"Why Iran creates some of the world's best films" from The BBC

Neither the fact that a number of key moments in Iranian cinema made it onto this illustrious list, nor the particular films that were selected, is surprising.

Based on a short story by Gholam-hossein Saedi, The Cow told the story of a villager and his unique anthropomorphic relationship with his animal with astonishing visual and narrative panache.

The global staging of Iranian film offered some of its best works international attention, a crucial component that fed back, aesthetically and thematically, into the country’s cinematic repertoire and inspired successive generations of Iranian film-makers.

Why Iran creates some of the world’s best films Four Iranian films made it into the top 100 in BBC Culture’s recent poll to find the greatest foreign-language films.

What brought the focus back to Iranian cinema was Amir Naderi’s masterwork, The Runner (1984), which was something of a revelation when it premiered at the Festival of the Three Continents in Nantes.

And the historical formation of Iranian cinema took place on a transnational public sphere – both in its origins and its destinations – from the East India Company film studios in India where the very first Iranian films were made, to these European film festivals.

Based on a short story by Gholam-hossein Saedi, The Cow told the story of a villager and his unique anthropomorphic relationship with his animal with astonishing visual and narrative panache.

These directors, who have deep roots in the most enduring aspects of Iranian cinema, now carry its future into uncharted territories.

Before that fateful decade had ended, Dariush Mehrjui’s The Cow (1969) was smuggled out of Iran and screened at the 1971 Venice Film Festival, where it won the critics’ prize (Fipresci); a screening in Berlin further consolidated its global recognition as a defining moment in the emerging Iranian cinema.

The global staging of Iranian film offered some of its best works international attention, a crucial component that fed back, aesthetically and thematically, into the country’s cinematic repertoire and inspired successive generations of Iranian film-makers.

Panahi was a protégé of Abbas Kiarostami, but he pushed the cinematic prowess of his mentor into decidedly social and political domains, far beyond the cinematic interests of Kiarostami.

The wider landscape of Iranian cinema over the last 100 years or more has been a varied topography of extraordinary cinematic events through which these major film-makers have risen to global attention.

Although there were many crucial developments in Iranian cinema in the 1970s, the world’s attention was captured by the Iranian Revolution of 1977-1979.

By and large, the critics who were consulted to create BBC Culture’s list likely know of Iranian or any other world cinema through the major international film festivals, chiefly Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno, which overshadow other festivals in the US, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Shot in multiple locations in the south of the country during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), The Runner crafted a cinematic landscape of its own, following the solitary life of a young boy mesmerised by running, to which Naderi gave a deeply moving, allegorical significance.

The global staging of Iranian film was a crucial component that inspired successive generations

The wider landscape of Iranian cinema over the last 100 years or more has been a varied topography of extraordinary cinematic events through which these major film-makers have risen to global attention.

Shot on location in a leper colony, The House is Black defined the fusion of fact and fiction in a unique and ground-breaking way.

There is a larger frame of reference that extends from Europe to the Ottoman and Russian empires all the way to Egypt and India, which was the site of the rise of Persian prose and poetry as well as Iranian visual and performing arts.

Before that fateful decade had ended, Dariush Mehrjui’s The Cow (1969) was smuggled out of Iran and screened at the 1971 Venice Film Festival, where it won the critics’ prize (Fipresci); a screening in Berlin further consolidated its global recognition as a defining moment in the emerging Iranian cinema.

Shot on location in a leper colony, The House is Black defined the fusion of fact and fiction in a unique and ground-breaking way.

While Kiarostami was established as the leading Iranian film-maker on the world stage, the Makhmalbaf family put a particularly poignant spin on the perception of Iranian cinema, particularly when Samira Makhmalbaf premiered her debut film The Apple (1998) at the Cannes Film Festival when she was just 18.

Panahi was a protégé of Abbas Kiarostami, but he pushed the cinematic prowess of his mentor into decidedly social and political domains, far beyond the cinematic interests of Kiarostami.

Before that fateful decade had ended, Dariush Mehrjui’s The Cow (1969) was smuggled out of Iran and screened at the 1971 Venice Film Festival, where it won the critics’ prize (Fipresci); a screening in Berlin further consolidated its global recognition as a defining moment in the emerging Iranian cinema.

Among its older masters, the cinema of Farrokh Ghaffari, Ebrahim Golestan, and Bahman Farmanara are chief among such oversights.

While Kiarostami was established as the leading Iranian film-maker on the world stage, the Makhmalbaf family put a particularly poignant spin on the perception of Iranian cinema, particularly when Samira Makhmalbaf premiered her debut film The Apple (1998) at the Cannes Film Festival when she was just 18.

The global staging of Iranian film offered some of its best works international attention, a crucial component that fed back, aesthetically and thematically, into the country’s cinematic repertoire and inspired successive generations of Iranian film-makers.

Panahi was a protégé of Abbas Kiarostami, but he pushed the cinematic prowess of his mentor into decidedly social and political domains, far beyond the cinematic interests of Kiarostami.

Initially he did so in measured and judicious strokes.

With a single short documentary, The House is Black (1962), Farrokhzad set Iranian film on a creative path from which it has not diverged since.

The ingenious cinematography of Farhadi’s director of photography, Mahmoud Kalari, has been instrumental in defining this sense of cinematic drama.

Shot on location in a leper colony, The House is Black defined the fusion of fact and fiction in a unique and ground-breaking way.

With a single short documentary, The House is Black (1962), Farrokhzad set Iranian film on a creative path from which it has not diverged since.

The following decade, Jafar Panahi won international critical acclaim when his film The Circle (1999) premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

The spectacular rise of Asghar Farhadi altered the perception of what Iranian cinema had to offer.

The global staging of Iranian film was a crucial component that inspired successive generations

Shot in multiple locations in the south of the country during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), The Runner crafted a cinematic landscape of its own, following the solitary life of a young boy mesmerised by running, to which Naderi gave a deeply moving, allegorical significance.

Shot on location in a leper colony, The House is Black defined the fusion of fact and fiction in a unique and ground-breaking way.

Hamid Dabashi celebrates the country’s outstanding cinematic moments.

One might suggest any number of other great works that could have appeared, but no one can question the importance of these four, nor the towering presence of Kiarostami among world-class film-makers.

By and large, the critics who were consulted to create BBC Culture’s list likely know of Iranian or any other world cinema through the major international film festivals, chiefly Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno, which overshadow other festivals in the US, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

The wider landscape of Iranian cinema over the last 100 years or more has been a varied topography of extraordinary cinematic events through which these major film-makers have risen to global attention.

Before that fateful decade had ended, Dariush Mehrjui’s The Cow (1969) was smuggled out of Iran and screened at the 1971 Venice Film Festival, where it won the critics’ prize (Fipresci); a screening in Berlin further consolidated its global recognition as a defining moment in the emerging Iranian cinema.

But, soon after, he was arrested because of his political activism during the Green Movement (2008-2010) and sentenced to suspended prison terms.

These directors, who have deep roots in the most enduring aspects of Iranian cinema, now carry its future into uncharted territories.

He was barred from making films, which he began smuggling to European film festivals.

There has never been a moment in the long history of Iranian cinema when it was confined to its current frontiers

- What the critics had to say about the top 25 - The full list of critics who participated – and how they voted - Why Seven Samurai is number one - Foreign-language masterpieces you may not know - Have women been 'excluded' from film history?

By this time Kiarostami was a known and fairly successful film-maker in Iran, but his reception in Europe suddenly placed him next to Vittorio De Sica of Bicycle Thieves (1948), Yasujirō Ozu of Tokyo Story (1953) and Satyajit Ray of The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959) and gave his work global power and significance.

There has never been a moment in the long history of Iranian cinema when it was confined to its current frontiers

Iran has also benefitted from some gifted women film-makers like Rakhshān Banietemad, Marziyeh Meshkini, and Manijeh Hekmat, who too have not received their dues.

Farhadi had come to cinema from a theatre background, and his films remain deeply dramatic in a theatrical sense.

While Kiarostami was established as the leading Iranian film-maker on the world stage, the Makhmalbaf family put a particularly poignant spin on the perception of Iranian cinema, particularly when Samira Makhmalbaf premiered her debut film The Apple (1998) at the Cannes Film Festival when she was just 18.

Initially he did so in measured and judicious strokes.

Before that fateful decade had ended, Dariush Mehrjui’s The Cow (1969) was smuggled out of Iran and screened at the 1971 Venice Film Festival, where it won the critics’ prize (Fipresci); a screening in Berlin further consolidated its global recognition as a defining moment in the emerging Iranian cinema.

The global staging of Iranian film was a crucial component that inspired successive generations

Before that fateful decade had ended, Dariush Mehrjui’s The Cow (1969) was smuggled out of Iran and screened at the 1971 Venice Film Festival, where it won the critics’ prize (Fipresci); a screening in Berlin further consolidated its global recognition as a defining moment in the emerging Iranian cinema.

The path of Iranian films into these major festivals has been long and winding, from its origins in the social and cultural history of Iran.

The path of Iranian films into these major festivals has been long and winding, from its origins in the social and cultural history of Iran.

The global staging of Iranian film was a crucial component that inspired successive generations

Before that fateful decade had ended, Dariush Mehrjui’s The Cow (1969) was smuggled out of Iran and screened at the 1971 Venice Film Festival, where it won the critics’ prize (Fipresci); a screening in Berlin further consolidated its global recognition as a defining moment in the emerging Iranian cinema.

And the historical formation of Iranian cinema took place on a transnational public sphere – both in its origins and its destinations – from the East India Company film studios in India where the very first Iranian films were made, to these European film festivals.

Based on a short story by Gholam-hossein Saedi, The Cow told the story of a villager and his unique anthropomorphic relationship with his animal with astonishing visual and narrative panache.

Neither the fact that a number of key moments in Iranian cinema made it onto this illustrious list, nor the particular films that were selected, is surprising.

What brought the focus back to Iranian cinema was Amir Naderi’s masterwork, The Runner (1984), which was something of a revelation when it premiered at the Festival of the Three Continents in Nantes.

With a single short documentary, The House is Black (1962), Farrokhzad set Iranian film on a creative path from which it has not diverged since.

Panahi was a protégé of Abbas Kiarostami, but he pushed the cinematic prowess of his mentor into decidedly social and political domains, far beyond the cinematic interests of Kiarostami.

- What the critics had to say about the top 25 - The full list of critics who participated – and how they voted - Why Seven Samurai is number one - Foreign-language masterpieces you may not know - Have women been 'excluded' from film history?

There is a larger frame of reference that extends from Europe to the Ottoman and Russian empires all the way to Egypt and India, which was the site of the rise of Persian prose and poetry as well as Iranian visual and performing arts.

The wider landscape of Iranian cinema over the last 100 years or more has been a varied topography of extraordinary cinematic events through which these major film-makers have risen to global attention.

There is a larger frame of reference that extends from Europe to the Ottoman and Russian empires all the way to Egypt and India, which was the site of the rise of Persian prose and poetry as well as Iranian visual and performing arts.

The spectacular rise of Asghar Farhadi altered the perception of what Iranian cinema had to offer.

The wider landscape of Iranian cinema over the last 100 years or more has been a varied topography of extraordinary cinematic events through which these major film-makers have risen to global attention.

But, soon after, he was arrested because of his political activism during the Green Movement (2008-2010) and sentenced to suspended prison terms.

The wider landscape of Iranian cinema over the last 100 years or more has been a varied topography of extraordinary cinematic events through which these major film-makers have risen to global attention.

- What the critics had to say about the top 25 - The full list of critics who participated – and how they voted - Why Seven Samurai is number one - Foreign-language masterpieces you may not know - Have women been 'excluded' from film history?

Why Iran creates some of the world’s best films Four Iranian films made it into the top 100 in BBC Culture’s recent poll to find the greatest foreign-language films.

Shot in multiple locations in the south of the country during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), The Runner crafted a cinematic landscape of its own, following the solitary life of a young boy mesmerised by running, to which Naderi gave a deeply moving, allegorical significance.

And the historical formation of Iranian cinema took place on a transnational public sphere – both in its origins and its destinations – from the East India Company film studios in India where the very first Iranian films were made, to these European film festivals.

And the historical formation of Iranian cinema took place on a transnational public sphere – both in its origins and its destinations – from the East India Company film studios in India where the very first Iranian films were made, to these European film festivals.

The ingenious cinematography of Farhadi’s director of photography, Mahmoud Kalari, has been instrumental in defining this sense of cinematic drama.

Farhadi had come to cinema from a theatre background, and his films remain deeply dramatic in a theatrical sense.

Farhadi’s family drama A Separation (2011) won the Academy Award for best foreign-language film in 2012 – and, five years later, his 2016 film The Salesman went on to win the same award.

Farhadi’s family drama A Separation (2011) won the Academy Award for best foreign-language film in 2012 – and, five years later, his 2016 film The Salesman went on to win the same award.

Shot in multiple locations in the south of the country during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), The Runner crafted a cinematic landscape of its own, following the solitary life of a young boy mesmerised by running, to which Naderi gave a deeply moving, allegorical significance.

Shot on location in a leper colony, The House is Black defined the fusion of fact and fiction in a unique and ground-breaking way.

While Kiarostami was established as the leading Iranian film-maker on the world stage, the Makhmalbaf family put a particularly poignant spin on the perception of Iranian cinema, particularly when Samira Makhmalbaf premiered her debut film The Apple (1998) at the Cannes Film Festival when she was just 18.

Based on a short story by Gholam-hossein Saedi, The Cow told the story of a villager and his unique anthropomorphic relationship with his animal with astonishing visual and narrative panache.

Based on a short story by Gholam-hossein Saedi, The Cow told the story of a villager and his unique anthropomorphic relationship with his animal with astonishing visual and narrative panache.

Farhadi had come to cinema from a theatre background, and his films remain deeply dramatic in a theatrical sense.

Hamid Dabashi celebrates the country’s outstanding cinematic moments.

Meanwhile, outside Iran, and from the fertile ground of its transnational origins, a new generation of Iranian film-makers has emerged, chief among them Ramin Bahrani (Chop Shop, 2007) and Shirin Neshat (Women without Men, 2009).

What brought the focus back to Iranian cinema was Amir Naderi’s masterwork, The Runner (1984), which was something of a revelation when it premiered at the Festival of the Three Continents in Nantes.

And the historical formation of Iranian cinema took place on a transnational public sphere – both in its origins and its destinations – from the East India Company film studios in India where the very first Iranian films were made, to these European film festivals.

It was immediately after the global success of The Runner that the world took notice of Abbas Kiarostami, when his now classic film Where is the Friend's Home?

By and large, the critics who were consulted to create BBC Culture’s list likely know of Iranian or any other world cinema through the major international film festivals, chiefly Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno, which overshadow other festivals in the US, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Initially he did so in measured and judicious strokes.

These directors, who have deep roots in the most enduring aspects of Iranian cinema, now carry its future into uncharted territories.

There has never been a moment in the long history of Iranian cinema when it was confined to its current frontiers

There is a larger frame of reference that extends from Europe to the Ottoman and Russian empires all the way to Egypt and India, which was the site of the rise of Persian prose and poetry as well as Iranian visual and performing arts.

Shot on location in a leper colony, The House is Black defined the fusion of fact and fiction in a unique and ground-breaking way.

By and large, the critics who were consulted to create BBC Culture’s list likely know of Iranian or any other world cinema through the major international film festivals, chiefly Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno, which overshadow other festivals in the US, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

The ingenious cinematography of Farhadi’s director of photography, Mahmoud Kalari, has been instrumental in defining this sense of cinematic drama.

The path of Iranian films into these major festivals has been long and winding, from its origins in the social and cultural history of Iran.

Shot on location in a leper colony, The House is Black defined the fusion of fact and fiction in a unique and ground-breaking way.

The wider landscape of Iranian cinema over the last 100 years or more has been a varied topography of extraordinary cinematic events through which these major film-makers have risen to global attention.

- What the critics had to say about the top 25 - The full list of critics who participated – and how they voted - Why Seven Samurai is number one - Foreign-language masterpieces you may not know - Have women been 'excluded' from film history?

In the process, no doubt, some of the best Iranian films never received the attention they richly deserved.

Panahi was a protégé of Abbas Kiarostami, but he pushed the cinematic prowess of his mentor into decidedly social and political domains, far beyond the cinematic interests of Kiarostami.

These directors, who have deep roots in the most enduring aspects of Iranian cinema, now carry its future into uncharted territories.

There is a larger frame of reference that extends from Europe to the Ottoman and Russian empires all the way to Egypt and India, which was the site of the rise of Persian prose and poetry as well as Iranian visual and performing arts.

Hamid Dabashi celebrates the country’s outstanding cinematic moments.

These directors, who have deep roots in the most enduring aspects of Iranian cinema, now carry its future into uncharted territories.

Meanwhile, outside Iran, and from the fertile ground of its transnational origins, a new generation of Iranian film-makers has emerged, chief among them Ramin Bahrani (Chop Shop, 2007) and Shirin Neshat (Women without Men, 2009).

But, soon after, he was arrested because of his political activism during the Green Movement (2008-2010) and sentenced to suspended prison terms.

Although there were many crucial developments in Iranian cinema in the 1970s, the world’s attention was captured by the Iranian Revolution of 1977-1979.

There is a larger frame of reference that extends from Europe to the Ottoman and Russian empires all the way to Egypt and India, which was the site of the rise of Persian prose and poetry as well as Iranian visual and performing arts.

But, soon after, he was arrested because of his political activism during the Green Movement (2008-2010) and sentenced to suspended prison terms.

While Kiarostami was established as the leading Iranian film-maker on the world stage, the Makhmalbaf family put a particularly poignant spin on the perception of Iranian cinema, particularly when Samira Makhmalbaf premiered her debut film The Apple (1998) at the Cannes Film Festival when she was just 18.

The following decade, Jafar Panahi won international critical acclaim when his film The Circle (1999) premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

Revolution and recognition

I was at the festival that year and saw how the global perception of Iran changed overnight from a bearded angry man (Khomeini) to the bright smiling face of a young film-maker.

Although there were many crucial developments in Iranian cinema in the 1970s, the world’s attention was captured by the Iranian Revolution of 1977-1979.

Based on a short story by Gholam-hossein Saedi, The Cow told the story of a villager and his unique anthropomorphic relationship with his animal with astonishing visual and narrative panache.

Neither the fact that a number of key moments in Iranian cinema made it onto this illustrious list, nor the particular films that were selected, is surprising.

Iran has also benefitted from some gifted women film-makers like Rakhshān Banietemad, Marziyeh Meshkini, and Manijeh Hekmat, who too have not received their dues.

By this time Kiarostami was a known and fairly successful film-maker in Iran, but his reception in Europe suddenly placed him next to Vittorio De Sica of Bicycle Thieves (1948), Yasujirō Ozu of Tokyo Story (1953) and Satyajit Ray of The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959) and gave his work global power and significance.

Why Iran creates some of the world’s best films Four Iranian films made it into the top 100 in BBC Culture’s recent poll to find the greatest foreign-language films.

The figure of Forough Farrokhzad (1935-1967), a leading poet of her time, shines over the history of Iranian cinema.

In the process, no doubt, some of the best Iranian films never received the attention they richly deserved.

Based on a short story by Gholam-hossein Saedi, The Cow told the story of a villager and his unique anthropomorphic relationship with his animal with astonishing visual and narrative panache.

One might suggest any number of other great works that could have appeared, but no one can question the importance of these four, nor the towering presence of Kiarostami among world-class film-makers.

Why Iran creates some of the world’s best films Four Iranian films made it into the top 100 in BBC Culture’s recent poll to find the greatest foreign-language films.

It was immediately after the global success of The Runner that the world took notice of Abbas Kiarostami, when his now classic film Where is the Friend's Home?

Neither the fact that a number of key moments in Iranian cinema made it onto this illustrious list, nor the particular films that were selected, is surprising.

There is a larger frame of reference that extends from Europe to the Ottoman and Russian empires all the way to Egypt and India, which was the site of the rise of Persian prose and poetry as well as Iranian visual and performing arts.

In the process, no doubt, some of the best Iranian films never received the attention they richly deserved.

By and large, the critics who were consulted to create BBC Culture’s list likely know of Iranian or any other world cinema through the major international film festivals, chiefly Cannes, Venice, Berlin, and Locarno, which overshadow other festivals in the US, Japan, Korea, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

- What the critics had to say about the top 25 - The full list of critics who participated – and how they voted - Why Seven Samurai is number one - Foreign-language masterpieces you may not know - Have women been 'excluded' from film history?

The wider landscape of Iranian cinema over the last 100 years or more has been a varied topography of extraordinary cinematic events through which these major film-makers have risen to global attention.

There is a larger frame of reference that extends from Europe to the Ottoman and Russian empires all the way to Egypt and India, which was the site of the rise of Persian prose and poetry as well as Iranian visual and performing arts.

These directors, who have deep roots in the most enduring aspects of Iranian cinema, now carry its future into uncharted territories.

Initially he did so in measured and judicious strokes.

But, soon after, he was arrested because of his political activism during the Green Movement (2008-2010) and sentenced to suspended prison terms.

It was immediately after the global success of The Runner that the world took notice of Abbas Kiarostami, when his now classic film Where is the Friend's Home?

One might suggest any number of other great works that could have appeared, but no one can question the importance of these four, nor the towering presence of Kiarostami among world-class film-makers.

Neither the fact that a number of key moments in Iranian cinema made it onto this illustrious list, nor the particular films that were selected, is surprising.

By this time Kiarostami was a known and fairly successful film-maker in Iran, but his reception in Europe suddenly placed him next to Vittorio De Sica of Bicycle Thieves (1948), Yasujirō Ozu of Tokyo Story (1953) and Satyajit Ray of The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959) and gave his work global power and significance.

Neither the fact that a number of key moments in Iranian cinema made it onto this illustrious list, nor the particular films that were selected, is surprising.

The figure of Forough Farrokhzad (1935-1967), a leading poet of her time, shines over the history of Iranian cinema.

It was immediately after the global success of The Runner that the world took notice of Abbas Kiarostami, when his now classic film Where is the Friend's Home?

Among its older masters, the cinema of Farrokh Ghaffari, Ebrahim Golestan, and Bahman Farmanara are chief among such oversights.

By this time Kiarostami was a known and fairly successful film-maker in Iran, but his reception in Europe suddenly placed him next to Vittorio De Sica of Bicycle Thieves (1948), Yasujirō Ozu of Tokyo Story (1953) and Satyajit Ray of The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959) and gave his work global power and significance.

The very first Iranian sound film, Dokhtar-e Lor/Lor Girl, 1932, also known as The Iran of Yesterday and The Iran of Today, was produced by Ardeshir Irani and Abdolhossein Sepanta in the Imperial Film Company in Bombay.

The very first Iranian sound film, Dokhtar-e Lor/Lor Girl, 1932, also known as The Iran of Yesterday and The Iran of Today, was produced by Ardeshir Irani and Abdolhossein Sepanta in the Imperial Film Company in Bombay.

And the historical formation of Iranian cinema took place on a transnational public sphere – both in its origins and its destinations – from the East India Company film studios in India where the very first Iranian films were made, to these European film festivals.

The wider landscape of Iranian cinema over the last 100 years or more has been a varied topography of extraordinary cinematic events through which these major film-makers have risen to global attention.

In the process, no doubt, some of the best Iranian films never received the attention they richly deserved.

Farhadi had come to cinema from a theatre background, and his films remain deeply dramatic in a theatrical sense.

Panahi was a protégé of Abbas Kiarostami, but he pushed the cinematic prowess of his mentor into decidedly social and political domains, far beyond the cinematic interests of Kiarostami.

These directors, who have deep roots in the most enduring aspects of Iranian cinema, now carry its future into uncharted territories.

By this time Kiarostami was a known and fairly successful film-maker in Iran, but his reception in Europe suddenly placed him next to Vittorio De Sica of Bicycle Thieves (1948), Yasujirō Ozu of Tokyo Story (1953) and Satyajit Ray of The Apu Trilogy (1955-1959) and gave his work global power and significance.

One might suggest any number of other great works that could have appeared, but no one can question the importance of these four, nor the towering presence of Kiarostami among world-class film-makers.