The best first film awards won at prestigious international film festivals last year for such works as A Time for Drunken Horses, Djomeh, The Day I Became a Woman, and Daughters of the Sun are testament to Iran’s status as an important reservoir of fresh filmmaking talent in contemporary world cinema. Curated by film professor Jamsheed Akrami, this series focuses on the achievements of the generation of Iranian filmmakers who began their careers in the 1990s. Some—such as Majid Majidi, whose Children of Heaven was the first Iranian film ever to be nominated for an Academy Award, and Jafar Panahi, who won the Golden Lion for The Circle at the 2000 Venice Film Festival—are internationally known. Others remain largely unknown even in Iran. Collectively, they hold the promise of extending the fine cinematic tradition established by the first generation of Iranian artists: Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Dariush Mehrjui, Amir Naderi, and Bahram Bayzai.