The beginnings of the Iranian New Wave are signaled by the release of The Cow (Dariush Mehrjui) and Qeysar (Masud Kimiai); Abbas Kiarostami is instrumental in setting up the cinematic affairs department of the IIDCYA (Kanoon) and will make many of his short films and early features there over the following years. Syria: The National Film Organization (NFO) is founded.
1970 Egypt: Death of Nasser and succession of Anwar Sadat to the presidency. Jordan/Palestine: The events of Black September result in thousands of Palestinian deaths and lead to the expulsion of the PLO to Lebanon, where Palestinian Revolution Cinema blossoms.
1971 Bahrain: Hamad and the Pirates: The Phantom Dhow, directed by Roy Edward Disney, becomes the first narrative feature produced in Bahrain. Iran: The lavish celebration of 2,500 years of monarchy in Iran is held at Persepolis, Cyrus the Great’s ancient city, in an attempt to legitimate and glorify the shah’s rule. Kuwait: The Cruel Sea, directed by Khalid M. Al Siddiq, becomes the first narrative feature produced in Kuwait. Palestine: The first Palestinian film, With Our Souls, with Our Blood, produced by the Palestine Film Unit, is released.
1972 Egypt: The immensely popular Souad Hosni vehicle Watch Out for Zuzu (Hassan El-Imam) is released. Syria: The first Damascus International Film Festival is held. Turkey: Yeşilçam peaks with an annual production of 300 films.
1973 Egypt/Israel/Palestine/Syria: 6 October: The Yom Kippur–Ramadan War begins.
1974 Algeria: The OAA is integrated into ONCIC. Algerian distributors boycott ONCIC to protest state control of distribution and exhibition. Israel: The Israel Film Archive is opened. Syria: The Damascus Cinema Club is founded.
1975 Algeria: The Algiers Charter on African Cinema is adopted at the Second Congress of the Fédération Panafricaine des Cinéastes (FEPACI). Chronicle of the Years of Embers, directed by Mohamed Lakhdar-Hamina, an epic film about the decades-long anticolonial struggle in Algeria, is released; it marks the most expensive and extravagant Algerian film to date and puts Algerian cinema on the international map. Lebanon: 13 April: The second Lebanese Civil War begins and will last 15 years, disrupting the “golden age” of Lebanese cinema. Morocco/Western Sahara: November: The Green March sees Moroccan troops and civilians enter the former Spanish Sahara, to claim the land as part of a Greater Morocco.
1976 Algeria: The release of Omar Gatlato, directed by Merzak Allouache, marks a turning point in Algerian cinema from revolutionary cinéma moujahid to contemporary cinéma djidid. Tunisia: Fatma 75, directed by Selma Baccar, becomes the first Tunisian film directed by a woman.
1977 Iraq: The Iraqi film industry is nationalized by the Ba‘th government.
1978 Algeria: The “Nouba” of the Women of the Chenoua, directed by Assia Djebar, becomes the first Algerian film directed by a woman. Israel/Lebanon: 14 March: Israel invades southern Lebanon (Operation Litani).
1979 Iran: The shah is overthrown during the Iranian Revolution, and an Islamic government under the control of the Aytollah Ruhollah Khomeini is gradually instituted. Israel: The Fund for the Promotion of Israeli Quality Films, a revision of the Bill for the Promotion of Israeli Films, is established. Menachem Golan’s Cannon Films becomes the first genuinely transnational film production company.
1980 Iran/Iraq: The Iran–Iraq War begins, provoking a new genre of “sacred defense” war films in Iran. Turkey: The 12 September 1980 military intervention and the junta government of 1980–1983 slow the pace of domestic filmmaking and prevent the production of political and sex films.
1981 Egypt: Assassination of Anwar Sadat. He is succeeded as president by Hosni Mubarak.
1982 Iran: February: Inception of the Fajr International Film Festival. June: The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance is given power to regulate cinema in Iran through a series of policies that attempt to ensure accordance with the Islamic Republic’s values, requiring all films made in the country to obtain a series of approvals at various stages of their production and all films shown in the country to receive an exhibition permit dictating when and where they may be screened. Israel/Lebanon: 6 June: Israel invades southern Lebanon (Operation Peace for Galilee). 16–18 September: The Sabra and Shatila Massacre takes place in the named municipality and Palestinian refugee camp near Beirut. Israfest is founded to promote Israeli cinema in the United States. Morocco: The Embers, directed by Farida Bourquia, becomes the first Moroccan film directed by a woman. Palestine: The leadership of the PLO is exiled from Lebanon to Tunisia. Turkey: Şerif Gören’s The Way shares the award for best film at the Cannes Film Festival.
1983 Egypt: The Bus Driver (Atef El-Tayeb) is released. It is often credited as announcing the beginning of the New Realist movement, partially a response to Anwar Sadat’s Infitah (“Open Door” policy). Iran: The Farabi Cinema Foundation is established to oversee the film industry and later becomes instrumental in subtitling films for international festival screenings. Israel: The first Jerusalem International Film Festival is held.
1984 Maghreb: The Fonds Sud Cinéma is established by the French government to support the influence of Francophonie in the Global South. Algeria: Entreprise Nationale de Production Cinématographique (ENAPROC) and Entreprise Nationale de Distribution et d’Exploitation Cinématographiques (ENADEC) succeed the ONCIC as the central agencies for administering the cinema sector.
1986 Iran: The Runner (Amir Naderi) and Bashu, the Little Stranger (Bahram Beyzai) signal a resurgence in Iranian cinema after the revolution, and begin its acknowledgment as one of the world’s most important cinemas by international audiences and critics.
1987 Algeria: November: The Centre Algérien pour l’Art et l’Industrie Cinématographiques (CAAIC) replaces ENAPROC and ENADEC as the central agency for administering the cinema sector. RTA resources are regrouped into the Entreprise Nationale de Productions Audiovisuelles. Palestine: Wedding in Galilee, directed by Michel Khleifi, becomes the first Palestinian film shot within historic Palestine and backed by European funding. 9 December: The First Intifada erupts.
1988 Iran/Iraq: The Iran–Iraq War ends. Israel: The Berkey-Humphries Studio merges with the Israel Motion Picture Studios to form United Studios of Israel. United Arab Emirates: The Wayfarer, directed by Ali Al Abdul, becomes the UAE’s first domestically produced feature film.
1989 Iran: Where Is the Friend’s House? begins Abbas Kiarostami’s so-called Koker Trilogy, which moves from humanist realism to pseudo-documentary and intensive self-reflexivity, while Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s Wedding of the Blessed marks a decisive break from the Islamist themes of his earlier works. June: Ayatollah Khomeini dies. Jordan: The Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation is established in Amman. Lebanon: A business mogul orchestrates the Taef Agreement, in which the Lebanese militias agree to end the civil war.
1990 Iraq/Kuwait: 2 August: Iraq invades Kuwait. Turkey: The first private television channel, Magic Box Inter Star 1, begins broadcasting, affecting the course of cinema in Turkey and soon putting an end to the Yeşilçam era, as numerous Turkish
