Middle Eastern and North African cinema
The war between Iran and Iraq, as mentioned previously, inspired a new movie genre "sacred defence." Approximately 50 films were produced with that genre during the time of the war. Despite the production of such films, the Iranian regime was overall against cinema. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution and in the first three years of Khomeini's rule more than 150 cinemas were destroyed all throughout the country. This was because cinema and film production was deemed as a way for the west to "inject" its values into Iran and Islamic states in general. However, later on, cinema proved to be a necessary medium for the regime as it could easily spread information. The movies that could be produced from then and on had to be approved by The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (established in 1982) first and had to fit in some specific "boxes." By 1983, the Iranian regime seemed more keen on producing and exporting films and the Farabi Cinema Foundation was established. During the 1980s few films were produced in Iran but they were marked by success. In 1986 two major movies were produced that put Iran on top of film productions internationally, The Runner (دونده) by Amir Naderi and Bashu, The Little Stranger (باشو غريبه کوݘک) by Bahram Beyzai. Three years later, the movie Where Is My Friend's House? (خانه دوست کجاست) was the debut of Abbas Kiarostami, famous Iranian director.