http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Iran
'In his book /Close Up: Iranian Cinema, Past, Present, Future <http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1859843328>/ (2001) Hamid Dabashi <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Dabashi#Close_Up:_Iranian_Cinema> describes modern Iranian cinema and the phenomenon of [/Iranian/] national cinema as a form of cultural modernity. According to Dabashi, "the visual possibility of seeing the historical person (as opposed to the eternal Qur'anic man) on screen is arguably the single most important event allowing Iranians access to modernity."'
Iranian cinema has produced some of the best and most interesting films in the last twenty years. Laboring under pretty repressive censorship, Iranian directors have nevertheless managed to articulate a fairly consistent picture of that dream: a collective, egalitarian, free society that permits new beginnings and trusts people to work out their own salvation. I went to see the newest offering a few days ago: "Song of the Sparrow," the story of an ostrich farmer who loses his job, goes off to the big city in search of a hearing aid for his daughter, is mistaken for a motorcycle taxi driver, and is thereby able to earn far more money than he was able to on his farm. Seduced by the quick riches and the surfeit of the city, he neglects to get the hearing aid for his daughter, but starts to amass urban cast-offs, bringing back, piece by piece: decaying doors, window frames, TV antennas....all of which collect into a mountain of refuse in his yard. One day, trying to pull out some cherished piece, the whole pile of junk falls on him and nearly crushes him. Recovering, immobile in his house, he has cause to reconsider the value of the community that he has disdained, who now provide the only support for him and his family. It is a beautifully acted, shot, directed film, a subtle allegory that contrasts not so much country and city as a communally-defined life, versus a life defined by greed and individual interest.
It's worth a viewing as are many of the other Iranian films available through Netflix or at your local video store. I invite list members to suggest other such films. "Taste of Cherry" is probably the best known recent film, and it's pretty good, as are most of Kiarostami's other films. I haven't seen Persepolis, but it's next on my list.
Joanna