[MUSIC PLAYING]
SHANE SMITH: To understand the
Iranian cinema, you have to
understand the recent history
of Iran itself.
In the 1960s, there was the
Shah of Iran, or the king.
And he was very pro-Western, so
lots of pro-Western movies
that were kind of sexy comedies
with girls in bikinis
and sport cars.
Then came the Islamic Revolution
in 1979, led by the
Ayatollah Khomeini, the one
everybody knows about.
He came along.
And then they burned cinemas as
symbols of Western decadence.
Cinema was actually outlawed
for a while.
Then they took over the
American embassy.
And there was a hostage
crisis.
So movies became filled with
propaganda against the West.
After that there was
the Iran-Iraq War.
The Americans backed the Iraqis
to attack Iran, which
became the eighth bloodiest
war in history.
So lots of war films, lots of
anti-Iraqi films, and lots of
anti-Western films were made.
[EXPLOSIONS]
SHANE SMITH: Then, as the war
ended, there were all these
film crews around.
So they started making movies.
And this begins a renaissance
in Iranian cinema.
And despite all the restrictions
and censorship
and propaganda, these amazingly
creative films were
sneaking out of Iran and getting
critically acclaimed.
And then in 1997, the world
really sat up and took notice,
when "Taste of Cherry" won
the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
And its director, Abbas
Kiarostami, became a worldwide
figure in film.
Since then, you always
see Iranian
films at the film festivals.
And their content has become
much more critical, dealing
with things that were taboo
before, like women, fucked up
war veterans, Afghan refugees,
and the poor.
The next stop on the film
tour of Tehran was the
Iranian Film Museum.
They had the usual photos and
awards and posters, and my
favorite, wax figures.
So this is Ezzatollah.
He's their big star from before
the revolution and
after the revolution.
There is the children's
section.
I don't know if you can get
a good shot of this.
Maybe it's not the way
he used to be.
But it's scary.
Thank god I'm not on acid.
These two guys are
freaking me out.
The one thing that we did learn
at the museum was how
the Ayatollah Khomeini
saved Iranian cinema.
In 1979, people were burning
cinemas, and no one was making
any movies.
Then one day the Ayatollah
was at home.
He's watching TV.
And out comes a movie called
"The Cow," which is a
pre-revolutionary movie.
But it's not a sexy comedy.
It's about real people
with real problems.
He watched it and he
said, actually,
I'm not against cinema.
I'm against promiscuity.
So that one line, just that
one sentence, and bam.
They stopped burning cinemas.
They started making
films again.
And that one sentence saved
Iranian cinema.
So that actor in the wheelchair,
on the film set,
is Jamshid Mashayekhi.
He was actually in "The Cow,"
the film that not only saved
Iranian cinema, but is actually
credited by being the
first in the Iranian
New Wave movement.
Now what is Iranian
new wave cinema?
Well it's kind of a combination
between French New
Wave cinema, Italian neorealism,
fiction,
documentary filmmaking, all
mixed up into one, with all
the restrictions
of Sharia law.
So you can't have kissing.
And you can't have
hand holding.
So the Spielberg and Lucas of
Iranian new wave cinema are
Mohsen Makhmalbaf and
Abbas Kiarostami.
Now the star of Kiarostami's
film, "Taste of Cherry,"
Homayoun Ershadi, was
actually at the next
film set we went to.
And I was like, hey,
I recognize you.
Because he was in "The
Kite Runner" as well.
You've been acting in Iranian
cinema for a long time.
And you became, for us, in the
West, famous because of "Kite
Runner." How is that different,
to be in a film
like that versus more
traditional Iranian cinema?
Did "Kite Runner" get
released in Iran?
HOMAYOUN ERSHADI: No.
It didn't.
But I think everybody saw
it through pirated DVD.
SHANE SMITH: But you're
very famous Iranian
actor outside of Iran.
HOMAYOUN ERSHADI: Actually,
I think so.
I am more famous over
there than here.
SHANE SMITH: That's perfect.
HOMAYOUN ERSHADI: Thank
you very much.
SHANE SMITH: So we left
the film set.
And went to an acting school,
which was actually really
interesting.
Because we hear that Iran
is a relatively
conservative country.
And they have Sharia law.
I expected it would
be 90% of men.
But actually when we got there,
there was just as many
women as there were man.
We were so surprised at this, in
fact, that we want to meet
Fereshteh Taerpour, who was
one of the first women
producers in Iran.
We wanted to ask her, what is
it like to be a woman in the
Iranian film industry.
FERESHTEH TAERPOUR: Before
revolution we had only actress.
We didn't have any female
director, female producer,
female art designer.
But after revolution, it
completely changed.
It found a cultural meaning,
working in
the field of cinema.
And it was a good prestige for
people to work in this field.
But the other thing I want to
tell you as a secret, that if
you stay here longer, you
will realize that women
here are not weak.
And even sometimes, I am
more powerful than men.
Because the government doesn't
want to be in the position
that everyone say, OK, you don't
pay attention to women.
In that case, they will at least
pretend to respect me
more than men.
SHANE SMITH: After that, the
next thing we wanted to do was
go buy some Iranian movies.
Here we have "The Mothman
Prophecies," maybe the worst
movie ever made.
We have "Escape Velocity,"
never heard of it.
We've got some good classics
here, Laurel and Hardy.
This is "Walking Tall 2." And
next to that we have the
Ayatollah, I guess,
giving a speech.
What's interesting is that
even though they're only
allowed three or four American
films a year, and you don't
see a lot of Western music on
the shelves, all the kids we
talked to knew every American
blockbuster.
There's so many bootlegs
out there.
And something like 44%
of the households
in Iran have satellite.
Half of Tehran has
family in London.
The other half as
family in LA.
And they know everything
about the latest
music, the latest styles--
they knew everything.
So when we were in the shop, we
noticed that, like 20 DVDs
had this one woman
on the cover--
Mahnaz Afshar.
And we said, wow.
She must be really big star.
She's in like every movie.
And they said oh, do you
want to meet her?
So they called her up.
And she was actually having
a jewelry show that night.
And so she invites us to come up
and check out her jewelry.
We're outside of Tehran
somewhere in a very rich
suburb with one of the
biggest stars.
She's like the Kate
Winslet of Iran.
And a bunch of her friends
just arrived.
And it's the upper crust, elite,
sexy, hair dyed, boots
out Tehran, which we haven't
seen much of at all.
We've seen boots
in, full hijab.
It's interesting to see.
How is it to be a big
celebrity in Iran?
Can you go shopping?
Can you go out on the street?
MAHNAZ AFSHAR: Yes,
because I like.
And I have a problem.
But I like it.
SHANE SMITH: You like
the problem?
MAHNAZ AFSHAR: Yeah.
SHANE SMITH: And what
is the problem?
Too many people come to you?
MAHNAZ AFSHAR: Too
many people.
For sign, for picture.
Photograph, yeah.
SHANE SMITH: And here in Iran,
is it the same as Europe or
America that celebrities are
always in the newspapers?
They're looking at your life?
MAHNAZ AFSHAR: No, not Iran.
Because in Iran, privacy
is very important.
SHANE SMITH: So they
don't go through
her garbage, or anything?
No.
So you can be private only
when you go outside.
MAHNAZ AFSHAR: Yes.
SHANE SMITH: OK, thank
you very much.
Merci.
MAHNAZ AFSHAR: Thank you.
Nice to meet you.
SHANE SMITH: Oh, I don't
know if I'm allowed to.
MAHNAZ AFSHAR: No problem.
SHANE SMITH: So after the
jewelry show we had to hurry.
Because we were late to crash
dinner with the jury from the
International Urban
Film Festival.
Tomorrow night's the last
night, the grand gala.
So tonight all the directors
are here.
All the writers are here.
And the jury is here to
talk about the films.
Nice to meet you.
Thank you for having us.
It's very nice.
They just told me that Guy
Maddin is going to win for
Best Documentary, even though
it's not a documentary.
And that because I'm Canadian,
they want me to go accept the
award at the film festival.
Perfect.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
