History of Film Posters on Show

The Iranian Artists Forum opened an exhibit on the career of film poster designer Mohammad Ali Bateni on Friday up until September 11.

“It Was 1971” shows 160 movie posters. The name of the exhibit refers to the year which marks the peak of Bateni’s designs in the film industry and the time when new and progressive filmmakers and poster designers were introduced to Iranian cinema, ISNA reported.

Bateni made 300 plus movie posters, from the 1960s to 1990s. The four decades witnessed remarkable works of graphic designers and painters in movie posters including Morteza Momayez with poster design of “The Deer” (1974), Aydin Aghdashloo’s “Mirza Norooz’s Shoes” (1985), Ghobad Shiva’s “The Report” (1977) and Farshid Mesghali’s “The Cow” (1969).

The IAF exhibition, organized jointly by IAF, Cinema Museum of Iran, Art and Experience Cinema Group and Iranian Museum of Graphic Design, will also host special meetings on Bateni’s poster designs.

Works by the veteran artist is a follow-up to an old custom of film poster designing that came to existence via works of designers like the poster designer of the famous movie “Lor Girl” (1930) Misha Gragosian, father of modern caricature in Iran Mohsen Davallou who painted many posters of Iranian films in the 1950s, and graphic and poster designer Hayik Ojaqiyan “A Party in Hell” (1956).

Bateni, who currently works as a painter and instructor at his studio in Tehran, has created memorable posters including “The Mandrake” (1975), “Wounded Night” (1977), “Day of Angel”(1993) and “The Good Days of Life” (1994).

The IAF is located at Artists Park, N. Mousavi St, Taleqani Street in central Tehran.