History Of Documentary Filmmaking In Iran

The Iranian cinema was incepted with non fiction and factual films.

In 1900 Mirsa Ibrahim khan Akkasbashi. Got acquainted with cinema in an international exhibition in Paris and filmed in Stand of Belgium upon his return from the said quasi – explorative journey he spent some time prior to the constitutional movement to capture lives of the people living in capital.

Newsreels first appeared on the screen during the Reign of Reza shah Pahlavi.

The Syracuse university s Training programs were launched in 1953 in Tehran.

After after a year period of theoretical study they graduates employed at Iran audio- visual organization and actually made film.

During 1950 a new generation of film makers showed interest in nonfiction and documentary cinema and started working alongside governmental and private sections film makers.

amongst  them  mention  can be  made  of  Mostafa  farzaneh  Ibrahim  Golestan , Farrokh  Ghaffari , Freidoon… Rahnama . Golestan  founded  the  Golestan  film  organization    and films  such  as  “A  fire” , “Marlik  Hills” , “the  wave, the  coral  and  the  Rock, fetched  the  first  international  awards  for  Iran  from  Pesaro , Venice, and  san  Francisco   Festivals .Top

Forough Farrokhzad made “the house is black”, there.

This film  is  set  in  an  asylum for leprous but provides  poetic  picture of  the  special  conditions  of  asylum, and  the   general  situation  of  man.

A  number  of  cinema  graduates   returned  From  Europe  in  early  ۱۹۶۰’s  and  joined  the  documentary  film  Department  of  film  Arts  Administration.

Hazhir Dariush, Made, Holy pit, and ManuchehrTayyab’s “Rhythm” blended Music and picture.

Mohammad  Faroughi, produced  “The  dawn  of  Capricorn”  about  isphahan, which  won  awards  from  the  Cannes  film  festival  in  ۱۹۶۴.  Kamran  Sheerdel, who  had  studied  cinema  in  Italy, directed  his  camera  toward  secrets  of  the  capital  and  the  Prohibited  places. His  triple  film  “fort”, Tehran  is  the  capital  of  Iran “and  women’s  prison,are  distinguished  From  pictorial,artistic  film  relying  on  editing.

Khosrow  Sinai  is  another  film  graduate  whose  dilute  picture  was  “A  sound  that  becomes  Antique” . He has directed many   films including “The cold iron”.Top

In  ۱۹۶۶, Abol  Qassem  Rezaee   and  Jalal   Moqaddam  produced  “House  of  God “, which  was  the  first  important  Iranian  documentary  that  was  widely  distributed  in  the  country. Many  people  went  to  the  cinema  theatres  for  the  first  time  ever  to  watch  this  picture.

The film “acorn” ۱۹۶۸, was Iran’s first scientific ethnographic

Film directed by Dr. Nader Afshar Naderie.  His  cinematic   approach  was  followed  and   kept   up  by  Hossein   Taheridoost  , winner  of  the  first  prize   of  ABU  festival  in  ۱۹۷۳, with  his  film  “acorn”, Farhad   Varahram,  with  his  film   Taraz , and  “ sacred  marriage “ (۱۹۹۵) , Mohammad  Reza  Moghaddasian  with  his  film  water  and  Irrigation  and  Ahmad  zabeti  jahromi  with  his  film  “ Desert  ship” .

Iran’s  national  television  was  launched  in  ۱۹۶۶ ,  and  several  groups  of  younger   documentarists  made  documentaries  there  Among   them  reference  can  be  made  to  Naseeb  Naseebi  who  was  highly  influenced  by  experimental  cinema, directed  “ Yosh, Anahita  temple “, Parviz  kimyavi’s  “ya zamen  Ahoo” , was  a  deeply  human  film. Naser Taghvai made “Bade jenn”. Top

Mohammad Tahami Nejade  made  The  first  film  about  the  history  of  Iranian  cinema  in  a  hybrid  form  (۱۹۷۰).

Manuchehr Asgari  Nasab , made  “ pear  sabz  chekchekoo “ , and  Manuchehr  tabari  made  his  film  Daravish  Qaderiyyeh. Kiumarth  Deram  Bakhsh  made  “The  desert  camel  Drivers ”  and  Mohammad  Reza  Aslani  made  the  experimental  film  “Hassanbucup”.

Manuchehr Tayyab.  Produced his architectural films in 1971.

In  ۱۹۸۰’s , Hamid  Soheili  produced  a  series  entitled  “Iranian  architecture  for  the  Islamic  Re Public  of  Iran’s  Broadcasting. Different  types  of  films  with  diverse  objectives  and  out looks  were  produced  after  the  victory  of  the  Islamic  Revolution. The  society’s  revolutionary  situation  mad it  suitable  for  researching  the  past  and  its legacy :

“Copper,the  political  Metal”(Ali  ya – ghobi), Autol(jamshid  zahedi),soil  to  soil(Manuchehr  Moshiri),Migration(Ali  Naini),children  and  exploitation(M.R.  Aslani), the Brick kilns (M.R.  Moqaddasian), Bread from   mud by Farideh Shafaee Caviar (Ibrahim Mokhtari), were among them.Top

Seven  stories  of  Baluchistan  (Morteza  Avini)   and  “the  bitten  by  The  khan”  had  such  a  theme , also , and  were  produced  in  Jihad  in  ۱۹۸۱, the  IRIB, approved  the  project  for  the  “housing  crisis “ , and  three  films  were  made  by  freydoon  javadi  and  others ,In  the  mid  ۱۹۸۰’s  and  early  ۱۹۹۰’s , Rakhshan  Bani  Etemad  workeon  social  films  including  “concentration”  and  “to  whom  are  you  going  to  show  these  films?

During  these  years  Sinaee  produced  the  lost  Elegy, Abbas  Kiarostami  made  “Night  Homework”  and  Mohsen  MakhMalbaf  produced  “Salute  Cinema”.

On  September  ۲۰,۱۹۸۰  Iraqi  planes  violated  Iranian  air  space  and  Iraqi  troops  invaded  Iran’s  border  cities. The  war  directed  our  documentarists  to  the  fronts  and  numerous  different  war  films  were  produced.

Iran’s documentary cinema has undergone a change   since 1979.  the  portable  camera,  widely  were  being  used  during  the  days  of  the  revolution , has  highly  assisted  the  direct  cinema. Documentarists  also  depicts  subjects  which  seem  to  be  beyond  prevalent  practice  and  norms  of  Iranian  cinema  but  which  offer  palpable  and  worthy  study  of  society.