Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi is nominated for two Golden Globes this year, as director and writer of It Was Just an Accident. The film itself is nominated for Best Drama as well as Best Non-English-Language film, though it was officially submitted by France. In the past, Golden Globes nominations have included Iranian films in its Non-English-Language category, such as Asghar Farhadi\u2019s A Hero (2022), The Salesman (2017), The Past (2014) and A Separation (2012). The tallies are a tribute to the two filmmakers, but just a sample of Iran\u2019s filmmaking, as the country has a long and varied history with cinema.<\/p>\n
Storytelling has long been an integral part of Iranian culture. Epic tales like the Shahnameh \u2014 one of the longest poems ever written, composed by Persian poet Ferdowsi \u2014 date back over a thousand years. Fast forward to the advent of cinema, and Iranian creatives have utilized the medium to capture both the country\u2019s beauty and culture as well as its political and social shifts \u2014 even as they grappled with challenges such as economic sanctions abroad or strict censorship rules from within. What has resulted is a unique cinematic language crafted by Iranians \u2014 with films often forged under pressure, and the storytellers behind them relying on resilience as well as creativity to share their stories with the world.<\/p>\n
The first significant wave of filmmaking came with Iran\u2019s mid-century era of Filmfarsi. Pre-revolutionary films often featured melodrama and thrillers that were heavily influenced by Bollywood and Hollywood, and while entertaining for audiences, were lackluster to critics and did not authentically reflect Iranians. Then in the late 1960s, a wave of filmmakers broke through with more original, artistic and even political storytelling \u2014 such as Dariush Mehrjui\u2019s The Cow and Bahram Bayzai\u2019s Downpour. Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the film industry has faced intense censorship. Yet Iranian filmmakers have continued to adapt rather than retreat.<\/p>\n
As Iranian director Kourosh Ahari explained to us, such pressure has resulted in resilient and thought-provoking movies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re arguably living through one of the most difficult periods of Iran\u2019s modern history, with sanctions and censorship and immense pressure on daily life,\u201d says Ahari. \u201cSo naturally, that reality has influenced the stories being told. It has forced Iranian filmmakers to become resourceful. And those constraints push storytelling towards metaphors, symbolism and intimacy, which have really shaped the aesthetic people now associate with Iranian cinema.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent decades, Iran has become globally recognized for its distinct cinematic tone and style, and several filmmakers have been rewarded for using movies as a creative form of resistance.<\/p>\n
In 1998, Majid Majidi\u2019s Children of Heaven became the first Iranian film to be nominated for an Academy Award for foreign-language film. Over a decade later, Farhadi earned an Oscar win for the country with 2012\u2019s A Separation. This year, It Was Just An Accident won Cannes\u2019 top prize, the Palme d\u2019Or and the film was a triple winner at the Gotham Awards.<\/p>\n
Despite these honors for Iranian cinema, Panahi has pointed out there is also fallout from such restrictions on Iranian creatives. Speaking with Martin Scorsese at the New York Film Festival this fall, the director was asked what the future of Iranian cinema looks like, given the exodus of many great auteurs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really difficult to bear, especially the first decade after the revolution. \u2026 All the backbones of Iranian filmmaking are out. I really miss all those films that they could have made in Iran and they never did,\u201d Panahi answered, adding he plans to continue making films in Iran. \u201cI don\u2019t have the courage and I don\u2019t have the ability to leave Iran and stay out of Iran. I have stayed there, and I\u2019m going to work there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Panahi noted though that \u201cthere are a lot of young filmmakers who are coming and they\u2019re making the best films of Iranian cinema in the same style that we are making film. They are not going to accept censorship whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n
To perhaps further answer Scorsese\u2019s question, the future of Iranian cinema is not just who is willing to make films, but what stories will these films explore.<\/p>\n
Recent Iranian cinema has primarily lived within the genres of drama and tragedy rather than lighter fare such as comedy or romance \u2014 often reflecting tensions faced by its people both at home and abroad, such as U.S. sanctions hurting the economy or censorship hindering productions.<\/p>\n
Ahari finds this to be a trend not just because of what Iranians are experiencing at home, but also because of what international audiences are inclined to watch \u2014 and reward. \u201cDrama and tragedy often travel most easily in international festivals, especially from regions the West already associates with struggle and political tension. I think over time, this created an expectation of Iranian cinema that it\u2019s supposed to look like that. And the films that fit that image tend to receive more recognition,\u201d Ahari says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean Iranian filmmakers are only interested in those genres,\u201d he adds, nodding to his own directorial debut The Night, a psychological horror-thriller starring Shahab Hosseini and Niousha Noor.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also Ali Asgari\u2019s recent film Divine Comedy, where the filmmaker zeroes in on the country\u2019s film censorship and bureaucratic absurdity, but utilizes dark comedy to make a point.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt satire was better for expressing what we\u2019re living, because when you use satire, you show how silly and stupid the rules are. You diminish the system\u2019s power,\u201d Asgari explained to Variety<\/a>. \u201cAnd at the same time, satire helps audiences outside Iran connect, because many people aren\u2019t aware of what\u2019s happening. If you present it too seriously, they may not understand it. Humor brings them in.\u201d<\/p>\n Ahari adds that many Iranian creatives, especially the next generation, have a \u201cdeep appetite for experimentation\u201d \u2014 and it\u2019s taking place with independent projects in Iran as well as Stateside productions. Recent examples include Maryam Keshavarz\u2019s comedy drama The Persian Version, which features a young, bisexual Iranian-American woman who is at odds with her mother, and Sara Zandieh\u2019s romantic comedy A Simple Wedding.<\/p>\n