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president in 1997 and proclaimed the cinema a vivid and clear reflection of the greatness of their culture, people and Islamic revolution.
Each time filmmakers explore the underside of Iranian life, they risk censorship by the Ministry of Islamic Guidance and Culture-or worse. But unlike more authoritarian states, this is a world where there are few rules governing what is and is not permitted and where filmmakers defy both the system and their own fears in their quest to create.
To comply with the strictures of the Islamic Republic, there can be, on screen, no public affection between men and women, no dancing, no female singers, no sensual music. Female characters must always keep their heads covered and hide the shape of their bodies. Husbands and wives are not allowed to touch, and parents cannot show physical affection to their children once a daughter is 9 and a son is 13. It is thought that such actions might inflame the passions of male viewers.
Yet in reality family life in Iran is extremely intimate. Even the most religious women unveil in private in the company of close male relatives and other women. Husbands and wives touch, and parents and children are affectionate with one another.
While Iranians are aware of the distortions of “Islamic filmmaking,” foreign viewers often are not.
Watch for more from the Iranian filmmakers. They are just beginning. “A Time for Drunken Horses” is a powerful blend of documentary flavor and poetic fervor from the Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi.
The Boston Globe says. “It will stay with you for years.” The New York Times calls it “an affecting, terribly moving and, in its way, beautiful movie.”
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