Iranian Film Critics Pick Their All Time Favorites

.
From 94 critics who took participate in a poll for selecting their favorite films of all time (as conducted by Film magazine), I’ve picked these names for a variety of reasons that I’m not going to explain, but they all have one thing in common: they all are serious film scholars, something that seems completely forgotten in these days. E. K.

Aidin Aghdashloo
A well-known painter who occasionally writes about cinema. Once married to now TV star, Shohreh Aghdashloo.

Senso (1954); 8 ½ (1963); Citizen Kane (1941); La règle du jeu (1939); Sunset Blvd. (1950); Dial M for Murder (1954); General (1926); Providence (1977); Fanny & Alexander (1982); All Tom & Jerry films.

*
Babak Ahmadi
One of the key figures in contemporary scene of Philosophy in Iran. Auteur of great volumes on Karl Marx, Martin Heidegger and two influential book on Robert Bresson and Andrei Tarkovsky.

Ordet (1955); Pickpocket (1959); Late Spring (1949); Sacrifice (1981); Sunrise (1927); L'atalante (1934); Ugetsu monogatari (1953): Persona (1966); Stromboli (1949); Vivre sa vie (1962).

*
Hassan Hosseini
A devoted critic of horror films and auteur of horror experience, a brief history of genre.

Cat People (1942); Scarlet Street (1945); Kiss me Deadly (1955); Far Country (1955); Vertigo (1958); The Seven Secrets of Sumuru (1969); The Devil in Miss Jones (1973); Fly (1986); Batman Returns (1992).

*
Khosro Dehghan
A semi-critic cult fellow with a sarcastic pen.

Rio Bravo (1959); The Music Box (1932): An autumn afternoon (1962); La règle du jeu (1939); Der müde Tod (1921); The Exterminating Angel (1962); The Clock (1945); Wrong Man (1957); Johnny Guitar (1954); Céline et Julie vont en bateau (1974).

*
Behzad Rahimian
The gentleman responsible for conducting the poll. Editor of a Rozaneh film guide (a huge six-volume guide to the world cinema) and two encyclopedias (film composers and actors) and also auteur of a book on German expressionist cinema. He has an upcoming book about early days of cinema in Iran and other forms of entertainment in late Qajar/early Pahlavi period.

I Was Born, But... (1932); A Story of Floating Weeds (1934); The Only Son (1936); There Was a Father; Late Spring (1949); Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice (1952); Tokyo Story (1953); Equinox Flower (1958); The End of Summer (1961); An Autumn Afternoon (1962).

*
Houshang Golmakani
An old pro. Chief editor of Film magazine. Director of Sturdust stricken (a documentary about Mohsen Makhmalbaf) and auteur of Tangna (on Amir Naderi’s Strait). He has translated notable books into farsi, among them: Sound of Music and four screenplays; Paris Texas, La Strada, Cinema Paradiso and La Notte.

Rear Window (1954); Bicycle Thieves (1948); L'avventura (1960); 21 Grams (2003); The Bridges of Madison County (1995); The Sound of Music (1965); Cinema Paradiso (1988); Apartment (1960); The Wild Bunch (1969).

*
Robert Safarian
Translator of important cine texts, among them David Bordwell’s history of cinema and an anthology of Robin Wood works.

Tokyo Story (1953); Shadow of a doubt (1953); Amarcord (1974); Red Beard (1965); Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors (1964); Mulholland Dr. (2001); O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000); Underground (1995); Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997); Short Cuts (1993).

*
Hamid-Reza Sadr
Critic and soccer analyst. He has written a book on politics and Iranian cinema, called Iranian Cinema: A Political History.

One week (1920); Casablanca (1942); It’s a wonderful life (1946); Bicycle thieves (1948); Searchers (1956); Children of Paradise (1945); Seven Samurai (1954); Return to the future (1985); Pulp fiction (1994); Underground (1995).

*
Parviz Noori
A veteran. Chief Editor of movie star [setareh cinema], a lovely publication from pre-revolution days in Iran.

Vertigo (1958); Doctor Zhivago (1965); A Place in the Sun (1951); Citizan Kane (1941); Pickup on South Street (1953); Johnny Guitar (1954); Picnic (1955); Four horsemen of the apocalypse (1962); Rio Bravo (1959); Godfather [part 1 & 2] (1972-74).

*
Hamid Nafisi
An authority on exilic cinema, media, Iranian and Third World cinemas. He teaches at Northwestern University.

Man with a Movie Camera (1929); Rashomon (1950); Wild Strawberries (1957); Citizen Kane (1941); Weekend (1967); Chronique des années de braise (1975); Tangos, the Exile of Gardel (1985); Sans soleil (1983); Casablanca; Singing in the rain; Barry Lyndon; Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975).

*
See final results here. [The Poll]
.