Cinema as an act of resistance: Jafar Panahi

Translated by Andrea Solazzo

Jafar Panahi is and will remain one of the most emblematic and courageous figures in contemporary Iranian cinema. Born in 1960, the son of a house painter, the Miyaneh, director spent his childhood in the theatres of Tehran and, as early as ten years old, demonstrated a keen creativity and passion for storytelling that led him to make his first 8mm films.

Following his studies in directing at Tehran University and his formative experience as an assistant to Abbas Kiarostami, one of the undisputed masters of world cinema, who would so profoundly influence the director that he became his mentor. A director, poet, and photographer, Kiarostami was a pioneer of Iranian poetic realism and was able to transform the limitations imposed by censorship into extraordinary creative opportunities, something that would become central, fundamental, and viscerally important to Panahi as well.

His essential style, existential reflection and use of nature as a narrative frame have marked the path of Panahi, who learned from him the art of telling complex and socially impactful stories with apparent simplicity.

Panahi made his debut with "The White Balloon” in 1995, a neo-realist-inspired tale that marked the beginning of a successful career that has won awards at major international film festivals.

Characterized by deep social realism, P.'s cinema explores uncomfortable themes such as oppression, injustice and the plight of women in Iran. With films such as “The Circle” (2000), which was banned domestically but celebrated at the Venice Film Festival, and “Offside” (2006), which tells the story of a group of women who attempt to attend a soccer match by disguising themselves as men, P. has chronicled the tensions, contradictions and vitality of Iranian society, and with “Offside” he offers a unique insight into the hopes of young Iranian women while reflecting on the blindness of a system that represses gender freedom. Despite the film's apparent lightness, Panahi manages to maintain a balance between social denunciation and celebration of his protagonists' humanity, recounting Iranian reality with love and without reticence.

The multiple laureate's critical stance toward the government led him to clash with the authorities. After participating in protests by the "green wave” movement against the re-election of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in 2009, P. was arrested and sentenced in 2010 to six years in prison and a 20-year ban on film work. Despite this, the filmmaker found ways to circumvent censorship. He has made films in hiding such as “This is Not a Film” (2011) and “Taxi Tehran” (2015), where, with a minimalist approach, he reflects on his condition as an exiled filmmaker in his homeland, forced to work in secret, and on the difficulties of an artist whose gaze is constantly censored.

Cab Tehran, which won him the Golden Bear in Berlin, shows P. as a taxi driver, discussing with his passengers the daily difficulties of a people subject to rigid norms of social control (I have already devoted an article to this film).

In 2022, P. was arrested again during a visit to the Tehran prosecutor's office to get information about the arrest of two colleagues, and he went on a long hunger strike before being released after seven months.

Shortly before his arrest, he had completed “No Bears,” a film in which he plays a fictionalized version of himself while directing a production remotely along the Iran-Turkey border in a tale that intertwines the desire for personal freedom and the weight of traditions. Screened at the Venice Film Festival, “No Bears” was received as an act of artistic resistance and won the Special Jury Prize.

In February 2023, the ban on leaving the country, in place since 2010, was lifted, finally allowing Panahi to travel to France and re-embrace his daughter after 14 years.

P.'s cinema, called "sordid realism” by Iranian authorities for its direct depiction of society, is an act of profound resistance and resilience. Despite pressure and censorship, Panahi has never abandoned his artistic vision. His films are an authentic and universal portrait of the aspiration for freedom and the struggle for civil rights, transcending geographical boundaries to reach a global audience. His work remains a testament to the indomitable creative force of an unstoppable artist, and a celebration of the dignity of a people in search of a political and ideological “springtime.”

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