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The Iranian regime wanted to force the director of “Taxi Tehran” to stop filming. With “No Bear”, Jafar Panahi has achieved a miracle.
By Armin Arefi
Mise en abyme. Jafar Panahi (“Taxi Tehran”, “Three Faces”…) facing an “actress” from “No Bear”. Like all the participants in the film, the Iranian director plays his own role in this new feature film produced between Turkey and Iran.
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VSow do you make a film when you are banned from the cinema? This is the impossible mission set by the Iranian director Jafar Panahi. In prison since July in Tehran for having publicly supported his detained colleague Mohammad Rasoulof, the 62-year-old multi-award-winning filmmaker had nevertheless managed the feat of completing his last feature film on time. No Bear was carried out at the beginning of the year between Turkey and Iran, under the nose and beard of the authorities. To do this, Jafar Panahi, who is still banned from leaving the territory, took the risk of settling in an Iranian village on the border between the two countries. Sitting behind his computer in a rented room, he can then control the shooting remotely, delivering his instructions to the headset.
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