Taxi Tehran
Ajyal Competition
Jafar Panahi / Feature Narrative / Iran / 2015 / 82 min / Colour / DCP2K
In Farsi / Arabic, English subtitles
Interests: Drama, Docufiction
MENA Premiere
Rated: Parental guidance advised for viewers under the age of 15. Individuals under the age of 15 are not admitted into cinemas unless accompanied by an individual aged 18 or over.
Synopsis
Celebrated as one of the world’s most influential filmmakers after films like ‘The White Balloon’ (1995), ‘The Circle’ (2000) and ‘Offside’ (2006), since 2010 Jafar Panahi has been under house arrest. The filmmaker’s immediate response was to make the documentary ‘This Is Not a Film’ in 2011, in the form of a video diary shot entirely within his apartment. His ‘Closed Curtain’, co-directed by Kambuzia Partovi, followed in 2013, for which Panahi took the Silver Bear for Best Script at the Berlin International Film Festival.
With ‘Taxi Tehran’, his most recent film, Panahi places himself in the driver’s seat of a cab and takes passengers to their destinations, in a film that never quite admits whether it is documentary or fiction. The taxi becomes a sort of confessional in which, encouraged by the director, his fares – among them a self-confessed thief, a DVD pirate and two women with a bowl of goldfish and a hectic schedule – speak of their troubles and expectations. It is fascinating to see Panahi coax a dramatic and often very funny narrative from these encounters as he draws a wonderful portrait of contemporary Tehran. ‘Taxi Tehran’ had its world premiere at the Berlinale, where it was awarded the Golden Bear, the festival’s highest honour.
About the Directors
Jafar Panahi was born in 1960 in Mianeh, Iran. He is an award-winning director, writer and producer, whose films have garnered such honours as the Camera d’Or from the Festival de Cannes (for ‘The White Balloon’, 1977), the Golden Leopard from the Festival del Film Locarno (for ‘The Mirror’, 2000), the Cannes Jury Prize (for ‘Crimson Gold’, 2003); and two Silver Bears from the Berlinale (Best Director for ‘Offside’, 2012; Best Script for ‘Closed Curtain’, 2013). ‘Taxi Tehran’, his most recent film, premiered at the Berlinale, where it won the Golden Bear.
Credits
- Director
- Jafar Panahi
- Screenwriter
- Jafar Panahi
- Sales Company
- Celluloid Dreams
- Production Company
- Jafar Panahi Film Productions
- Distributor
- Moving Turtle
- Cast
- Jafar Panahi, Hana Saidi, Nasrin Sotoudeh