Cinema-ye Azad documents and preserves the history of an independent Iranian film movement founded in 1969, which emerged in response to restricted access to filmmaking resources and institutional control. Using available 8mm technology, Cinema-ye Azad grew into a nationwide collective of more than 300 creatives, producing around 1,000 short films, organising festivals, and establishing a decentralised cultural network across Iran. Since 2017, the project has focused on research, restoration, and archival work, resulting in the restoration of over 300 short films and three feature films. Current efforts aim to expand the archive through research in Germany and among diaspora members, with the long-term goal of securing a sustainable public archival framework.
Afsun Moshiry is a Berlin-based film curator and producer whose research and curatorial work focuses on Iranian cinema and archival practices. Hadi Alipanah is an Iranian journalist and researcher whose long-term work on short film history led to the rediscovery and restoration of Cinema-ye Azad.
