran, is a 2015 Iranian docufiction starring and directed by Jafar Panahi. The film premiered in competition at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Bear and the FIPRESCI Prize. In 2010, Panahi was banned from making films and travelling for 20 years, so his niece Hana Saeidi, who also appears in the film, collected the award on his behalf.
Mahmoud Kalari is an Iranian cinematographer, screenwriter, film director, and photographer who has worked with number of renowned Iranian directors such as Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, Asghar Farhadi, and Mohsen Makhmalbaf.
Siyāhnamā'ī, literally "portraying in black", is a persian term which means to either fraudulently or negligently misrepresent a social cause or situation to be gravely dark as opposed to its factual status. This term is usually used by Iranian conservative critics to disparage Iranian films that allegedly convey a negative image of the country.
3 Faces is a 2018 Iranian drama film directed by Jafar Panahi and starring Behnaz Jafari and Panahi as themselves. The film was produced despite a ban on filmmaking imposed on Panahi. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, winning the award for Best Screenplay.
No Bears is a 2022 Iranian drama film written, directed and produced by Jafar Panahi. The film was shot secretly in Iran and stars Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobasri, Bakhtiar Panjei and Mina Kavani. Production wrapped up in May 2022.
