One of the world’s great filmmakers, writer-director Jafar Panahi has twice been imprisoned by the Iranian government. He has also been the Golden Lion winner at Venice (The Circle) and the Golden Bear winner at Berlin (Taxi). He now adds Cannes’ Palme d’Or to his honors for this revenge thriller infused with moral complexity, dark humor, and unmistakable rage that begins with a mechanic kidnapping a visitor to his shop. Vahid (Vahid Mobasseri) is convinced that Eghbal (Ebrahim Aziz) is the security officer who tortured him years earlier after authorities blindfolded and detained him. When Eghbal insists Vahid has the wrong man, Vahid invites several friends victimized by the same man to verify his identity. Panahi, informed by his own experience, melds the personal with the political to craft a gripping and powerful genre piece that is both deeply critical of Iran’s repressive regime and bitingly funny. —Tim Grierson
Jafar Panahi
Since making his debut in 1995 with The White Balloon, the winner of that year’s Cannes’ Golden Camera, Jafar Panahihas become one of Iran’s most acclaimed directors as well as one who has often found himself in his government’s crosshairs. Among his films are The Mirror(1997), for which he won Locarno’s Golden Leopard; The Circle (2000), the winner of five awards at the Venice Film Festival, including the Golden Lion; Offside (2006), the winner of the Berlin Silver Bear; Taxi (2015), which garnered the Berlin Golden Bear; 3 Faces (2018), winner of Cannes’ Best Screenplay prize; and No Bears (2022), winner of Venice Film Festival Special Jury Prize.
JAFAR PANAHI: Writer/Director
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