Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults

Established	8 January 1965
Founder	Farah Diba Leyli Amir Arjmand
Type	Cultural
Location	Tehran, Iran
Products	Book, short film, documentary, music, animation, puppet show, toy, computer training (software)
President/chairman	Mehdi Ali Akbarzadeh
Website	kpf.ir
Formerly called	Center for the Intellectual Development of Child and Adolescent

Center for the Intellectual Development of Child and Adolescent (CIDCA, Persian: کانون پرورش فکری کودک و نوجوان, Kānoon-e Parvaresh-e Fekri-e Koodakān va Nojavānān, better known as Kanoon or Kānoon) is an Iranian institution with a wide range of cultural and artistic activities in the field of mental and cultural development for children and young adults. The organization was at the center of the vanguard of cultural production in the late 60s and early 1970s and is the platform through which many of Iran's most regarded artists and filmmakers, such as Abbas Kiarostami and Morteza Momayez and Babak Niktalab, launched their careers.^[1]

History

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, 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]

Partial filmography

Feature films

Short films

Animations