This clandestine documentary, shot partially on an iPhone and smuggled into France in a cake for a last-minute submission to Cannes, depicts the day-to-day life of acclaimed director Jafar Panahi during his house arrest in his Tehran apartment. While appealing his sentence - six years in prison and a 20 year ban from filmmaking - Panahi is seen talking to his family and lawyer on the phone, discussing his plight with Mirtahmasb and reflecting on the meaning of the art of filmmaking.
Run time: 75 mins
Jafar Panahi is one of the preeminent filmmakers working today, and he is a central figure within contemporary Iranian cinema, a cinema known for producing some of the most compelling films of the past forty years. Panahi is one of four directors in history to win the top prizes at the Cannes, Venice, and Berlin Film Festivals, and he has regularly pushed the boundaries of cinematic narrative and political cinema with his films, all while facing increasing censorship and political repression, including imprisonment. This film series will examine Panahi’s work within the context of cinema history and “art cinema” traditions, contemporary Iranian cinema, and the constricted landscape of film production within Iran while also considering how Panahi questions what it means to make films and what the boundaries of cinema might be for filmmakers and spectators.
This series is a partnership between the Hollywood Theatre and the Portland State University School of Film. These films are presented as part of the curriculum for The Cinema of Jafar Panahi, taught by Portland State University Professor of Film Studies, Mark Berrettini. Berrettini will be on hand to introduce each screening.
Screenings are Thursdays at 4:00 starting April 16th and concluding May 28th.