The Iranian Filmmaker who became enemy of the state. Christopher O’Neill JAFAR PANAHI

BACKGROUND Jafar was born In Mianeh, Iran into working class family, he has 4 sisters and 2 brothers, He lived a life of poverty like most people in Iran at the time. His love of Film began at a very young age, his sisters used to make him go to the movies and re-enact scenes of the film with them, His Father, who was also a movie fan, didn’t allow his son to attend the movie theatre feeling that movies weren’t good for him. He would go and see movies anyway, this worked out well until one day he was caught by his Father who was in the same movie theatre as him. This was only a glimmer of his rebellious attitude. One of his major influences was Bicycle thieves which he seen at a young age. He began experimenting with a 8mm camera.

At the age of twenty Jafar joined The Iranian Army and served in the Iran–Iraq war, he was captured in 1981 and held for 76 day. He made a documentary on the war which was later shown on Iranian TV. After his army services Jafar enrolled in College of Cinema and TV, where he studied filmmaking. During his Time at college he worked as a assistant director on his professor’s films. He started to make short films which would later be shown on TV.

DEBUT FEATURE FILM His debut feature was made in 1995 entitles the White Balloon, a simple story about a little girl trying to get hold of a 500-toman banknote in order to buy a lucky Goldfish for the upcoming Iranian New Year. The Film was a massive success, Jafar won the Caméra d’or at Cannes for best debut. It was one of His few films that were not banned in his home country.

His next film entitled the mirror, was an experimental film about a little girl trying to find her way home, and it was also a success that won many awards. His next film Called The Circle however was much more serious. Jafar Panahi begins to become critical of His countries treatment of women, one of the major themes which comes up in his films. The film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film festival and received a lot of acclaim. The film however was banned in Iran.

His next film entitled Crimson Gold is based on a true story about a Jewellery robbery, the movie was never distributed in Iranian theatres as it was considered too dark. The movie however did receive acclaim, What Jafar was exploring with the film is Iranian Class difference. The film won best film at the Chicago International Film Festival. His next film is offside, about a group of young Iranian girls trying to sneak into a football match, the movie was a comedy with serious critiques of the treatment of women, it was banned In Iran.

LEGAL TROUBLES Jafar had been in trouble with the law numerous times throughout the noughties, he was arrested at the morning event of a civilian shot dead at a election protest He has been detained during his travels and has sometimes never been allowed to leave Iran. The most serious trouble began on March 1 st 2010, Jafar and 15 of his friends were arrested and held in prison, he was arrested as a result of trying to make a documentary on the 2009 election, being mistreated in prison and his family at risk, Panahi began a hunger strike in protest, he held it for 7 days until he was released on bail on may 25th Jafar received 6 years imprisonment and a 20 year ban from making films, writing screenplays, and even doing interviews after being convicted of doing propaganda against the government.

REACTION There was a national uproar among filmmakers, Filmmakers such as Ken Loach and film critics such as Roger Ebert called for his release, A letter signed by The coen brothers, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese was sent to the Iranian government urging for his release. President Obama denounced Jafar’s imprisonment, saying his circumstances are a result of a oppressive regime that currently controls the country of Iran.

THIS IS NOT A FILM During his appeal Jafar was kept in house arrest, and during that time he made a documentary Feature entitled This Is Not A Film, shot over a ten day period using a IPhone and a digital camcorder, it film shows Jafar in his house in total frustration at being censored by his own country and awaiting his appeal results. The film was a surprise entry into the Cannes Film Festival, It was smuggled out of Iran on a USB drive that was planted inside of a cake. He also secretly made another film entitled Closed Curtain, it was made using only 4 people and done in secret inside of his home, the film was yet again smuggled out of his country and shown at film festivals, Jafar won the silver Bear for best script.

CONCLUSION In short, even though he has been banned from making movies, Jafar continues to express a powerful message through his use of film and has not allowed the Iranian government to silence him. He still continues to fight against his persecutors. His family have been travelling to different film festivals across the globe to promote his work.