Iran bans pre-revolution period drama over hijab, dance scenes

An Iranian drama series was abruptly banned after just one episode for depicting women without hijab, dance scenes and using wigs and hats to portray life before the 1979 Islamic Revolution more realistically.

On February 3, the Iranian Audio-Visual Media Regulatory Authority (SATRA) ordered the video-on-demand platform Filimo to stop airing Tasian, a historical romance drama set in the late 1970s. The decision came after backlash from religious hardliners who deemed the series indecent.

The ban on Tasian follows other instances of increasing censorship by SATRA. Last year the regulator ordered the removal of a scene from another series, The End of the Night, in which an elderly mother and her son briefly dance together at a care home.

Despite efforts to suppress it, Tasian has sparked intense debate about artistic freedom, censorship and the portrayal of Iran’s history—highlighting the growing divide between Iran’s conservative establishment and modern audiences.

A vague justification

SATRA, which is affiliated to the country's sole radio and television program provider the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), announced on Wednesday that the series was released without its approval, and an investigation is underway into the violations by the production team and the publishing platform.

According to SATRA, the series includes violations such as "lack of hijab, promotion of smoking, mixed-gender dancing, and promotion of alcohol consumption."

It had earlier said that authorities had yet not been able to establish the eligibility of the series’ director Tina Pakravan to produce films.

The regulatory body also announced that advertisements for Tasian which had appeared on billboards in several cities must be removed and that no further review of the series would take place until Pakravan’s qualifications were officially assessed.

Pakravan is a well-known filmmaker in Iran, recognized for her historical drama Once Upon a Time in Iran (2021) and films such as It Happened at Midnight (2016) and Lady (2014).

In 2022, she won the Best Home Video Director award at the 1st Iranian Cinema Directors’ Great Celebration.

Hijab dilemma for pre-revolutionary period pieces

Tasian follows the story of a young woman arrested for political activism a few months before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

However, a romance develops between her and her interrogator, making the series an unusual love story set against Iran’s turbulent history.

Portraying pre-revolutionary Iranian women realistically has long been a challenge for filmmakers, as strict hijab regulations have been enforced for films since 1979.

Tasian's costume designers attempted to navigate these rules by using wigs and hats to cover actresses’ hair, reflecting styles of the era. But social media users noted that the show exaggerated the prevalence of hats among Iranian women of the time.

Another major reason cited for the ban is the depiction of mixed-gender gatherings with music and dancing—acts strictly prohibited under the Islamic Republic. Women dancing and singing solo in public are also banned, making such portrayals particularly sensitive.

Navigating censorship

Iranian filmmakers often try clear the hurdles of censorship by avoiding scenes where women normally go without the hijab, such as among family members, in intimate moments between couples or amid women dancing or singing.

As streaming platforms grow in popularity, they pose a significant challenge to Iran’s heavily censored state television, which has suffered a major decline in viewership. IRIB employs around 40,000 people and its head is directly appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.