Early years

Founded in 1965, Kanoon was originally one of the many cultural initiatives that fell under the broad purview of Farah Diba. Its initial ambitions were educational and social in nature; the program, led by one of Farah's close friends Lili Amir-Arjomand, involved building a network of both permanent and traveling libraries across the country in order to promote culture and literacy. During this period, Kanoon's publishing consisted only of translating and importing western classics such as Hans Christian Andersen. Eventually, Kanoon began producing and publishing its own books and soon after grew to be not just a social organization, but also a prolific producer of many kinds of materials for children.^[1][2]

At the center of this leg of the initiative was Firooz Shirvanloo, who acted as both co-director and as an informal Art Director for the organization. Through Shirvanloo, Kanoon attracted many of the famous names that are associated with the project today: Abbas Kiarostami, Farshid Mesghali, Noureddin Zarrinkelk, Amir Naderi, Morteza Momayez, Ali Akbar Sadeghi, , Parviz Kalantari, Ardavan Mofid, Hengameh Mofid, Kambiz Samimi Mofakham and more. Shirvanloo's strong political leanings also attracted an equally significant group of left-wing writers and researchers. (He was fired in 1972 for this very reason.)^[1]

Within the walls of Kanoon, there was an unprecedented amount of freedom and support provided to the artists involved. Under these circumstances Kanoon turned into a sort of quasi-utopian hub, or incubator or laboratory for an incredible group of artists, many of whom worked across several media (most of the major protagonists were designers and also illustrators and would experiment with animation or filmmaking if they chose to). To have this type venue available at this pivotal moment when Iran is transitioning into modernity in terms of its visual culture was absolutely crucial. The output of Kanoon during this era more or less defined the aura of childhood in Iran for an entire generation. These were the books that everybody read, the music that everyone heard and this legacy is still quite potent today.^[1]

Mehdi Ali Akbarzadeh is appointed as the General Director of Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults by order of the Minister of Education.^[3]

Post-Revolution

Although no longer at the center of an artistic vanguard, Kanoon continues to operate as an important public institution to this day; continuing with its program of libraries, publishing, animation, and most significantly, film.^[4]

In 1999, Children of Heaven was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film of Academy Awards (Oscar) and honored in many festivals globally.^[5]

Feature films

Short films

Animations