The concept of “biological and psychological” child has relational stability. But the “audience child and sociological child,” is a fluid, plural and relative concept under cultural circumstances. The cinematographer’s challenge is to make movies for the child-audience. Unlike adult cinema, children cinema is an “intermediary” medium, which means that it is produced and controlled by the more powerful adults for the less powerful children. Generational gap at times causes the adults to represent their own childhood instead of children of today and their childhood or portray their own idealized version of childhood instead of the real child. However, today’s audience has surpassed the adults in some knowledge and skills and thus is no longer easily manageable. Considering cinema’s role in increasing children’s visual literacy, this article investigates the emergence and decline of children’s cinema in Iran and how childhood is reflected in it.