The First National Animation Encyclopaedia in Iran
The documentary 'Iranian Animation' is a unique project about a certain period in Iran's cinema history. It is considered the very first encyclopedia 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.—Mehrdad Sheikhan
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.
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.
