The ABC of the Iranian New Wave features the most significant auteur film work in the history of Iranian cinema. The Iranian New Wave has been conquering international film festivals for several years now, but its birth goes all the way back to the beginning of the 20th century. During the festival in Torun, we will have an opportunity to see key films belonging to this genre, which have made a significantimpact on shaping Iranian cinema.
The first film of the review will be The Cow by Dariush Mehrjui (Gaav, 1969), which not only started the new wave but is also considered a turning point in the history of Iranian cinema. The film makes a reference to the poetic dramaturgy of the Italian Neorealism and it was banned by Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, Shah of Iran. In 1971, the film was awarded the FIPRESCI award at the film festival in Venice, and the decision was revoked. What made the government so angry about the film was its drastic realism in depicting poverty in Iranian villages of the time, and the fact that the script for the film was based on stories published by Gholām-Hossein Sā'edi, who opposed the government. The painful reality and poverty of ordinary Iranians was also the subject of another film — Children of Heaven (Bacheha-Ye aseman, 1997) — made 30 years later, when Iran had already become an Islamic state. The film was nominated for Academy Awards and tells a story of poor residents living in the suburbs of the Capital City of Tehran — the film was directed by Majid Majidi.
The symbol of struggling for artistic independence in Iranian cinema is Jafar Panahi. He is considered to be one of the most important film directors in modern Iranian cinema, although his films are frequently banned by the government controlled by Islamic ayatollahs. Another Iranian film to be screened at TOFIFEST is The White Balloon (Badkonake sefid, 1995), which won the Camera d'Or Award in Cannes. It was directed by Jafar Panahi, under the patronage of the outstanding film director Abbas Kiarostami, who was also the author of script. As for Abbas Kiarostami himself, his work will be represented in the section by Taste of Cherry (Ta'm e guilass, 1997), which won the Palme d'Or Award in Cannes. The film aroused great interest among audiences and film critics around the world, although it was yet another film banned in Iran, as it commented on the issue of suicide, which is forbidden in Iran.