In the face of increased demonstrations against his oppressive rule, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei recently deployed security forces to massacre Iranian protestors and issued a nationwide internet blackout, making it difficult for the international world to grasp the severity of his repression.
The current regime, like those preceding it, has faced resistance since its inauguration. Filmmaking has been crucial to this resistance—chiefly, the emergence of the socially conscious and politically critical movement, the Iranian New Wave.
The first configuration of this New Wave arose with Dariush Mehrjui’s 1969 film, The Cow. In part, this social realist film was a reaction against mainstream Iranian cinema, known as Film Farsi, which was heavily influenced by the melodrama of Bollywood. As the imperial Pahlavi regime strictly controlled Iran’s cultural output, few films in the mid-twentieth century accurately reflected the state of ordinary citizens’ lives. However, the Shah’s urbanisation projects created a new middle class, who had the means and artistic vision to produce films independently of the commercial mainstream. It was in this climate that Mehrjui worked.
The Cow portrays a peasant turned mad with grief after his only possession, a cow, dies. The film was banned for a year due to its depiction of Iranians as superstitious, impecunious, harsh to women, and fearful of outsiders. Though it was then permitted domestically, it was still banned internationally so had to be smuggled out of the country to be shown at the Venice Film Festival.
In comparison to Film Farsi, films of the Iranian New Wave were markedly stylistically different. With a heightened sense of realism, they focussed on marginalised groups in everyday situations. Iranian New Wave films blend documentary techniques with fiction, the dichotomy of tradition versus modernity at their forefront. Like contemporary European movements such as the French New Wave and Italian Neorealism, the movement is characterised by non-professional actors, on-location shooting, handheld kinetic camerawork, and little non-diegetic sound.
Many of these techniques continued into the Second Wave, with the addition of fourth wall breaks and increased metatextuality. The Second Wave occurred post-1979 Revolution, after the deposing of the Pahlavi monarchy and establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In this new political climate, the Iran New Wave became a method of rediscovering the nation’s cultural identity. The best-known filmmaker from this period is Abbas Kiarostami, whose works had a uniquely philosophical touch.
The Third Wave, starting in the late 1990s and running into the 2000s, became increasingly political. For example, New Wave director Jafar Panahi has been arrested several times: in 2010 for attempting to make a documentary about the disputed re-election of Iran’s president; in 2022 after enquiring about a fellow filmmaker’s arrest; and again in 2025 for charges of propaganda against the nation.
Many New Wave films are still banned from being shown in Iran. However, despite censorship, directors have used pseudonyms and worked in secret to continue to produce films critical of the government. In all three of its forms, the Iranian New Wave is a politically-charged, highly powerful movement that puts characters on screen an audience can relate to. In moments of intense repression and social uncertainty, the New Wave is a vital cultural tool valuing art, expression, and freedom.
Photo by mdreza jalali on Unsplash