The First National Animation Encyclopaedia in Iran
Iranian Animation
Documentary / 92 min / Researcher, Writer, Producer and Director
Director’s Note
The documentary ‘Iranian Animation’ is a unique project about a certain period in Iran’s cinema history. It is considered the very first encyclopaedia of Iran’s national animation industry; a documentary based on massive research on the journey of Iran’s animation industry, including its less often seen and hidden angles. Before this documentary, the knowledge and findings on the history of animation in Iran, especially in its first years, were very little and in some parts, historically paradoxical. As a result, there was no clear or at least cohesive picture of Iran’s animation industry and its different eras, not just for international audiences but also for most of current Iranian animators.
The documentary ‘Iranian Animation’ looks at the creation and formation of animation in Iran and analyses the most important animation currents in the Ministry of Culture and Art, the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, commercial ads, TV, independent works as well as feature productions. The film includes important interviews with the likes of Jafar Tejaratchi, Nosrat Karimi, Nafisseh Riahi, Nooreddin Zarrinkelk, Farshid Mesghali, and Aliakbar Sadeghi.
The decision to produce and make this documentary was out of necessity, due to a lack of a defined identity for Iran’s national animation, an art form with eight decades of history in the country. The need for an encyclopaedia was felt by all animators in Iran. A need that became even more serious in the last couple of decades that has seen exceptional growth of the industry in Iran with a new generation of animators, import of digital tools, emergence of independent media and new productions.
But especially upon the Islamic Revolution, Iran’s animation industry went through a period of confusion in finding a definition for its intellectual and productive structures, both in theory and in practice. One of the biggest reasons behind this confusion in recent decades was exclusive rule of the government. The government is Iran’s most prominent investor in animation productions -not least mass productions- but has also imposed its own expectations and demands on the industry. Therefore, artistic and creative figures could not find much space to express themselves and became victims of this exclusive take-over.
So, one of the most important goals of this documentary is to provide a bright analysis of the conditions and circumstances of Iran’s animation industry throughout the decades; an analysis that might lead to revision and specific critique; a critique that could encourage a historical return to those potentials and roots of Iran’s animation; potentials and roots that have barely found any space to express themselves. We needed a strategic critique to facilitate the growth path of Iran’s animation industry towards what it could be, and still can become.
The film can also have different research functions in areas of visual arts, dramatic arts, particularly cinema, media studies, social sciences and in pedagogic and academic sections of animation.
Synopsis
The film takes a historical look at the nature of Iranian animation, the process of its creation and formation. It also discusses the events and hidden angles of this phenomenon. Historical analysis of the production in the Ministry of Culture and Art, the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, commercial ads, TV series, independent and experimental works, as well as feature animation films, are the most important fields and currents of Iran’s national animation industry that have been covered in the documentary ‘Iranian Animation’. The film also contains interviews with animators from different generations of Iranian animation, including Nooreddin Zarrinkelk, Farshid Mesghali, and Aliakbar Sadeghi. They discuss their views on Iranian animation, their experiences and era.
Credits
Writer / Director: Mehrdad Sheikhan
Researcher: Mehrdad Sheikhan
Executive Producer: Mehrdad Sheikhan
Starring: Noureddin Zarrinkelk, Farshid Mesghali, Ali Akbar Sadeghi, Parviz Osanloo, Akbar Alemi, Fereydoun Farshbaf, Parvin Teymouri, Nosrat Karimi, Ebrahim Forouzesh, Abolfazl Razani, Mahin Javaherian, Mohamad Moghadam, Behzad Farahat, Maryam Kashkoolinia, Omid Khoshnazar, Babak Nekooei, Babak Nazari
Director of Photography: Mehrdad Daftari
Editor: Arash Zahedi Asl
Sound: Behrouz Shahamat
Motion Graphics: Ramin Bahadori
Assistant Director: Maryam Khonsari
Narration: Pedram Sani
Color Correction: Reza Teymouri
Translator: Bahman Nooraei
Technical support: Ahad Mohebbi
Production Company / Distributer: Documentary & Experimental Film Center – DEFC
Produced by Our Darkroom Film
Technical Info
Orginal Title: Animation-e-Irani (انیمیشن ایرانی)
English Title: Iranian Animation
Running time: 92 minutes
Genre: Historical Documentary
Country: Iran
Language: Farsi
Release Date: March 2021
Awards and Honors
– Best Research Award in 14th Cinema Verite international documentary film festival – 2020 (Iran)
– Nominee Best Film in 14th Cinema Verite international documentary film festival – 2020 (Iran)
– Nominee Best Film in 12th Independent Celebration of Iranian Documentary cinema – 2021 (Iran)
Film Festivals Attended
– 14th Cinema Verite” international documentary film festival – 2020 (Iran)
– 12th Independent Celebration of Iranian Documentary cinema – 2021 (Iran)
– 39th Fajr international film festival – 2021 (Iran)
– 17th Image of the year – 2021 (Iran)
– 51th Roshd international film festival – 2021 (Iran)
– 12th Tehran international animation festival – 2022 (Iran)
– Screening on Hashoor online platform from july 2022
Iranian animation pioneers
Ministry of Culture and Arts – 1960s
Noureddin Zarrinkelk
Iran’s animation pioneer
Animation screening
Iranian cinemas in the 40s
One of the puppet of Babakarm animation – 1960s
BTS of Canada Dry soft drink commercial
Fereidoon Farshbaf, 1962
Farshid Mesghali
Iran’s animation pioneer
Prince Amir-Hamzeh
Noureddin Zarrinkelk -1977
Parvin Teymouri
Iran’s animation pioneer
Parviz Osanloo
Iran’s animation pioneer
Life
Nosrat Karmi – 1966
Haroon Yashayaei
Film Producer and Advertising Manager
Esfandiar Ahmadiyeh and Jafar Tejaratchi
Iran’s animation pioneers- 60’s
Some members of Azad Animation Workshop -80’s
Fereydoon Farshbaf
Iran’s animation pioneer
Abolfazl Razani
Iran’s animation pioneer
Abdolah Alimorad
Iran’s animation pioneer
Ali Akbar Sadeghi
Iran’s animation pioneer
Sugerland
Babak Nazari – 2006
Dash Akol
Hajar Mehrani – 2017
Mehrdad Sheikhan’s interviews
Pana News Agency – July 16, 2022
ILNA News Agency – July 11, 2022
Sobhe No Newspaper – August 31, 2021
Hamshahri Newspaper – August 10, 2021
- On the Making of the Documentary “Iranian Animation”
Cinema Haghighat Quarterly – Summer 2021
Etemad Online – December 23, 2020
Honar online website – December 13, 2020
Art and Experience website – December 13, 2020
Mehr News Agency – May 31, 2017
Mehr News Agency – September 14, 2016
Behind the Scene
Akbar Alemi – University professor
Behind the Scene
Mahin Javaherian – Filmmaker
Behind the Scene
Mahdi Masoud Shahi Film Producer
Behind the Scene
Mehrdad Sheikhan and Mehrdad Daftari
Critique and Analysis
“ The most important characteristic of this film is its depth of research; that is research in two areas: firstly, a detailed data research covering animation’s evolution journey so far, and secondly, video coverage of the issues, which is much more difficult to carry on compared with text and field research. The other advantage of the film is its analytical stance. It maps a cause-effect relation among its research findings and analyses them. His analytical approach gets closer to a historical approach at times…”
- A Critique of the film “Iranian Animation
Homayoon Emami / Film Emrooz Monthly – December 2022
.
“ Before this, we never had a reliable research source in the field of animation. All we had was scarce information from the pioneers and veterans of this art form. But now, because of Mehrdad Sheikhan’s four years of efforts, we finally have a worthy film about Iran’s history of animation since its beginning. Sheikhan is the researcher, writer, director, and producer of the documentary ‘Iranian Animation’; a film that helps us get to know more about the famous artists in the field, the very first productions, the genre’s changes through time, its improvements, and its relationship with civil and political societies and the hardships it’s been through…”
Mohammad Ehsan Mofidi / Website of the Documentary and Experimental Film Center, August 2022
.
“ You just need to watch the first moments of this research-oriented and historical film to suddenly realise you’ve watched its entire 90 minutes! “The 15-second Molla Nasreddin is the oldest Iranian animation ever discovered; the film was made in late 1957 in the National Office of Fine Arts. Two years later, Iranian animation industry was founded. Animation came to Iran about 50 years after its invention in the world.” Of course, this type of basic information doesn’t appeal to most viewers, but as we go on in the film, we see different historical details that are both academically important and appealing to a wider audience, because firstly the footage comes with an eloquent and interesting narration, and secondly, the vast amount of archival footage and photos Mehrdad Sheikhan has gathered. The variety and number of them shows what a difficult task he has taken on, especially in this country where there is almost no comprehensive information and data bank in any field…”
- Only Fools Do This
Reza Hosseini / Film Monthly, February 2021
.
“ ‘Iranian Animation’ has also managed to create a reasonable relationship between Iran’s cultural and social changes prior and upon the revolution, with the evolution of animation industry in the country. Almost all the living legends of Iran’s animation industry have contributed to the project as narrators or research sources, and this has enriched the film.”
Anna News Agency, 18 January 2021
.
“ ‘Iranian Animation’ is an acceptable example of research-oriented documentaries. It depicts the history of a massive multi-faceted subject with a huge amount of information and footage, but at the same time refuses to look disoriented or annoying. ”
Shahin Shajari Kohan / Cinema Verite’s Website, 19 December 2020
.
“ The film has tried to shine a light for the first time on a rather comprehensive history of production and distribution of animated pictures in Iran. The film’s main points of strength are its strong research and encyclopaedic aspect. The delicacy Sheikhan has shown in selecting the key parts of animation projects is commendable. The parts he has chosen from each film perfectly remind the viewer of its entirety. He has demonstrated the same level of delicacy in his interviews that have been managed well while shooting and have been edited very professionally. ”
Shahram Kharaziha / Borna News Agency, 16 December 2020
The First National Animation Encyclopaedia in Iran
Iranian Animation
Documentary / 92 min / Researcher, Writer, Producer and Director
Director’s Note
The documentary ‘Iranian Animation’ is a unique project about a certain period in Iran’s cinema history. It is considered the very first encyclopaedia of Iran’s national animation industry; a documentary based on massive research on the journey of Iran’s animation industry, including its less often seen and hidden angles. Before this documentary, the knowledge and findings on the history of animation in Iran, especially in its first years, were very little and in some parts, historically paradoxical. As a result, there was no clear or at least cohesive picture of Iran’s animation industry and its different eras, not just for international audiences but also for most of current Iranian animators.
The documentary ‘Iranian Animation’ looks at the creation and formation of animation in Iran and analyses the most important animation currents in the Ministry of Culture and Art, the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, commercial ads, TV, independent works as well as feature productions. The film includes important interviews with the likes of Jafar Tejaratchi, Nosrat Karimi, Nafisseh Riahi, Nooreddin Zarrinkelk, Farshid Mesghali, and Aliakbar Sadeghi.
The decision to produce and make this documentary was out of necessity, due to a lack of a defined identity for Iran’s national animation, an art form with eight decades of history in the country. The need for an encyclopaedia was felt by all animators in Iran. A need that became even more serious in the last couple of decades that has seen exceptional growth of the industry in Iran with a new generation of animators, import of digital tools, emergence of independent media and new productions.
But especially upon the Islamic Revolution, Iran’s animation industry went through a period of confusion in finding a definition for its intellectual and productive structures, both in theory and in practice. One of the biggest reasons behind this confusion in recent decades was exclusive rule of the government. The government is Iran’s most prominent investor in animation productions -not least mass productions- but has also imposed its own expectations and demands on the industry. Therefore, artistic and creative figures could not find much space to express themselves and became victims of this exclusive take-over.
So, one of the most important goals of this documentary is to provide a bright analysis of the conditions and circumstances of Iran’s animation industry throughout the decades; an analysis that might lead to revision and specific critique; a critique that could encourage a historical return to those potentials and roots of Iran’s animation; potentials and roots that have barely found any space to express themselves. We needed a strategic critique to facilitate the growth path of Iran’s animation industry towards what it could be, and still can become.
The film can also have different research functions in areas of visual arts, dramatic arts, particularly cinema, media studies, social sciences and in pedagogic and academic sections of animation.
Synopsis
The film takes a historical look at the nature of Iranian animation, the process of its creation and formation. It also discusses the events and hidden angles of this phenomenon. Historical analysis of the production in the Ministry of Culture and Art, the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, commercial ads, TV series, independent and experimental works, as well as feature animation films, are the most important fields and currents of Iran’s national animation industry that have been covered in the documentary ‘Iranian Animation’. The film also contains interviews with animators from different generations of Iranian animation, including Nooreddin Zarrinkelk, Farshid Mesghali, and Aliakbar Sadeghi. They discuss their views on Iranian animation, their experiences and era.
Credits
Writer / Director: Mehrdad Sheikhan
Researcher: Mehrdad Sheikhan
Executive Producer: Mehrdad Sheikhan
Starring: Noureddin Zarrinkelk, Farshid Mesghali, Ali Akbar Sadeghi, Parviz Osanloo, Akbar Alemi, Fereydoun Farshbaf, Parvin Teymouri, Nosrat Karimi, Ebrahim Forouzesh, Abolfazl Razani, Mahin Javaherian, Mohamad Moghadam, Behzad Farahat, Maryam Kashkoolinia, Omid Khoshnazar, Babak Nekooei, Babak Nazari
Director of Photography: Mehrdad Daftari
Editor: Arash Zahedi Asl
Sound: Behrouz Shahamat
Motion Graphics: Ramin Bahadori
Assistant Director: Maryam Khonsari
Narration: Pedram Sani
Color Correction: Reza Teymouri
Translator: Bahman Nooraei
Technical support: Ahad Mohebbi
Production Company / Distributer: Documentary & Experimental Film Center – DEFC
Produced by Our Darkroom Film
Technical Info
Orginal Title: Animation-e-Irani (انیمیشن ایرانی)
English Title: Iranian Animation
Running time: 92 minutes
Genre: Historical Documentary
Country: Iran
Language: Farsi
Release Date: March 2021
Awards and Honors
– Best Research Award in 14th Cinema Verite international documentary film festival – 2020 (Iran)
– Nominee Best Film in 14th Cinema Verite international documentary film festival – 2020 (Iran)
– Nominee Best Film in 12th Independent Celebration of Iranian Documentary cinema – 2021 (Iran)
Film Festivals Attended
– 14th Cinema Verite” international documentary film festival – 2020 (Iran)
– 12th Independent Celebration of Iranian Documentary cinema – 2021 (Iran)
– 39th Fajr international film festival – 2021 (Iran)
– 17th Image of the year – 2021 (Iran)
– 51th Roshd international film festival – 2021 (Iran)
– 12th Tehran international animation festival – 2022 (Iran)
– Screening on Hashoor online platform from july 2022
Iranian animation pioneers
Ministry of Culture and Arts, 1960s
Noureddin Zarrinkelk
Iran’s animation pioneer
Animation screening
Iranian cinemas in the 1940s
One of the puppet of Babakarm animation, 1966
BTS of Canada Dry soft drink commercial
Fereidoon Farshbaf, 1962
Farshid Mesghali
Iran’s animation pioneer
Prince Amir-Hamzeh
Noureddin Zarrinkelk, 1977
Parvin Teymouri
Iran’s animation pioneer
Parviz Osanloo
Iran’s animation pioneer – 1950s
Life
Nosrat Karm, 1966
Haroon Yashayaei
Film Producer and Advertising Manager
Esfandiar Ahmadiyeh and Jafar Tejaratchi
Iran’s animation pioneers, 1960’s
Some members of Azad Animation Workshop, 1988
Fereydoon Farshbaf
Iran’s animation pioneer
Abolfazl Razani
Iran’s animation pioneer
Abdolah Alimorad
Iran’s animation pioneer
Ali Akbar Sadeghi
Iran’s animation pioneer
Sugerland
Babak Nazari, 2006
Dash Akol
Hajar Mehrani, 2017
Mehrdad Sheikhan’s interviews
Pana News Agency – July 16, 2022
ILNA News Agency – July 11, 2022
Sobhe No Newspaper – August 31, 2021
Hamshahri Newspaper – August 10, 2021
- On the Making of the Documentary “Iranian Animation”
Cinema Haghighat Quarterly – Summer 2021
Etemad Online – December 23, 2020
Honar online website – December 13, 2020
Art and Experience website – December 13, 2020
Mehr News Agency – May 31, 2017
Mehr News Agency – September 14, 2016
Behind the Scene
Akbar Alemi – University professor
Behind the Scene
Mahin Javaherian – Filmmaker
Behind the Scene
Mahdi Masoud Shahi Film Producer
Behind the Scene
Mehrdad Sheikhan and Mehrdad Daftari
Critique and Analysis
” The most important characteristic of this film is its depth of research; that is research in two areas: firstly, a detailed data research covering animation’s evolution journey so far, and secondly, video coverage of the issues, which is much more difficult to carry on compared with text and field research. The other advantage of the film is its analytical stance. It maps a cause-effect relation among its research findings and analyses them. His analytical approach gets closer to a historical approach at times…”
- A Critique of the film “Iranian Animation
Homayoon Emami / Film Emrooz Monthly, December 2022
.
“ Before this, we never had a reliable research source in the field of animation. All we had was scarce information from the pioneers and veterans of this art form. But now, because of Mehrdad Sheikhan’s four years of efforts, we finally have a worthy film about Iran’s history of animation since its beginning. Sheikhan is the researcher, writer, director, and producer of the documentary ‘Iranian Animation’; a film that helps us get to know more about the famous artists in the field, the very first productions, the genre’s changes through time, its improvements, and its relationship with civil and political societies and the hardships it’s been through…”
Mohammad Ehsan Mofidi / Website of the Documentary and Experimental Film Center, August 2022
.
“ You just need to watch the first moments of this research-oriented and historical film to suddenly realise you’ve watched its entire 90 minutes! “The 15-second Molla Nasreddin is the oldest Iranian animation ever discovered; the film was made in late 1957 in the National Office of Fine Arts. Two years later, Iranian animation industry was founded. Animation came to Iran about 50 years after its invention in the world.” Of course, this type of basic information doesn’t appeal to most viewers, but as we go on in the film, we see different historical details that are both academically important and appealing to a wider audience, because firstly the footage comes with an eloquent and interesting narration, and secondly, the vast amount of archival footage and photos Mehrdad Sheikhan has gathered. The variety and number of them shows what a difficult task he has taken on, especially in this country where there is almost no comprehensive information and data bank in any field…”
- Only Fools Do This
Reza Hosseini / Film Monthly, February 2021
.
“ ‘Iranian Animation’ has also managed to create a reasonable relationship between Iran’s cultural and social changes prior and upon the revolution, with the evolution of animation industry in the country. Almost all the living legends of Iran’s animation industry have contributed to the project as narrators or research sources, and this has enriched the film.”
Anna News Agency, 18 January 2021
.
“ ‘Iranian Animation’ is an acceptable example of research-oriented documentaries. It depicts the history of a massive multi-faceted subject with a huge amount of information and footage, but at the same time refuses to look disoriented or annoying. ”
Shahin Shajari Kohan / Cinema Verite’s Website, 19 December 2020
.
“ The film has tried to shine a light for the first time on a rather comprehensive history of production and distribution of animated pictures in Iran. The film’s main points of strength are its strong research and encyclopaedic aspect. The delicacy Sheikhan has shown in selecting the key parts of animation projects is commendable. The parts he has chosen from each film perfectly remind the viewer of its entirety. He has demonstrated the same level of delicacy in his interviews that have been managed well while shooting and have been edited very professionally. ”
Shahram Kharaziha / Borna News Agency, 16 December 2020