Farabi Cinema Foundation
A look at the foundation's history, mission, and leadership
Farabi Cinema Foundation
Farabi Cinema Foundation was established in June 1983 after the victory of the Islamic Revolution. By order of Fakhraddin Anvar, then Deputy Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance for Cinema Affairs, a group including Seyed Mohammad Beheshti, Mohammad Mehdi Dadgo, Mohammad Aghajani, and Mehdi Masoudshahi was assigned to reorganize cinema affairs and revive this art in the country. According to its statute, Farabi Cinema Foundation is a non-governmental and non-profit organization supervised by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, serving as one of the executive arms for cultural and artistic policy in Iranian cinema.
Who Was Farabi?
Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi, born in 872 and deceased in 950, was one of the earliest Muslim intellectuals who played a major role in transmitting the teachings of Plato and Aristotle to the Islamic world and influenced later Muslim philosophers such as Avicenna. He was an outstanding linguist who translated and interpreted Greek works. Known as the Second Teacher, Farabi was among the first thinkers to separate philosophy from theology. He also wrote the influential Arabic work The Great Book of Music.
Goals
- Supporting film production aligned with Iran's post-revolutionary cultural environment
- Reorganizing the cinema industry and improving Iran's technical cinema capacity
- Training new human resources and guiding filmmakers into a renewed cinematic field
Policies
Building History
Since its establishment, Farabi Cinema Foundation has been located in the historic Qavam al-Saltaneh mansion. The building is registered as a national cultural heritage site and is regarded as one of the foundation's cultural symbols. Another old brick building, symmetrical to the main building of the Glassware and Ceramic Museum of Iran, stands beside it. Built nearly ninety years ago for Ahmad Qavam, a statesman of the Qajar period, it later became known as Nobahar Cultural Center and today serves a cultural function.