Saved events

Masterpieces of the Iranian New Wave

A black and white still from Brick and Mirror, showing a man and woman embracing in bed

Explore a showcase of groundbreaking films from 1962-1977, when a surge of creativity laid the foundation for Iranian arthouse cinema.

Cinema-ye Motafavet, or the Iranian New Wave, emerged as a grassroots movement in Iranian documentary and fiction filmmaking during the 1960s and 70s. Fuelled by a small group of young, mostly self-taught filmmakers, it achieved a remarkable coherence unparalleled in Middle Eastern cinema.

Set against the backdrop of the last Shah’s reign, Cinema-ye Motafavet reflects the era's complex and often contradictory emotions toward modernisation. Almost always subversive, the films are haunting portrayals of life in the purgatory between old and new. They not only capture the genesis of an Iranian cinematic revolution but also foreshadow the social and political upheavals that culminated in the 1979 revolution. Tragically, this same revolution would lead to the banning of many of these trailblazing films.

Events