Definition

Referred to as the Iranian New Wave Cinema, (sīnamā-yi mawj-i naw) is an artistic, intellectual and social movement within Iranian cinema that arose from filmmakers responding to the socio-political changes of 1950s and 60s by creating films that deviated from the conventions of then-mainstream Film Farsi. These pioneering filmmakers held certain commonalities including the fact many had been educated abroad, largely engaged in film criticism, and showed a passion for modern literature. The new wave of Iranian cinema in the 1950s and 60s had two main components: the social realism and the artistic expression (usually with literary backgrounds). These two components were continued after the Islamic revolution by filmmakers influenced by the new wave tradition of the 50s and 60s.

Within the New Wave, there are three distinct waves: the first wave, characterized by their originality and politicism, is periodized as being from the mid-1960s to 1979, the second wave which is the beginning of the post-Revolutionary era, and the third wave as the period after 1999 which is characterized by the emergence of cinematic discourse determined by the Iranian film-makers’ individual and national identity within a broader global context. Filmmakers that are considered part of the Iranian New Wave include, but are not limited to Farrukh Ghaffārī, Ebrahim Gulistan, Furūgh Farrukhzād, Masʿūd Kīmiyāyi, Dāryūsh Mīhrjūyi, Bahrām Bayz̤āyi, Parvīz Kīmiyāvī, ʿAbbās Kiyārustamī, Muḥsen Makhmalbāf, Samīrā Makhmalbāf, Jaʿfar Panāhī, and Asghar Farhādī.