One of the world’s great cinematic artists, Jafar Panahi has been carefully crafting self-reflexive works about artistic, personal, and political freedom for the past three decades, despite his oppression at the hands of the Iranian government. Now, as the international film community vehemently denounces his summer 2022 arrest and continued imprisonment for his vocal support of a fellow artist’s independence, Panahi has gifted us all with a new virtuosic sleight-of-hand. In NO BEARS, as in many of his recent titles, Panahi plays a fictionalized version of himself, in this case relocated to a rural border town to remotely direct a new film in nearby Turkey - the story of which comes to sharply mirror disturbing events that begin to occur around him. As he struggles to complete his film, Panahi finds himself thrust in the middle of a local scandal, confronting the opposing pulls of tradition and progress, city and country, belief and evidence, and the universal desire to reject oppression.
Rated: 107 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