Politics of Iranian Cinema

Cinema is definitely one of the most preferred and suitable form of link connecting the politics and culture of a country. Iran, has a very rich legacy of supreme cinematic brilliance and each phase of development of Iranian cinema is linked with the country’s political upsurge. The link between politics and cinema in post revolutionary Iran and how the Islamisation of cinema has taken place with advent of the state’s political ideology is remarkably noticeable.The volatile changes in the political situation in the country have had considerable impact on culture and cinema in particular.The impact of state control on cinema is quite evident. The means and mechanisms and how censorship has been used by State to control political content of Iranian cinema.There has been complex negotiations and tussles between the State authorities and the extremely talented filmmakers who are constantly challenging the system with their concepts and ideas.The political discourse of ‘social films’ in relation to the reformist movement, their involvement in raising political consciousness, and the methods used by film-makers and cinema-goers in Iran to resist the regime’s attempts at controlling the political contents of film is being stupendously carried on.Also, the negotiation of gender around controversial ‘women’s films’ and the challenge the films pose to patriarchal values and institutions in society are flooding the film industry.The success Iranian cinema at international level is commendable projecting realities and moulding it in a modern way. The paper will talk about 2 movies to show how rebel film makers are helping in consciousness raising.