forums and festivals for its distinct style, themes, authors, idea of nationhood, and cultural references. Starting With Viva... by Khosrow Sinai and followed by many excellent Iranian directors who emerged in the last few decades, such as Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi. Kiarostami, who some critics regard as one of the few great directors in the history of cinema, planted Iran firmly on the map of world cinema when he won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Taste of Cherry in 1997. The continuous presence of Iranian films in prestigious international festivals such as the Cannes Film Festival, the Venice Film Festival, and the Berlin Film Festival attracted world attention to Iranian masterpieces .. In 2006, six Iranian films, of six different styles, represented Iranian cinema at the Berlin Film Festival. Critics considered this a remarkable event in the history of Iranian cinema. An important step was taken in 1998 when the Iranian government began to fund ethnic cinema. Since then Iranian Kurdistan has seen the rise of numerous filmmakers. In particular, the film industry got momentum in Iranian Kurdistan and the region has seen the emergence of filmmakers such as Bahman Ghobadi, actually the entire Ghobadi family, Ali-Reza Rezai, Khosret Ressoul and many other younger filmmakers. There is also movie-documentary production, often critical of the society in the name of the Islamic revolution ideal, like the films directed by Mohammedreza Eslamloo. By the year 2001 the number of features produced in Iran rose to 87 (from 28, which is the number of films that were produced in 1980, after the fall of the Shah). The most popular genres were melodramas and historical pageants which seldom went to festivals. In 1997, the newly elected president, Mohammed Khatemi, would eventually come to play a role in helping filmmakers achieve a certain degree of artistic freedom. Important figures Directors Asghar Farhadi Abbbas Kiarostami Majid Majidi Dariush Mehrjui Masoud Kimiai Jafar Panahi Ali Hatami Nasser Taghvai Mohammad Rasoulof Bahman Ghobadi Bahram Beyzai Mohsen Makhmalbaf Rakhshan Banietemad Samira Makhmalbaf Reza Mirkarimi Saeed Roustaee Narges Abyar Pouran Derakhshandeh Manijeh Hekmat Vahid Jalilvand Mani Haghighi Ebrahim Hatamikia Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian Marzieh Boroumand Houman Seyyedi Actors Khosrow Shakibai Ezzatolah Entezami Ali Nassirian Behrouz Vosoughi Jamshid Mashayekhi Davoud Rashidi Mohammad Ali Keshavarz Naser Malek Motiee Shahab Hosseini Parviz Parastouee Faramarz Gharibian Homayoun Ershadi Hamed Behdad Amin Hayaee Reza Naji Reza Attaran Mohsen Tanabandeh Navid Mohammadzadeh