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The Impact of Cinema on the Socio-Cultural Change in Iran

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The Impact of Cinema on the Socio-Cultural Change in Iran

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(2024). The Impact of Cinema on the Socio-Cultural Change in Iran. In Cinema Iranica. Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/the-impact-of-cinema-on-the-socio-cultural-change-in-iran/
. "The Impact of Cinema on the Socio-Cultural Change in Iran." Cinema Iranica, Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation, 2024. https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/the-impact-of-cinema-on-the-socio-cultural-change-in-iran/
(2024). The Impact of Cinema on the Socio-Cultural Change in Iran. In Cinema Iranica. Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation. Available from: https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/the-impact-of-cinema-on-the-socio-cultural-change-in-iran/ [Accessed November 6, 2024].
. "The Impact of Cinema on the Socio-Cultural Change in Iran." In Cinema Iranica, (Encyclopaedia Iranica Foundation, 2024) https://cinema.iranicaonline.org/article/the-impact-of-cinema-on-the-socio-cultural-change-in-iran/

As one of the most effective art forms for influencing culture, cinema is expected to add value to cultural orientations and to shape society for structural change and effecting cultural change. Over the past four decades, Iranian cinema has been reflecting the widespread inequality, discrimination, lifestyle, poverty and economic issues in Iranian society. Though the liberalized society was forcibly Islamised by the regime after the 1979 Revolution, Iranian cinema has never followed that path. Iranian filmmakers have been recognized for their Award-winning films at international festivals for critical works on various segments of society which attracted notice worldwide. Although Iran’s cinema has a sophisticated record on the world’s stage, it has been observed that there is a clear absence of valuable cultural paradigms that could be relevant and institutionalized within the context of the post-revolution Islamised political ideology. Structuralism has been described as the ability to convey different structural realities by using conventional understanding of human thoughts. Applying the structuralist film theory to Iranian cinema, we ask: “To what extent could Iranian films drive socio-cultural change and/or civil rights movement to create a society that is just and equitable for all Iranians”. Considering that Iran is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-religious minority society, the impact of Iran’s predominantly realistic cinema on the lives of people remains quite limited despite its many achievements on the world’s stage.