The cinema of Iran, or of Persia, refers to the film industry in Iran. In particular, Iranian art films have garnered international recognition. Iranian films are usually written and spoken in the Persian language.
Roohangiz Saminejad in Lor Girl (1933)
Shahab Hosseini is the first and only Iranian actor to win the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.
Reza Naji is the first Iranian actor to win the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Rouhollah Zamani is the first Iranian actor to win the Marcello Mastroianni Award at the Venice International Film Festival.
Ta'zieh means comfort, condolence, or expression of grief. It comes from the roots aza which mean mourning. It commonly refers to passion plays about the Battle of Karbala and its prior and subsequent events. Sir Lewis Pelly began the preface of his book about Ta'ziyeh maintaining that "If the success of a drama is to be measured by the effects which it produces upon the people for whom it is composed, or upon the audiences before whom it is represented, no play has ever surpassed the tragedy known in the Mussulman world as that of Hasan and Husain." Years later Peter Chelkowski, professor of Iranian and Islamic studies at NYU, chose the same words for the beginning of his book Ta`ziyeh, Ritual and Drama in Iran.
Tazia carrying procession by Shia Muslims on Ashura in the Indian subcontinent (c. 1790-1800). The Tazia were immersed into the river or ocean.
Shi'a Muslims Mourning Before Ta'zieh
1878 painting of Tazia immersion in the Bay of Bengal by Shia Muslims (Emile Bayard).
Ta'zieh in Tajrish, Tehran