Iran’s pro-democracy and women’s rights demonstrations have made the headlines this year, and Iranian cinema has been bringing us the news as well. This outstanding film is from 38-year-old Panah Panahi, son of the renowned director and activist Jafar Panahi, who this year was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for criticising the Iranian government.
It’s a road movie, of sorts, but also part of the modern Iranian cinema tradition of shooting a film in the privacy of a car, a quasi-guerrilla approach that gets the film-maker out on the streets while avoiding state snooping. A family is shown making a hot, uncomfortable road trip in a borrowed car up through remote north-western Iran, heading for the Turkey/Azerbaijan border.
