In 1980s and 1990s the cinema of Iran has been completely impacted by the major social and political event that the country has experience, such a revolution, the occupation of the US embassy and the war with Iraq. Therefore, it impacted in the way cinema developed and the kind of films made. After the revolution, children took the stand in Iranian movie. The main reasons were to eliminate majority of actor and actresses from the pre-revolution. However, children did appear in film before this, in about late 1960s. In 1969, there was a governmental organization named the Centre of Intellectual Development of Children and Adolescents (CIDCA) was created to produced film and make books. In 1969, they also produced about seven films included one of famous director Kiarostami’s Bread and Alley. Children are used as mini adults,  men or women, to get around censorship. They can make social clarification; moreover, they can even have physical contact without causing any offense to the audience and censors.  The 1980s was an interesting year for children because most of the films were based on children, such as Pixote, Survival of the Weakest,  produced by Hector Babenco in 1981, Salaam Bombay produced by Mira Nair in 1988, Pelle the Conqueror by Bille August in 1988, Toto the Hero by Jacob van  Dormael in 1991, Ponette produced Jacques Doillon in 1997. Tito and Me produced by Goran Markovic in 1992, Silences of the Palace made byMoufida Tlatli in 1994. They were internationally successful. In 1990, The Stories of Majid produced by Kiumars Pourahmad was one of the most successful and popular Iranian TV series about a hard working orphan boy with a sense of humor.  To show the success of children in film; in 1997, Children of Heaven was the first Iran film to be nominated for an Oscar. Films about children bring many phase s of Iranian society to the screen, including isolation of children and youth, unemployment, violence and broken family. The absence of family in these children’s films can be understood as ordinary main social values. Baduk is a 1992 film. It’s directed by director Majid Majidi. The film is about a social reality set on the border of Iran and Pakistan. Jafar and his sister Jamal are separated from their parents after their father is killed in a well cave-in. While walking along the road, the siblings are kidnapped and sold into slavery. Jamal is dressed in fancy silks, destined to be the playmate of a Saudi prince. Jafar is drafted into a band of child baduki, bringing goods across the border between Pakistan and Iran. Jafar escapes his captors, and engages the help of Noredin, a Pakistani baduk he make friends with. Together they work to free Jafar's sister, Jamal. The movie ends with a doomed act of bravery on the part of Jafar. Film that children played became more and more varied such, Thief of Dolls made in 1989 by Mohammed Reza Honarmand. The film is about brother and sister with a witch. In 1990, a Patal and Little Wishes, directed by Mas’ud Karamati is about a brother and sister who take the role of their parents with catastrophic results. Both films were successful at the box office. Furthermore, there were some films directed by female director that also did well at the box office. Sweet Bird of Fortune produced by Pouran Derakshandeh’s in 1987 and in 1989, Children of Divorce by Tahmineh Milani. These movies are based on children as victims. Children represent the real world. They relate to thought about people are or the way people suppose to be. Furthermore, they alter the audience’s self awareness by representing innocence.

Written by student: Donald