Iranian Cinema after 1979

In the early years after the revolution in 1979, the Iranian film industry faced censorship in which sex, violence, nihilism, feminism were restricted.  Women were blamed for permissiveness and corrupt activity of the films in the past before the Islamic revolution. They were now ought to play roles as mothers, obeying wives and were restricted to show any negative images of women. Additionally, the strict censorship forbided showing couples touching, or a woman without Islamic garments that hide her hair and body shape. These ideological restrictions however can explain why some of the greatest Iranian films focus on children's lives or portray life outside on the street rather than inside the home. Beyond these explicit rules, the conservative takeover of the government department controlling the film industry has meant that permits for scripts, for production and film screenings are getting harder to come by. As the result of the strict restriction, some of the greatest films are banned to be shown in the theaters in Iran and therefore the films are shown in other contraries and the directors are getting prizes outsides Iran.

Regulation Printed in 1983 Established for an Islamic, Anti-Imperialist Cinema

1. Islamic hejab must be obeyed at all times for women. This means: wearing loose long clothes

and trousers in dark colours. Even scarves and chadors (a one-piece cloth covering head-to-toe)

must be of dark colour. The hair and neck must be completely covered. Only the face and the

hands to the wrist can be visible. When this not impossible, as when showing women in the

previous [Shah’s] time, a hat or wig can be used.

2. It is prohibited to show the made up face of a woman.

3. Close up of a woman’s face is not allowed.

4. It is prohibited to show a variety of clothes throughout a film without a logical explanation.

5. All physical contact between men and women is prohibited.

6. The use of the chador for negative characters and persons must have a logical excuse.

7. Hair styles which show dependence or approval of loose and immoral political, cultural or

intellectual groups inside and outside the country is not permitted.

8. The exchange of any joke, talk, conduct, or sign between a male and female individual in a film

which suggest a departure from the behavioural purity acceptable to society is banned.

9. To use young girls is not allowed without permission of the Office of Supervision and

Evaluation.

10. Words, signs or signals that directly or indirectly relate to sexual matters are prohibited.

11. The use of a tie, bow tie and anything that denotes foreign culture is not permitted.

12. Smoking a cigarette or pipe or the drinking of alcoholic beverages and the use of narcotic drugs

is prohibited.

13. The use of music, which is similar to well-known internal or foreign songs, is not allowed.

14. Propaganda for doctrines that are illegal and counter to the Islamic order is banned.

15. Sharia laws and customs, religious beliefs and mandatory religious laws have to be followed and the religiously forbidden be avoided

 

Regulation Printed in 1996 Established for an Islamic, Anti-Imperialist Cinema

Regulation Printed in 1996 Established for an Islamic, Anti-Imperialist Cinema

· Tight feminine clothes.

· Showing any part of a woman’s body except the face and hands.

· Physical contact and tender words or jokes between men and women.

· Jokes on the army, police, or family.

· Negative characters with a beard (which could assimilate them with religious figures)

· Foreign or coarse words.