For a few years after 1979, since there were no clear general rules or regulations, Iranian cinema experienced a phase of purgatory. It was a time when the atmosphere prompted political debates and the new establishment had too many other important tasks at their hands—turmoil in the Western borders, militias getting power, terrorist acts and assassinations, not to mention the start of the 8-year Iran and Iraq war in September 1980—to be able to think about cinema.