WHO is he?
Iranian director,
writer, producer and editor who has made seven feature-length films and
numerous short films since the late Eighties. Panahi was arrested in
2010 for alleged propaganda against the current Iranian government and
remains under arrest till date. His first film The White Balloon (1995) won the prestigious Camera D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and The Circle (2000) took the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festivals.
WHAT are his films about?
Themes
Jafar
Panahi’s cinema exhibits a direct influence of Italian Neorealism and
his films too engage with contemporary, social, political and moral
problems. With ample humour and intelligence, they examine the status of
women and ethnic minorities in a conservative society. Panahi assisted
Abbas Kiarostami before starting out on his own and his movies too deal
with the problems of Cinematic Realism. Like Kiarostami’s films, they
probe whether absolute realism in film could be achieved or if it is
only a chimera always out of reach of cinema.
Style
The
style, too, of Panahi’s films is starkly reminiscent of that of Italian
neorealism. These films extensively employ handheld cinematography —
both a necessity and a conscious aesthetic choice. They are shot on
location with natural light and sound. The actors are often
non-professionals unaccustomed to mannered cinematic acting. The mise en
scène — the physical elements of a scene — within a particular film
regularly reinforce its themes visually.
WHY is he of interest?
Despite
being under arrest for the last three years, Panahi has surreptitiously
managed to make two films that have been widely lauded in the
international film scene as being finest examples of art under duress.
In a genuine sort of way, he remains an inspiration for authors around
the world not willing to compromise their politics and seeking to
criticise the state. Even without consideration of this political
context, his work has been ranked as being among the finest of Iranian
and international cinema.
WHERE to discover him?
Born in response to Iran’s ban on women entering football stadiums, Offside
(2006) is a trenchant critique of the nation’s policies towards women.
Panahi’s riveting film unfolds in real time, as we witness a group of
women trying to enter a stadium illegally as a match is in progress.
Accruing detail upon detail, the film presents an enrapturing,
sympathetic yet non-reductive portrait of the gender politics in Iran.
Courtesy- The Hindu
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