Soon after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini gave an interview in the French newspaper Le Monde during which he said, “We are not against cinema, we are against prostitution.” His pronouncement meant that the newly found Islamic Republic of Iran was not opposed to cinema in general, only certain types of films.

After the Iran-Iraq War began in 1980, a wartime cinema developed as part of a series of cultural activities to encourage people to participate in the war effort. During the first few years of the conflict, Mohammad Khatami, who would become president in 1997, worked for a time at the War Information Press (which provided funds for films about the war). Filmmakers involved in this new cinema were fully supported by the government, from the production process through distribution.

Two decades after the revolution, a group of filmmakers appeared on the scene who did not enjoy government support to the same extent but received widespread recognition at international film festivals. Abbas Kiarostami winning the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997, for "Taste of Cherry," represented the emergence of a new, popular and independent cinema that produced relatively inexpensive films. In spite of the limited facilities available, movies produced during this time managed to attract the attention of international festivals to Iran and its social cinema.

During this Reformist era, support for the production of war movies came to an end. Ata'ollah Mohajerani, the minister of culture and Islamic guidance in Khatami's cabinet, believed the time had come to bring that era to a close to avoid inciting the people of Iran and Iraq against each other. It was at this time that the directors Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Jafar Panahi, RakhshanBani-E'temad, Bahman Ghobadi and many others became famous and introduced Iranian cinema to the world.