Latest
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Mohammad Hossein Bagherifard: “Documentary Filmmakers Should Try to Change Something”
Mohammad Hossein Bagherifard is an Iranian documentary filmmaker based in Isfahan. His work primarily focuses on individuals in specific social or professional environments. He made his first film, Night Shift Guys, in 2021, documenting volunteers working in Isfahan during the COVID-19 pandemic. You studied biomedical engineering before getting into filmmaking. What led you to make…
REVIEWS
Features
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Two Reviews of One Film: Still Life, A Simple Event
Sohrab Shahid Saless made a decisive entry into the history of Iranian cinema in 1974 with his films A Simple Event (Yek ettefaq-e sade) and Still Life (Tabi‘at-e bijan). Today, both films are considered among the most significant works of the Iranian pre-revolutionary New Wave. Their radical use of repetition, time, slowness, and everyday life…
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Jafar Panahi’s Hidden (2020): An Exploration of Voice and Resistance
Hidden (2020) is one of Jafar Panahi’s quietest films—and yet also one of his most intense. The seemingly inescapable situation is not overcome by the irony Panahi often relied on in earlier works, but by something far more unexpected: the power of music. Although the short film is officially classified as a documentary, Panahi’s past work…
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10 Essential Pre-Revolution Movies of the Iranian New Wave
The following guide to the history of Iranian cinema presents my personal selection of the best and most inspiring films from the pre-revolutionary Iranian New Wave. This curated list of great works is meant for viewers who want to understand Iranian cinema within its broader social and historical context. For international audiences, the Iranian New…