Iran 48 Medals
We now move from one country that constricts its cinema to its own dictator-led population to another that is doing its best to stifle the brilliant creativity within. Jafar Panahi, one of Irans most decorated directors, has had many confrontations with the government over his work. This culminated in 2010 with a six-year prison sentence along with a 20-year ban on filmmaking. The censorship stance that the government of Iran is taking over its extremely talented film industry threatens to damage Irans status on the world stage. It is a shame because Iranian cinema has slowly edged its way into one of the most dominant in world cinema. The examination of its own culture is fearless and the use of mostly amateur actors and actresses allowed a sense of realism neglected in many other national cinemas. With the recent success of A Separation at the Oscars, perhaps all is not lost as censorship can have an adverse effect and help generate a different kind of creativity. Bronze The Apple (Samira Makhmalbaf, 1998)
Deemed to be one of the most influential directors of the Iranian New Wave, Samira Makhmalbaf has an immense talent which has managed to overcome the restrictions of her female gender. She often states the difficulties in overcoming the inane belief that women cannot be film directors. With The Apple, she overcame that and she did so at the extremely young age of 17. The story involves two young girls who have been kept under lock and key by their parents. Upon a complaint by neighbours about their upbringing, they eventually venture outside for the first time in their young lives. Tempted by the teasing apple being dangled by a young male neighbour, their adventure into the world leads them to experience a life which we all take for granted sometimes. The taste of ice cream for example and the meeting of new people are simple pleasures, which may seem mundane to the majority of us, but represent freedom to the young girls. It is no surprise that Samira was able to create such a brilliant film, given that her father is one of most prominent Iranian directors of all time, Mohsen Makhmalbaf. What is surprising is her ability to see past her upbringing to bring us a story about the challenge to gain freedom in certain sects of Iranian society. Silver The Mirror (Jafar Panahi, 1997)
Of course a Panahi film had to win a medal and for me I didnt need to look any further than The Mirror. Revolving around a simple narrative of a young girl, Mina, who leaves school to meet her mother, decides to walk home on her own when her mother forgets to pick her up. With arm in cast, she trails the streets of a bustling Tehran, encountering many different people which help her on the way. Except all is not what it seems because at around the midway point of the film, Mina turns to the camera and begins to argue with the director, refusing to cooperate, and in turn begins her own walk home, out of character. What was once fictional narrative now becomes reality. It is a brilliant transition and one that feels authentic. Panahi has often been celebrated as a neo-realist filmmaker and this film is evidence of that albeit with a sense of control over it. The surrounding conversations are obviously under Panahi control yet the hustle and bustle of the intense city of Tehran are maintained. Perhaps the breaking of the fourth wall is directly linked to the films title and its sense of realism. When the fourth wall is broken by Mina, the camera techniques change to a more gritty handheld style as the director himself tries to coax her back to the film. Thus the camerawork suddenly becomes more authentic, we are watching reality, and we are seeing a reflection of Iranian society without a narrative. Truly brilliant filmmaking, it is clear to see why Panahi has been compared to the French behemoth of Jean-Luc Godard. Gold Ten (Abbas Kiarostami, 2002)
Depicting women in Iranian culture has always been a difficult task, but Ten Kiarostami displays how their culture has inhibited them by presenting their issues in everyday life within the confines of a car. The film has two constants: the small setting of a car (which it never leaves) and the female car driver played by actress Mania Akbari. Driving around Tehran, she has ten different passengers ranging from her son, her sister, to a prostitute and with the main camerawork coming from a two-shot system wherein the camera switches between driver and passenger whilst situated on the dashboard, the film maintains a very personal, yet constrictive style. The privacy that the inside of the car has allows the female passengers to open up and discuss issues that are otherwise ignored in everyday life. The moment when one of her female passengers removes her Hijab to reveal a cleanly shaven head is both extremely touching and emphatically empowering, the fact that this happens within the car also speaks volumes. Click "next" below for Part 3 - "Jamaica"...