Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who has been barred from leaving the country, arrives at a village on the Iran-Turkey border to supervise a film based on a real-life couple seeking passports to Europe being shot in Turkey, but both his stay and the production run into trouble.
Direction
Panahi directing himself directing—brazen meta-commentary under house arrest.
Writing
Script blurs documentary, fiction, and Panahi's actual imprisonment.
Director
Jafar Panahi
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Panahi was arrested days after completing this film and sentenced to six more years in prison. The movie premiered at Venice while he was behind bars.
The 'bears' villagers fear are likely Revolutionary Guard surveillance—Panahi couldn't name them directly. The title becomes a coded warning about invisible state violence.
IR
