Frequently Asked Questions

What is the meaning behind the "Firouzan" in Firouzan Films? How is it pronounced?

Firouz means "Victorious" and Firouzan can be translated as "The Victors ." To this day Firouz and Firouzan are fairly common names in Iran. Firouzan is pronounced Fee-roo-zon

When and why was Firouzan Films founded?

Firouzan Films, a subsidiary of Firouzan Enterprises Inc, was originally founded in 2005 for the singular purpose of producing documentaries about the country of Iran. While conducting research for future projects, it became apparent that there were too few places on the web dedicated solely to Iranian Cinema.

As Iranian Film enthusiasts, we felt that Iranian Cinema's standing in the world warranted the creation of an entirely new website, dedicated to Iranian Cinema and based upon our Propriety Rating System, where people with the same interest could exchange their ideas and reviews.

Cinema is one of the few mediums that is not encumbered by political and geographical dividing lines and thus one of the best ways to communicate amongst people of different cultures. This is especially true at a time when the Iranian people, their culture and their heritage appear to be least understood in the West. It is no secret that Iranian Cinema is heir to the country's proud poetic tradition and it is for these reasons that Firouzan Film's second purpose was created.

Therefore, Firouzan Films has two divisions - the Production Division which focuses on the creation of documentaries, and the Reviews Division which focuses on creating a forum for the exchange of ideas on Iranian Cinema. Both divisions are represented on the Firouzan Films Website.

How is Firouzan Films funded?

At this time, all of Firouzan Films' activities are privately funded. Firouzan Films does not receive funding from any governmental or trade organizations or endowments, nor does it have any intention of asking for any grants of any kind from such entities in the future.

The integrity of our documentaries and of our propriety rating system for Iranian movies is very important to us and requires that Firouzan Films remain independent and avoid any conflict of interests. This allows our Production Division to remain as objective and truthful as possible, and our Reviews Division to be unbiased and honest.

How does Firouzan Films rate its movies?

Firouzan Films uses a propriety rating system that attempts to quantify four key categories of a film: Script, Technical Aspects, Vision, and Impact.

Script is further broken down into 5 sub-categories: Plot, Character, Dialogue, Flow, and Story Arc. Technical Aspects are broken down into Cinematography, Lighting, Sound, Editing, and Music. Vision refers to the scope of the director's original intent and how well he/she accomplished that original intent. Impact refers to the ability of the film to bring notoriety to Iranian Cinema on a global scale.

Scores in each of the four main categories can range from a low score of 5 to a high score of 25. Combining all the scores from the individual categories can yield a total score as low as 20 and as high as 100. These scores determine both The Firouzan Fifty Ranking and the Star Rating. The difference between the Firouzan Fifty Ranking and Star Rating is the fact that two films can have identical Star Ratings but may be ranked differently. The Firouzan Fifty Ranking is strictly determined by the relative value of the score: the higher the score, the higher the ranking. In case of a tie, the order is determined by a head-to-head comparison of the movies involved.

The Star Rating, on the other hand, is based on a bell-shaped curve, where stars are assigned based on the following score ranges: 5 stars for a score of 92 to 100, 4 stars for a score of 78 to 91, 3 stars for a score of 44 to 77, 2 stars for a score of 30 to 43, and 1 star for a score of 20 to 29. It is impossible to score below 20.

The above ranking system is intentionally designed to improve the quality of The Firouzan Fifty greatest Iranian films over time. As new films are reviewed, it is possible that the lowest-ranked film will be bumped off of the list to make room for the newcomer. All formerly-ranked films that have been bumped from the list move to our Previously Ranked Archive where they retain their Star Rating and are still available for Guest Reviews and Commentary. Additionally, if a new film is reviewed and it does not score high enough to make the list, it will still be posted on the website under the heading "Never Ranked."

For this reason, it can be said that The Firouzan Fifty is a dynamic and interactive list. Not only will it change over time but viewer suggestions can help make those changes. At some point, it is possible that all the movies in The Firouzan Fifty will have a 5 Star Rating due to the replacement procedure described above. At such time Firouzan, at its discretion, may expand its list to accommodate a larger number of films.

Why is this site in English?

As one of the main goals of Firouzan Films is to act as a cultural bridge between Iran and the West, we thought the English language would most effectively facilitate communication without the need to translate the often difficult to understand nuances of the Farsi language for our non-Iranian readers.

Do you accept reviews/articles in Farsi or other languages?

No, at least not for now. If we find that there is a large demand for Farsi content we will re-evaluate our current policy.

Farsi vs. Parsi vs. Persian?

We are not linguists. We use the term "Farsi" because most people recognize this as the majority language of Iran. In general, we use conventional nomenclature for names and geographic locations and reserve the right to edit submissions accordingly.

What exactly constitutes a "Diaspora Filmmaker"?

(1) The Filmmaker must be of Iranian descent, (2) reside outside of the country of Iran and (3) the film must have been independently produced. If a film was produced with some form of backing from a Hollywood Studio (and features Iranian Characters) then the movie is more appropriate for our "Hollywood and Iran" List. An example of this is Ramin Serry's "Maryam." Though the director can technically be considered a "Diaspora Filmmaker," his movie fits into our categorization of "Hollywood and Iran" as a "Hollywood" representation of "Iranians."

How does Firouzan Films guarantee the accuracy of what is published on its website?

Firouzan Films cannot guarantee the accuracy and completeness of any information on the Firouzan Films Website, including, but not limited to information originated by Firouzan Films, or gathered by Firouzan Films from publicly available sources, or posted by Third Parties. There may be omissions or inaccuracies in the information.

The views represented on the Firouzan Films Website, gathered by Firouzan Films from publicly available sources or posted by Third Parties are not necessarily the views of Firouzan Films or its parent company Firouzan Enterprises Inc.

What are Firouzan Film's Terms of Use?

All information presented on the Firouzan Films Website is the property of Firouzan Films or its Third Party Sources and is protected by copyright and intellectual property laws. All rights reserved. Reproduction or transcription by any means, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Firouzan Films is prohibited.

What is Firouzan Film's Privacy Policy?

Firouzan Films does not release, sell, or distribute any personal information that has been submitted by any individual guest of this website.

Personal Information collected is limited to IP address, number of visits by page, and country of residence. The use of this information is two folds; (1) to monitor future development of this website and (2) to further segregate guest reviews and ratings of Iranian Films based on demography. Guests’ reviews, once published, become public material and cannot be retracted.

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