?Film festivals: A Catalyst for the Global Rise of Iranian Cinema

The Impact of Film festivals on Iranian Cinema: A Global Opportunity to Be Seen

In recent decades, film festivals have become one of the most important launching platforms for independent and art-house cinema—especially for countries with less developed or restricted film industries. Film festivals not only provide an opportunity to present works to audiences from diverse cultures, but also serve as a venue for the international recognition of filmmakers, cultural exchange, and the formation of new discourses about style, subject matter, and cinematic form. Iranian cinema stands as a prime example of how a national cinema has secured a significant place on the global map of art cinema through prominent international festivals. Below, we explore the specific impacts of Film festivals on Iranian cinema.

1. International "Discovery" and Introduction

Film festivals function as the initial arena for the "discovery" and international introduction of cinemas from lesser-known countries. Post-revolutionary Iranian cinema is one of the recent “discoveries” on the circuit of international Film festivals. Films from countries not previously regarded as cinematic powerhouses have been praised after being “discovered” by a festival. The success of emerging Iranian filmmakers—confirmed by dozens of awards from prestigious festivals worldwide—illustrates this trend.

For example, films like Where Is the Friend's Home?, Close-Up, and Nargess gained prominence through festivals and secured international recognition for their directors.

2. Establishing Frameworks of Understanding and Expectation

By showcasing these films, festivals construct a framework of assumptions and expectations for their audiences. New films from other cultures are often presented as a blend of distinctive regional traits and global artistic appeal—a window into a different culture, while also showcasing the filmmakers’ artistic maturity on an international level. This framework shapes how audiences interpret the styles, themes, and meanings of these films.
 

Example: The Runner by Amir Naderi

The Runner was the first Iranian film to enter international Film festivals, where it was compared to Los Olvidados and Pixote. The story of abandoned children in the city was notably free of corruption or sexual content, challenging stereotypical narratives.

3. Constructing the Experience of "Cultural Difference"

Festivals invite audiences to experience difference. The encounter with the unfamiliar—strange images, sounds, and perspectives—is a key motivation for festival-goers. Iranian films, for instance, immerse audiences in a world of wind, dust, veiled women, patient men, unusual tempos, and foreign rhythms. Festivals enable this temporary immersion in another culture—a source of pleasure for festival participants.

Example: Water, Wind, Dust

This film vividly portrays wind and dust, emphasizing the absence of water in an arid landscape through its use of sound and imagery.

4. The Process of "Discovering Form and Inferring Meaning"

Watching new films at festivals involves two key processes: discovering a transnational film style (formal innovation, complex character development, rejection of Hollywood norms regarding time and space, absence of clear endings), and extracting insights or lessons about a different culture. These processes shape how audiences interpret their experience. Festivals facilitate meaning-making, while also layering meanings that may not have existed before the film entered the festival circuit.
 

Example: Close-Up by Abbas Kiarostami

A sense of ascetic, nonjudgmental realism pervades the long takes in films like The Runner, Through the Olive Trees, Water, Wind, Dust, The Lion’s Share, and especially the works of Kiarostami (Life and Nothing More, Close-Up, Where Is the Friend's Home?, The Key).

5. Behind-the-Scenes Knowledge and Its Impact in Film festivals

Festivals offer access to "back region" knowledge, providing insights beyond merely watching a film. In the case of Iranian cinema, this includes information from organizations like the Farabi Cinema Foundation and the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Details about film financing (private sector supported by Farabi loans), censorship, classification (grades A to D), production processes, and distribution policies enrich the viewer’s understanding and influence how films are interpreted. These insights are often strategically presented to satisfy curiosity, reduce suspicion, and enhance appreciation.

Example: Need

In Need, the protagonist’s mother asks why he looks so tired. (We know, but she doesn’t, that he’s been job-hunting since his father’s death.) He avoids answering. She doesn’t press. Director Ali Reza Davoudnejad explains that in Western logic, such omission might seem impolite. But for this boy, explaining his self-sacrifice would diminish its meaning. Silence, in this context, is an act of kindness and respect.

6. Shaping a Specialized Audience through Film festivals

The film festival circuit has created a new layer of viewers—festival-goers—who engage with films in ways that differ from local audiences. These viewers seek new experiences and become adept at identifying patterns in style and meaning, even if their interpretations remain tentative.

(This ethnographic reflection focuses on 12 Iranian films screened at the 1992 Toronto International Film Festival out of 18 post-revolutionary entries.) Iranian films immediately stand apart. They exude austerity and portray characters with restraint, resembling the works of Chantal Akerman or Robert Bresson more than Bertolucci or Greenaway. One of the first interpretive frameworks that must be discarded is the Hollywood model, whose traits are largely absent in Iranian films.

7. Interpretation and Confronting Assumptions

Festival audiences, especially Western ones, may interpret Iranian films through the lens of their assumptions about Iranian society and politics. Poverty and hardship are often read as veiled criticisms of post-revolutionary Iran. However, Iranian filmmakers may reject such political readings, framing their work instead as expressions of endurance or ethical conduct in the face of adversity. Festivals allow for these interpretive tensions to surface—in post-screening Q&As and interviews.

Example: The Peddler by Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Variety called it “a look at the underbelly of contemporary Iran” (Nov 30, 1988); London Film Festival described it as “a vivid portrait of those on the bottom rung”; Rivertown Festival in Minneapolis called it “a gripping journey through the lives of Iran’s urban poor.” Janet Maslin of The New York Times was shocked by the film’s “almost unbearable level of despair.” A Film Comment critic compared it to Taxi Driver. Yet this near-universal critical response contrasts with Iranian directors’ own views. They acknowledge hardship, but not as a vehicle for political indictment.

8. Influencing the Understanding of Style and Theme

Festivals help identify and codify stylistic and thematic features of Iranian cinema: simplicity, austerity, absence of explicit sex and violence, minimal focus on gender identity or radical individualism, few direct religious or political references (except in comedies), and lack of open rebellion or marginal characters. Also notable are restrained cinematic techniques (limited use of close-ups, emotional music, rapid editing). Instead, themes of family and social order prevail—with low dramatic intensity, laconic dialogue, and inferential storytelling.

Example: The Tenants by Dariush Mehrjui

A wild comedy in stark contrast to other Iranian films. Like Hawks in Bringing Up Baby, Mehrjui inverts conventional values. Four families battle over a suburban apartment, transforming honesty and sacrifice into greed and deceit.

Example: And Life Goes On by Abbas Kiarostami

A stylistic model of laconic dialogue and indirect, inferential endings.

9. Transforming Local Cinema into Global “Art Cinema” through Film festivals

Ultimately, festivals provide the platform through which Iranian films transition from a local context to the global domain of art cinema. This process has elevated directors like Abbas Kiarostami, Rakhshan Bani-Etemad, and Amir Naderi to the status of international auteurs. Their films gain new, often universal meanings in this shift.

Examples:

Where Is the Friend’s Home?, Close-Up, And Life Goes On by Abbas Kiarostami

Nargess by Rakhshan Bani-Etemad

The Runner and Water, Wind, Dust by Amir Naderi

These films gained global recognition and helped define their creators as auteurs on the international stage—thanks to Film festivals.

Source: Adapted summary of Bill Nichols’ article Discovering Form, Inferring Meaning: New Cinemas and the Film Festival Circuit