The Wall

Born in Tehran in 1958, Mohammad Ali Talebi graduated from Tehran University’s College of Dramatic Arts. He started his career in cinema by working as assistant director and director of documentary films for the Iranian television. Talebi has contributed to the formation of the puzzle-like image of the post-revolution Iranian cinema which would be short of something without this piece. A review of his track record from City of Mice (1985) to The Wall, provides an analysis of policy making in Iranian cinema and the behavior of private sector in the film industry as well as a glimpse of the trend of filmmaking in post-revolution Iran. Every one of these titles could be the name of a chapter in this analysis: They could start from City of Mice and how you could entertain millions of viewers, The Finishing Line and the trend suggested by the private sector, Wilderness and the fate of a state-sponsored mystical cinema, The Boot and special position of Children and young adults’ cinema, Tic Tack and why Iranian filmmakers liked the stories of Hans Christian Anderson Award winner Houshang Moradi Kermani, Bag of Rice and the issue of Iranian films being acclaimed at international film festivals, Willow and Wind and the contagious Kiarostami fever, You are Free and the status of cinema in the “reform” years, The Redness of Unripe Apple / The Full Moon and why filmmakers turned to television and The Wall and the fluctuations in Iran’s commercial cinema. —film-international.com