Iran - education
The school system, based on Islamic traditions, is public and includes a
five-year primary school followed by a three-year guidance and orientation
stage; tuition at these stages is free. The subsequent four-year postgraduate
education is divided into a technical business line and an academic
line. Promotion throughout the education system depends on the individual
student's exam results at the end of a school year. Access to higher education
is based on centrally designed tests.
There are 126 higher education institutions (1990) as well as Open University
and distance learning. The compulsory curricula are formulated
centrally. Participation in education at all levels doubled in the
1980's; especially for girls and women there has been an increase.
OFFICIAL NAME: Jomhuri-e Islami-e Iran 'The Islamic Republic of Iran'
CAPITAL CITY: Tehran
POPULATION: 80,800,000 (Source: COUNTRYaah)
AREA: 1,650,000 km²
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE (S): Persian (Farsi), Arabic and Iranian languages, Kurdish, and
Turkish languages, Azerbaijani
RELIGION: Shia Muslims 89%, Sunni Muslims 9%, Christians, Jews, Zarathustrians and
Baha'is 2%
COIN: rial
ENGLISH NAME: Iran
POPULATION COMPOSITION: Persians 51%, Azerbaijanis 20%, Kurds 11%, Arabs 3%, Baluchs 2%, Lurks 2%,
others 11%
GDP PER residents: $ 12,800 (2013)
LIFE EXPECTANCY: men 69.3 years, women 72.5 years (2014)
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, HDI: 0.749
INDEX OF LIVING CONDITIONS, POSITION: 75
INTERNET DOMAIN NAME: .ir
According to DIGOPAUL, Iran, formerly Persia,
is a republic of West Asia. Iran is among the
most populous countries in the Middle East; The country has some of the world's
largest oil and natural gas reserves and is strategically located north of the
Persian Gulf. The name Iran comes from Middle Persian Ērān,
and means 'the land of the nobles (Aryans)'.
- AbbreviationFinder.org: Find two-letter abbreviation for each
independent country and territory, such as IR which stands for Iran.
Iran is one of the great powers of the region. Until the Islamic Revolution
in 1979, Iran, along with Israel, was the United States' main ally in the Middle
East, but after the establishment of the clerical regime, the United States and
large parts of the rest of the world see Iran as a strategic main enemy. Iran is
accused, among other things, to support Hezbollah in Lebanon as well as several
terrorist organizations in the region. The development of nuclear reactors in
the country has further isolated it. The country's economy is heavily dependent
on the enormous oil and gas production, while development in the other sectors
has been slow under clerical rule, among other things under the impression of
the country's foreign policy isolation.
Iran - Constitution
The Constitution of the Islamic Republic is from 1979 with amendments from
1989, which abolished the post of Prime Minister and strengthened the
position of the President. The Constitution states that Islam is the foundation
of society. Legislative power lies with the Islamic Advisory Assembly, Majlis,
whose 270 members are elected for a four-year term by direct universal suffrage.
To ensure that the bills are in accordance with Islamic law, they must be
sent to the Council for the Protection of the Constitution, which consists of 12
members, 6 of whom are appointed by the religious head, 6 by the judiciary. An
expert council of 83 members, all clerical, will, among other things. determine
who should be the religious head.
The executive power rests with the president, who is elected for a four-year
term by direct universal suffrage. The president appoints the ministers, but is
ultimately subordinate to the religious leader.
Iran - economy
Under Ayatollah Khomeini's leadership, the 1979 clerical regime tightened
control over the economy through the nationalization of major industries,
important parts of foreign trade, and the financial sector. Eight years of war
against Iraq and falling oil prices led Iran into a period of economic
stagnation, rising unemployment and high inflation in the 1980's.
After Khomeini's death in 1989, President Hashemi Rafsanjani carried out some
liberalization of the economy, and an expansion of the agro-industry and
the chemical industry were given higher priority in an attempt to diversify the
economy.
Iran is highly dependent on developments in oil prices and had to face large
current account deficits towards the end of the 1970's, resulting in foreign
debt. Under Khomeini's rule, the country stayed away from the international
capital markets and sought to make a balance of payments surplus through import
regulations.
Post-war reconstruction has reinforced the need for a reopening of the
Western world; yet the state still exercises control over the economy,
through ownership of the oil sector. Import restrictions and rising oil
prices in recent years have reduced foreign debt; the economy is growing, but
unemployment and inflation remain above 10%. The widespread poverty necessitates
subsidies, of foods that burden the state budget.
In 1995, the United States launched an economic boycott of Iran applicable to
all U.S. companies. Japan and Germany then became the main trading partners; in
2005 it was Japan and China. Iran announced in 2006 that it had succeeded in
enriching uranium for energy purposes; this step could trigger international
sanctions.
Denmark's exports to Iran in 2005 amounted to DKK 1266 million. DKK, while
imports from there amounted to 79 mill. kr.
Iran - social conditions
Despite the fact that the Islamic revolution as one of its ideals had to
create greater equality between the various groups of society, the social and
economic divides are still at least as great as in the time of the Shah. A
general social safety net does not exist and the responsibility for the weakest
lies first and foremost with the family. The general economic progress in the
1990's has been undermined by high inflation, and according to Iranian estimates,
approximately 20% of the population below the poverty line.
Iran (Health Conditions)
Life expectancy in 1990 was 63 years for both sexes. The birth rate in 1993
was estimated at 45 per. 1000 residents, which compared to an estimated
mortality of 10 per. 1000 leads to an increase in the population of approximately 3%
pr. year. The country has experienced a modest decline in fertility (from six to
five children on average per woman) in contrast to a very sharp decline in
infant mortality from 206 to 51 deaths among 1,000 live-born children (in the
period 1950-90).
Pga. improved living standards, the causes of death have changed from being
epidemic diseases and malnutrition to lifestyle related diseases such as
diabetes (diabetes mellitus), atherosclerosis and cancer. The war
between Iran and Iraq in 1980-88, the earthquake disaster in 1990 and the floods
in 1993 have also affected mortality. Rising life expectancy has further changed
the disease profile. Malaria, leprosy, tuberculosis, leishmaniasis and
brucellosis still occur, but in decreasing numbers. 108 cases of AIDS have been
reported to the WHO until 1995; however, the correct number must be assumed to
be somewhat higher.
Iran (Military)
The Armed Forces is (2006) at 420,000. The Army (Artesh) is at
350,000, of which 220,000 are conscripts, the Navy is at 18,000 and the Air
Force at 52,000. In addition, the Revolutionary Guard (Pāsdārān) of
more than 125,000 in land, naval and missile forces. The reserve is 350,000 and
the Revolutionary Guards' militia is approximately 1,000,000.
The guards are equipped with a mixture of Soviet, Chinese and Western
equipment, mainly quite modern. However, spare parts are lacking to keep Western
equipment operational. The regular army's mix of heavy and light units clearly
reflects the geographical conditions.
The maintenance of an independent Revolutionary Guards is a consequence of
the domestic political situation. The regular security forces are at 40,000. The
outside world sees it as possible that the country is developing nuclear
weapons.
In 1980-88, Iran participated in the Iran -Iraq War, which ended in a
draw. During the Gulf War in 1991, many Iraqi military aircraft fled,
including Mirage, to Iran, to avoid destruction. Iran kept the planes.
Iran - mass media
Iranian mass media are subject to censorship and predominantly controlled by
the state. The first newspapers were founded in the 1800's, but an actual press
formation did not take place until 1905-11 in the time around the constitutional
revolution.
Today there are approximately ten major dailies, most of which are published
in Tehran. The two largest dailies that are also published internationally are
Ettlaat (Information), grdl. 1925, with a circulation of approximately 500,000 (1996)
and Keyhan (Universet), grdl. 1941, with a circulation of approximately 350,000
(1996). The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) was founded in 1936 and
reorganized in 1979.
In 1940, a radio station was established in Tehran, where television was also
established in 1958. Today, there are three nationwide radio channels, one of
which brings recitations of the Koran, etc. Television has two nationwide and 28
local channels.
Iran - visual arts and architecture
Iranian art can be roughly divided into pre-Islamic art and Islamic art. Iran
was already at the Islamic conquest in the 600-t. an influential cultural area,
and it continued to be after Islamization.
Pre-Islamic art
Achaimenids. The art of the Medes and Persians from the time
before Cyrus II the Great is only fragmentarily preserved and cannot be
identified with certainty. The new capital of the Persian Empire
became Pasargadae in Fars, where Cyrus built a fortress and palace complex of
considerable dimensions, but little remains today.
Foundations and columns from a supposed audience hall, a residence palace and
a gate building have been preserved, and the remains of the building are
scattered over a large area intersected by a river and a canal. In Pasargadae is
also the tomb of Cyrus, a simple gable building on a high stepped plinth. Among
the sparse remnants of decoration is a wall relief depicting a winged human
being with a large headdress pointing to role models in Mesopotamian art.
Persepolis is a large two-part palace complex built under Darius I and his
successor Xerxes. The significance of this huge facility is not entirely
clear. It has hardly been the capital of the kingdom, rather a facility of
ceremonial character, in which the king was hailed by vassals and envoys at the
New Year's feast. Dareios' part lies west of the north-south longitudinal axis
and includes the Apadana (audience hall), two large relief-decorated staircases
and a large square, which has access from a gate tower in the northwest
corner. Behind Apadana are numerous smaller buildings around a square that has
presumably been a garden.
To the east is the Hundred Column Hall and behind it the so-called Xerxes'
harem. There is no evidence that the site has been fortified. The decoration
consists of numerous reliefs on the walls and free-carved sculpture on the
column capitals. The staircases have reliefs that support the interpretation of
the place's function, showing processions of strangers presenting gifts to the
reigning Darius.
The style of the reliefs shows clear loans from the art of other cultures,
but these loans have been merged into a clear new Iranian whole. The many
details of the careful and precise carving give the reliefs a stiff and dry
style without the life and nerve that characterize their Mesopotamian and
Egyptian role models. From the period are also preserved significant objects of
stone and metal, which show the same perfection in workmanship and character in
style.
The Parthian period is well illuminated from the western side, as contact
with Rome was close both politically and commercially. In terms of art history,
on the other hand, the period is poorly illuminated, e.g. due to the attempt of
the following dynasty for a systematic annihilation of the monuments of the
period.
The Sasanids. Under the Sasanids, Iran experienced the most
glorious period in its long history. Through trade and wars, a close connection
with the Byzantine Empire emerged, and the artistic exchange between the two
empires became fruitful on both sides.
The Sasanids saw themselves as the direct successors of the Achaemenids, and
they continued the colossal building activity for which their predecessors had
laid the foundation. Despite state religion, temples were built only to a small
extent, as Zarathustra's teachings did not favor the construction of large
facilities, but numerous smaller fire temples have been handed down.
The greatest achievements of the Sasanians were achieved in the field of
secular architecture. The type of building called ivan and consisting
of a square room with open front covered by a barrel vault, they brought to
perfection. They solved the problems of dome buildings by inserting pendants,
ie. half-circle strokes over the corners of the square structure of the base
structure.
The gigantic Taq-i Kisra Palace in the capital Ktesifon is an ornamental
building 30 m high above a 43 m deep space. Ardashir 1st Palace in Firuzabad
also combines ivan and dome in very large format. The building is built strictly
symmetrically around a central axis with entrance, in the middle dome space and
behind a courtyard surrounded by barrel-vaulted buildings. In later buildings,
the ground plan is expanded, for example in Imaret-i Khusrau from the time of
Khusrau II, when Persepolis' staircase is brought to mind.
Rock reliefs in Naqsh-i Rustam are victory monuments carved into the rock
side. The style is monumental and lively. The same applies to the building
decoration in the form of reliefs carved in stone or carved in stucco, which
compensates abundantly for the lack of preserved painting.
The craft flourished in all genres. In particular, the art of goldsmithing
should be highlighted, as numerous preserved dishes and bowls show the visual
art of the Sasanids in the form of driven, engraved and chiseled hunting and
throne scenes.
Textile art also reached a peak and influenced Byzantine textile art. It was
on the legacy of the Sasanids that Islamic Iran built its most glorious
creations.
Islamic art
The Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran did not lead to a radical break with the
established art traditions, as the Islamic commissioners had expectations for
the function rather than for the form.
Architecture. The Tarikh-Khanah Mosque from the 700's. in Damghan in
Northern Iran is the oldest in Iran, built after Western models as a simple
pillar farm with a deeper qibla side. But the Sasanian Ivan building quickly
became the norm in Iranian mosque architecture.
The Friday Mosque from 1000-1100-t. in Ardestan northeast of Isfahan shows in
beautiful simplification the type of the Iranian mosque: four cruciform habits
around a square courtyard. The development of the form of construction can be
followed in the Great Mosque in Isfahan (700-1600-t.), Which houses all stages
from simple brick architecture to faience-decorated monumentality on the bulbous
domes and the characteristic skin facades of the Ivanians.
Other buildings whose ancestry may be traced back to the Sasanian era are the
strange tomb towers that resemble detached minarets, such as the Gunbad-i
Qabus from 1006/07. Of secular architecture are preserved Chihil Sutun ('40
Pillars') and Ali Qapu in Isfahan from the first half of the 1600's, showing the
palace architecture as pavilions with gardens. The early buildings were
decorated with reliefs of raw and glazed brick or carved stucco, often with
writing and geometric ornaments in combination.
From approximately In 1400, the glazed bricks spread to large, continuous faience
surfaces, and this form of decoration culminated in the large Safavid-era
buildings in Isfahan. After the 1700's. stagnated architecture in repetition
of older models, and in 1900-t. it has been characterized by European-American
building style.
The visual arts have been closely linked to book production, and
almost all significant paintings are found as illustrations (miniatures) in
manuscripts. The early painting is not preserved to a greater extent, but from
the Mongol period in 1200-1300-t. there are a significant number of book
paintings. The painters were organized in centers around libraries of large or
small courts.
Tabriz was the undisputed center of painting in the Mongol period, and here
Iranian, Christian and Chinese painters were active at the same time. Herat took
this place under Timur Lenk and his successors in the 1300-1400's, though without
the cosmopolitan touch. Shiraz was also an important center for book painting
during this and the following period.
The format of the paintings is limited by the size of the book page, and the
artist's desire to create a whole in which the writing also has its part is the
overriding factor in the composition of the individual images. Naturalism and
illusion are absent in Iranian painting, which places the main emphasis on an
overwhelming splendor of color. The visual artist did not rank as high as the
calligraph, and only in rare cases did the painter sign his work, which,
incidentally, was often a collaboration between several painters under the
direction of a master.
Kamal al Din Bihzad was active in Herat at the Timurid court in the late
1400's. His painting came to form school, and the style became the norm for the
"golden age" in the visual arts during the Safavids (approximately 1500-1720) with Tabriz,
Qazvin, Shiraz and Isfahan as centers. Bihzad's influence is beautifully
expressed in the so-called Houghton Shahname (1530's), an illuminated
manuscript of the Book of Firdausi, commissioned by Ismail I to Crown
Prince Tahmasp.
In the late Safavid era, the turbulent political conditions put an end to the
development of painting, but during the Qajars from the late 1700's. however, a
brief resurgence was experienced with the introduction of easel painting and
large portrait paintings. 1900's visual art in Iran is characterized by
repetitions of older traditions and influences from European art.
Crafts have throughout the Islamic period was characterized by very
high quality. The ceramics were developed in a myriad of varying shapes and
colors both for use in architectural decoration and as smaller objects for use
and decoration. Textile art gained an international reputation with
magnificent rugs, silk velvet and brocades, which were exported to
Europe, where they were imitated.
It was the large courts that attracted artists in all branches, but both
painting and handicrafts are simultaneously made for free circulation, for
example Kashan is known for its faience industry, Rasht for its silk weaving
industry and Shiraz for its so-called commercial manuscripts. See also Islamic
art and Persian rugs.
Iran - literature
Like Iran's other culture, literary history can also be divided into a
pre-Islamic and an Islamic period.
Pre-Islamic literature
The literature before Islam, and for that matter also after Islam, was almost
entirely Persian for the simple reason that the all-dominant dynasties were
Persian with the Parthian Arsacids as the only exception.
Of the two ancient Iranian languages known within the territory of
present-day Iran, medical and ancient Persian, medically weakly handed down; it
is found only in some proper names and in Old Persian, Assyrian and Greek texts.
On the other hand, the ancient Persian empire is richly represented by the
wedge inscriptions of the Achaemenid kings, especially Darius I's Bisutun
inscription, which painstakingly tells how in one year he brought order to the
chaotic empire, not only depicted with dry figures but also with a great deal of
life wisdom.
Aramaic translations (on papyrus) of parts of the Bisutun inscription are
known from the Jewish military colony on the Niløen Elefantine (400 BC). Darius
inscriptions are also known from places in ancient Iran such as Persepolis, Susa
and Hamadan.
Darius' successors followed his practices: Artaxerxes I, Darius II,
Artaxerxes II, and Xerxes, and Xerxes especially with the Daiva inscription from
Persepolis against the false gods, the daivas, and everything else
corrupting; the thanks for help and blessing are addressed to the good god Ahura
Mazda, "who created man, who created the bliss of man".
In the parthian language of the Arsacids, nothing is literary handed down,
only some inscriptions and several Manichaean texts, especially some important
anthem collections, but all from Sasanian times. However, the arsacid era was by
no means without poetry. It is due to the cultural carrier of the time of rank,
the wandering shield, the gosan. The oral tradition was paramount
because it was considered far more secure than the written one.
However, from the Parthian period something was preserved, but only because
it was later written down. This applies to the erotically daring, atypical poem Vis
and Ramin about Queen Vis' relationship with Ramin, the king's brother; it
was preserved and written down by the Persian poet Gurgani in the mid-1000-t.
The same goes for the rank-and- file poem Drakht asurik (The
Babylonian Tree), known only in a Sasanian editorial office; it reproduces the
argument between a date palm and a goat seeking to surpass each other in
self-praise.
Under the Sasanids, on the other hand, it was written in Middle Persian, but
this literature is almost purely religious, Zoroastrian. Exceptions are the Book
of the Papa Son Ardashir's exploits, which depicts the founder of
the Sasanian dynasty and his adventurous life as a "lucky man", the Chess
Book on the origins and significance of the game of chess and
nard, the cities of the Iranian kingdom and a number of others.
The religious literature is, however, completely dominant, and here first and
foremost Denkart (The work of faith) with a list of the entire
collection of texts Avesta's content, Bundahishn, a cosmogony
and cosmology, Menok-i Khrat (Decisions of the Spirit of Wisdom)
as well as a series of apocalyptic texts, prayers, penance and praise texts.
Of crucial importance, however, was that the original Avesta was
fixed in writing after centuries of oral tradition. In this connection, the
Avesta script was invented with the 46 letters, but only parts of the original Avesta of
21 sections (nasker 'bundles') are preserved.
However, there are Middle Persian translations of the Gathas, Yasna, a few
Yashter, Vendidad and Nirangistan. During the Sasanian period, an extensive
collection of Manichaean texts was created.
Literature after Islamization
In the middle of the 600-t. the Arabs conquered the ancient Iranian empire,
and within a few centuries the Iranian land was Islamized; Islam became the
framework of cultural and social life. Among other things. in response to this,
around 900 a movement arose in Khorasan, which has later been called the Persian
Renaissance. Poets who wrote poetry in Persian about Iranian culture were
favored, and the Iranians' distance from the Arab caliphate was made clear. With
this movement was born the New Persian literature, which has developed to this
day with a noticeable continuity.
Poetry has been the genre in which it was written since the
beginning of New Persian literature, and not until the 1900's. the prose has
gained ground. In general, it can be said of New Persian poetry that it is not
tightly composed and that it is stylistically ornamented and adorned with many
rhetorical figures. Its imagery and themes remain unchanged throughout the
period of classical poetry, where it is also determined which themes belong to
which of the subgenres of poetry.
The neo-Persian poetry can be roughly divided into two periods: the
classical, which extends from the 900's. and up to about World War II, and the
modern from here on out. The classical poetry from the 900-1400-t. was at first
pure court poetry marked by panegyric, and the style is sublime, strictly
literary, and clear (called Khorasani).
From approximately 1100-1400-t. Sufism left its clear mark on poetry, and lyrical
poetry came to the fore. The imagery became more ambiguous, and the style more
refined and complicated, but still relatively clear (called Iraqi). The
complexity of the style expresses a greater variation in the worldview and
an increased refinement in the personification, which can especially be observed
in the poet of five beautiful, epic romances, Nizami.
From the beginning of the 1500's to the 1700's. followed a period in which
poetry was predominantly a mere repetition of the thought and image worlds of
earlier periods framed by wordsmithing and a sought-after imagery (the Safavid
or Indian style).
In the mid-1700's. broke the poets with the Safavid style, sought to return to
the Khorasani and Iraqi styles, and after the constitutional revolution
(1905-11) the poetry added new themes, patriotism, political and social satire,
as well as a more mundane language emerged.
With Nima Yushidj in the 1920's, modern poetry, sher-i now, saw the
light of day. This direction, which radically broke with the traditional poetic
idiom and embarked on any subject, did not really take hold until after World
War II, when one of the main characters was the poetess Forough Farrokhzad.
The history of prose in Persian literature actually begins
in the 1900's, although the prose also existed in the classical period: in parts
of the historical works, in travelogues, in the moralizing and educational
literature, to which Sadis Gulistan (1258) belongs.
The novel genre lay in the early 1900-t. out with technically weak historical
novels often with a nationalistic tone. In the period up to World War II, works
appeared about the inferno of the big city and the decadent bourgeoisie. These
were technically also weak with the exception of Sadiq Hidayat's The Blind
Owl (1937, then 1989).
After World War II, the novel genre flourished, and the realistic, the
naturalistic, the psychologising as well as a broader socially descriptive novel
found fine expression. The short story genre had a good prelude in 1921/22
with Muhammad Ali Jamalzade's collection of short stories entitled after the
fairy tale formula Once Upon a Time, which with its socially critical
realism and its straightforward and eloquent language made a great impression on
contemporary and posterity writers.
Among other things. Hidayat and Bozorg Alavi carried on the realistic and
critical short story, adding to it moments of naturalism, existentialism and the
influence of Freud. These writers were followed from the 1940's by a large number
of short story lists who embarked on the same path.
After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, a number of female short story and
novel writers have appeared; they have stood for a re-orientation within these
genres. Around the turn of the millennium, generational and genealogical novels
with the woman at the center have thus won an unprecedented readership.
The literary drama began around 1900 with classic comedies
containing satire aimed at certain sections of society and the political powers
that be. After a long period of fluctuating quality, the genre took off in the
1960's with Bahram Bayzais (b. 1938) and Gholam Hoseyn Saidi's modern (absurd)
dramas containing existentialist themes as well as social and political
critique.
Throughout the 1900's, both under the Pahlavi Shas and in the subsequent
Islamic Republic of Iran, censorship has been harsh, with some periods of freer
conditions for literature and the press. This has meant that writers have had to
develop a special language in order to indirectly express criticism, or they
have had to live or publish in exile.
Iran - music
The main component of Iranian music is the Persian tonal art, but the
country's musical life encompasses many other styles and genres. The earliest
reliable sources of Persian music date from the early 200's. With the Arab
conquest of Iran in the 600's. the Persian music, which was very popular among
learned Arabs, was spread over large parts of the Arab world. Among the great
music theorists of the time were many Persians, though known by Arabic names
which they were compelled to bear. Typical of Persian music is the scale in
which the octave is divided into approximately 22 steps (against our 12), the tonality
with the 12 modes (dastgah), the improvised style in which the solo
element is predominant, and not least the way in which the melody is often
obscured by almost cobweb-like ornaments, including the technically very
demanding singing style tahrir.
Since the 1500's. art music has had difficult conditions under the negative
attitude of the Shia Muslim regime towards music. No music theoretical works
were written, and the practice of music was considered a private matter, so it
did not receive the necessary support to develop. From the late 1800's. until the
fall of the shah in 1979, interest in western music increased and limited state
support was given to traditional genres. At the same time, there was some
development in popular music with a mixture of Western, Arabic and Persian
elements.
In addition to art and popular music, a number of local folk music genres
thrive among the country's various ethnic groups. The musical elements of Quran
recitation, prayer calls and other religious activities play a major role. The
fall of the Shah was followed by a brief period of experimentation before
Khomeini's clerical regime again imposed restrictions on and effectively banned
musical performance. Following popular pressure, however, the ban was
lifted. Among exiled Iranians in Europe and the United States, both classical
Persian music and various types of popular music have flourished.
Iran - film
Iran began producing its own films in the 1950's, and its own production
culminated in 1961-62 with 50 films that were mainly simple melodramas. In the
early 1970's, the use of the Super 8 mm format led to an artistic recovery and
more critical films, but this new wave was interrupted by the Islamic Revolution
in 1979. In the early 1980's, very few films were made, but in the late 1990's,
production has gradually rebuilt to 1960's level, while foreign films are still
banned. Since the end of the 1980's, Iranian film has celebrated international
triumphs with low-key everyday realistic dramas, which, however, are only shown
to a limited extent in the home country.The Taste of Cherries (1997),
Mohsen Makhmalbafs (b. 1957) The Journey to Kandahar (2001) and Samira
Makhmalbafs (b. 1980) Blackboards (2000).
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