The ugly side of Iranian cinema

Though most outside will rave about the beauty of Iranian films, few would have any idea about the kind of censorship Iranian filmmakers have to go through. Jafar Panahi, maker of fabulous films such as "The Circle" and "The White Balloon", has now decided to actually go around the country showcasing his films.

Abbas Kiarostami, another famed filmmaker, was harassed so much by the censors for his film "Ten" that he joked of cutting his film's name to "Six". Most of these films are available on pirated discs, which means the maker gets little, if any, money out of his films in the local market. Yet, they want to fight it out. May they be victorious... Read more here.