#iranian-cinema

#iranian-cinema

She appears on camera without the compulsory headscarf for the first time, declaring firmly that she will "under no circumstances" act while wearing a headscarf again.

Even shrunk down on a tiny Zoom display, it is difficult not to be slightly in awe of Jafar Panahi. Probably the world's most famous dissident filmmaker, he is also one of Iran's most prolific - this despite a 20-year filmmaking ban, during which he has made six feature films in secret. One of them, 2011's meta-documentary This Is Not a Film, was smuggled out of Iran on a USB concealed inside a birthday cake.

There are emotional strands that feel laboured it doesn't help that the snippets we hear of Gustav's script sound obvious and tired but Sentimental Value is so frequently and convincingly moving in how it zeroes in on the gaps in affection and acceptance that neglect creates within a family. If art wants to be redemptive, it needs to make honest and sincere connections between its players. It's a familiar maxim that Trier makes lively again: art is not just excavation, but rather renewal.

Winner of the top prize (Palme d'Or) at this year's 2025 Cannes Film Festival, Panahi's It Was Just an Accidentis a gripping thriller that follows a devoted son and mechanic named Vahid (devastatingly performed by Vahid Mobasseri) who suddenly believes that he may or may not have randomly reencountered the government intelligence officer who had brutally tortured him years prior. What ensues is an unstoppable (and borderline overwhelming) spiral that sends Vahid to consult numerous other victims, exploring the dangers of "unresolved devastation and the dangerous thirst for relentless revenge."

Watching " It Was Just an Accident" feels like watching director Jafar Panahi 's tortured yet graceful inner monologue around the merits of forgiveness. The Iranian filmmaker's Palme d'Or-winning film, like his other works, was filmed without official permission from the Iranian government-a tactic that enables him to critique the authoritarian regime creatively and without censorship. It hasn't been without consequences; Panahi was first arrested in 2010, then released, and subsequently placed under house arrest.

Jafar Panahi's new film reflects his personal prison experiences, highlighting the moral struggles of a man confronted with his traumatic past through a kidnapped torturer.