Cinema Moulin Rouge

Cinema Moulin Rouge, or Moulin Rouge Studios, was an Iranian film production studio and movie theater chain founded by Mostafa Akhavan and his brother Morteza Akhavan in 1954. Conceived with the goal of bringing Hollywood to Iran, Cinema Moulin Rouge opened on October 15, 1955 as one movie theater location in Downtown Tehran and expanded over the next two decades to becoming one of Iran's first major international film studios, playing an instrumental role in the production, financing, dubbing, distribution, and exhibition of Iranian cinema until its upheaval during the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

During its early years, Moulin Rouge’s mission was focused on fostering and financing local Iranian talent. Cinema legends such as filmmakers Abbas Kiarostami, Tony Zarindast and Amir Naderi, as well as star Behrouz Vossoughi were among those who got early career opportunities working with Moulin Rouge. In the 2000s, Amir Naderi wrote that “the Akhavan Brothers were instrumental in the careers of himself and Abbas Kiarostami as well as others. Without them, the movie industry in Iran would not have taken shape".

Moulin Rouge was also an international film financing fixture, representing Iran at the Cannes Film Festival through the 1960s and early 1970s, in partnership with Paramount Pictures and United Artists. Mostafa Akhavan brokered co-production deals with European, British, and American studios to exhibit foreign films in Iran as well as distribute Iranian films abroad. Mostafa and Morteza Akhavan also acted as cultural ambassadors for Hollywood stars visiting Iran’s film scene, such as John Wayne, Gina Lollobrigida, and William Holden.

In the late 1960s, Moulin Rouge produced The Invincible Six (releaed in 1971), the first Iranian movie with an international cast and directed by Academy Award-winner Jean Negulesco. Based on the book The Heroes of Yucca, the film starred Elke Somer, Stuart Whitman, Kurt Jurgens, Jim Mitchum as well as an array of Iranian actors. The movie was filmed inside Moulin Rouge studios, and was the first US/Iran co-production shot in Iran.

In the chaotic lead-up to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Moulin Rouge suspended all operations and the Akhavan Brothers were forced to leave the country.

Filmography:

Hashem Khan (1966)

Goodbye Tehran / Khodahafez Tehran (1966)

Milionerhaye Gorosneh (1967)

Evil Temptation (1967)

Roozhaye Tarike Yek Madar (1967)

Come Stranger (1968)

The Invincible Six (1970)