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1990s – today

Iranian New Wave

Poetic realism and moral complexity from Iran, often blurring fiction and documentary.

In the late 1960s Dariush Mehrjui's The Cow started a new Iranian cinema of poetic realism and social concern, and after the 1979 revolution a generation of filmmakers learned to work within strict rules. Abbas Kiarostami blurred fiction and documentary in Close-Up and Taste of Cherry, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Majid Majidi found drama among the poor and children, and Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof made films about life under pressure, in some cases despite bans and arrest. Asghar Farhadi's A Separation won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012. The cinema uses indirect storytelling to say what cannot be said openly.

Where
Iran
When
1969 to the present, with a major peak in the 1990s
Key figures
Abbas Kiarostami, Asghar Farhadi, Jafar Panahi, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Dariush Mehrjui, Majid Majidi, Mohammad Rasoulof
Landmark films
The Cow (1969), Close-Up (1990), Taste of Cherry (1997), A Separation (2011)
Legacy
Showed how moral complexity and poetry can come from tight constraints

What to look for

  • Children, ordinary people and moral choices in simple settings
  • Blending of fiction and documentary, with real people playing themselves
  • Indirect storytelling that works around censorship

Famous Directors

Abbas KiarostamiIranAsghar FarhadiIranJafar PanahiIranMohsen MakhmalbafIranDariush MehrjuiIranBahram BeyzaieIranSohrab Shahid-SalessIran / GermanyMajid MajidiIranMohammad RasoulofIran

Top films · 75 films

  1. Death of Yazdgerd 1982 · Bahram Beyzaie · IMDb 8.3
  2. A Separation 2011 · Asghar Farhadi · IMDb 8.3
  3. Close-Up 1990 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 8.2
  4. Children of Heaven 1997 · Majid Majidi · IMDb 8.2
  5. The Color of Paradise 1999 · Majid Majidi · IMDb 8.1
  6. Bashu, the Little Stranger 1989 · Bahram Beyzaie · IMDb 7.9
  7. About Elly 2009 · Asghar Farhadi · IMDb 7.9
  8. The Song of Sparrows 2008 · Majid Majidi · IMDb 7.9
  9. The Cow 1969 · Dariush Mehrjui · IMDb 7.8
  10. Hamoun 1990 · Dariush Mehrjui · IMDb 7.8
  11. Homework 1989 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 7.8
  12. And Life Goes On 1992 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 7.8
  13. Through the Olive Trees 1994 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 7.7
  14. Taste of Cherry 1997 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 7.7
  15. Five 2003 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 7.7
  16. The Past 2013 · Asghar Farhadi · IMDb 7.7
  17. The Salesman 2016 · Asghar Farhadi · IMDb 7.7
  18. A Moment of Innocence 1996 · Mohsen Makhmalbaf · IMDb 7.7
  19. Baran 2001 · Majid Majidi · IMDb 7.7
  20. Killing Mad Dogs 2001 · Bahram Beyzaie · IMDb 7.6
  21. Still Life (1974) 1974 · Sohrab Shahid-Saless · IMDb 7.6
  22. Utopia 1983 · Sohrab Shahid-Saless · IMDb 7.6
  23. Fireworks Wednesday 2006 · Asghar Farhadi · IMDb 7.6
  24. The White Balloon 1995 · Jafar Panahi · IMDb 7.6
  25. Salaam Cinema 1995 · Mohsen Makhmalbaf · IMDb 7.6
  26. White Meadows 2009 · Mohammad Rasoulof · IMDb 7.6
  27. Order 1980 · Sohrab Shahid-Saless · IMDb 7.5
  28. The Traveler 1974 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 7.5
  29. A Hero 2021 · Asghar Farhadi · IMDb 7.5
  30. The Mirror 1997 · Jafar Panahi · IMDb 7.5
  31. There Is No Evil 2020 · Mohammad Rasoulof · IMDb 7.5
  32. The Seed of the Sacred Fig 2024 · Mohammad Rasoulof · IMDb 7.5
  33. Leila 1996 · Dariush Mehrjui · IMDb 7.4
  34. The Pear Tree 1998 · Dariush Mehrjui · IMDb 7.4
  35. Ballad of Tara 1979 · Bahram Beyzaie · IMDb 7.4
  36. A Simple Event 1973 · Sohrab Shahid-Saless · IMDb 7.4
  37. The Wind Will Carry Us 1999 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 7.4
  38. Ten 2002 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 7.4
  39. The Circle 2000 · Jafar Panahi · IMDb 7.4
  40. Crimson Gold 2003 · Jafar Panahi · IMDb 7.4
  41. This Is Not a Film 2011 · Jafar Panahi · IMDb 7.4
  42. It Was Just an Accident 2025 · Jafar Panahi · IMDb 7.4
  43. The Father 1996 · Majid Majidi · IMDb 7.4
  44. The Cycle 1977 · Dariush Mehrjui · IMDb 7.3
  45. The Stranger and the Fog 1974 · Bahram Beyzaie · IMDb 7.3
  46. Taxi 2015 · Jafar Panahi · IMDb 7.3
  47. Offside 2006 · Jafar Panahi · IMDb 7.3
  48. The Willow Tree 2005 · Majid Majidi · IMDb 7.3
  49. Downpour 1972 · Bahram Beyzaie · IMDb 7.2
  50. Far from Home 1975 · Sohrab Shahid-Saless · IMDb 7.2
  51. Certified Copy 2010 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 7.2
  52. No Bears 2022 · Jafar Panahi · IMDb 7.2
  53. Manuscripts Don't Burn 2013 · Mohammad Rasoulof · IMDb 7.2
  54. A Man of Integrity 2017 · Mohammad Rasoulof · IMDb 7.2
  55. Maybe Some Other Time 1988 · Bahram Beyzaie · IMDb 7.1
  56. Sun Children 2020 · Majid Majidi · IMDb 7.1
  57. Iron Island 2005 · Mohammad Rasoulof · IMDb 7.1
  58. Like Someone in Love 2012 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 7.0
  59. 3 Faces 2018 · Jafar Panahi · IMDb 7.0
  60. Postman 1972 · Dariush Mehrjui · IMDb 6.9
  61. Everybody Knows 2018 · Asghar Farhadi · IMDb 6.9
  62. Gabbeh 1996 · Mohsen Makhmalbaf · IMDb 6.9
  63. The Silence (1998) 1998 · Mohsen Makhmalbaf · IMDb 6.9
  64. Beyond the Clouds (2017) 2017 · Majid Majidi · IMDb 6.9
  65. 24 Frames 2017 · Abbas Kiarostami · IMDb 6.8
  66. The Peddler 1987 · Mohsen Makhmalbaf · IMDb 6.8
  67. Kandahar 2001 · Mohsen Makhmalbaf · IMDb 6.8
  68. Goodbye 2011 · Mohammad Rasoulof · IMDb 6.8
  69. Marriage of the Blessed 1989 · Mohsen Makhmalbaf · IMDb 6.6
  70. Sara 1993 · Dariush Mehrjui · IMDb 6.5
  71. Pari 1995 · Dariush Mehrjui · IMDb 6.5
  72. Closed Curtain 2013 · Jafar Panahi · IMDb 6.5
  73. The Gardener 2012 · Mohsen Makhmalbaf · IMDb 5.9
  74. The Cyclist 1987 · Mohsen Makhmalbaf
  75. Where Is the Friend's Home? 1987 · Abbas Kiarostami