WHERE'S THE DRAMA?

IRANIAN CINEMA 

Iran in the 1960s and 1970s saw the emergence of a new generation of socially conscious writers, including many - like Gholam Hossein Saedi (the author of The Mina Cycle and The Cow) that cooperated with young film-makers in the development of stories and scripts.

Progressive and politically active Iranian writers were typically anti-government, nationalistic and seekers of social justice. Their lives and their writing displayed a passion for their fellow human beings, especially the oppressed. Most of them had modern educations as well as a more traditional understanding of life, which is reflected in their concerns and their writing which is almost always powerful, rich in content, and communicable to all people. Most of them, if not all, were at one time or another arrested and tortured by order of the last Shah of Iran (Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi). Others went into exile. 

During the final decade of the Shah,  poets, painters, musicians, film-makers, intellectuals, educators, and writers that criticised or otherwise did not support the established system were imprisoned or killed. For these artists it was a matter of choice -- "to stand dying or to die standing."

Since the new historical era (since 1980) with its rise of social, economic and political consciousness, an incredible flowering of cinema has occurred, the results of which are clearly evidenced by any number of offerrings by Iranian filmmakers. The editors at WHERE'S THE DRAMA? want you to look and look again... therefore, we are pleased to be able to present a selection of some of our favorite Iranian films, every one of which compellingly answers the questions : "where's the drama?" & "why do I care?"