ABSTRACT
In Ahmadinejad’s second presidential term, while filmmakers were occupied with creating controversial films such as Mohammad Hossein Farah Bakhsh’s Private Life (2012) and Mohammad Rasoulof’s Manuscripts Don’t Burn (2013), the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance reminded them that culture was not a form of entertainment. The government placed renewed emphasis on filmmaking with Islamic values, and to this end there was a rationalisation of production and distribution. The government actively sought out co-productions with Muslim countries and other allies. A short-lived initiative involved film funding directly allocated to projects by the Guardian Council, although channelled through Farabi, for a group of productions discussed here and known as “Film-e Faakher”, for which I use the translation of the “Magnificent Productions.” This turn in filmmaking relates directly to Iran’s foreign policy and turns largely on Iran’s desire to position itself at the centre of Muslim filmmaking. Genres and topics which had been developed for domestic consumption were re-framed for both domestic consumption and international distribution as part of the domestic and international soft war. Finally, Majid Majidi’s Muhammad, Messenger of God, by far the most expensive and ambitious project ever undertaken inside Iran, was announced in 2010, although not screened till 2014.
