Happy 60th Birthday, Jafar Panahi! Born today in 1960, this Iranian film editor, screenwriter and director is commonly associated with the Italian New Wave film movement.
After several years of making short films and working as an assistant director for fellow Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, film producer and film editor Abbas Kiarostami, Panahi achieved international recognition with his feature film debut.
This was with the 1995 Iranian family/drama film 'Badkonake sefid' ('The White Balloon'). Panahi edited the film and Kiarostami wrote the screenplay.
'The White Balloon' is set on New Year's Eve in Tehran, where it's a tradition to buy or catch a fish.
Seven-year-old Razieh (Aida Mohammadkhani) yearns for a new goldfish for her family's pond. But in ninety minutes, all of the shops will close for a week-long holiday.
After she and her brother, Ali (Mohsen Kalifi), convince their mother (Fereshteh Sadr Orfani) to give them the family's last 500 tomans, they must make it to the market in time, ward off shady characters looking to prey on them and hang on to the money.
The film was selected as the Iranian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 68th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. Iran unsuccessfully tried to withdraw the film from contention but the Academy refused to accept the withdrawal.
Afterwards, Panahi was quickly recognized as one of Iran's most influential filmmakers. His films were often banned in Iran, but he continued to receive international acclaim from film theorists and critics and won numerous awards.
His films are known for their humanistic perspective on life in Iran, often focusing on the hardships of children, the impoverished, and women.
Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York City Hamid Dabashi has written, "Panahi does not do as he is told—in fact he has made a successful career in not doing as he is told."
In March 2010, after several years of conflict with the Iranian government over the content of his films (including several short-term arrests), Panahi was arrested, along with his wife, daughter, and fifteen friends, and later charged with propaganda against the Iranian government.
In December 2010, despite support from filmmakers, film organizations, and human rights organizations around the world, Panahi was sentenced to six years in prison with a twenty-year ban on directing any movies, writing screenplays, giving interviews with Iranian or foreign media, or leaving the country except for medical treatment or making the Hajj pilgrimage.
The clandestine documentary was shot partially on an iPhone and smuggled into France in a cake for a last-minute submission to the 64th Cannes Film Festival in May 2011.
It depicts the day-to-day life of acclaimed Iranian director Panahi during his house arrest in his Tehran apartment along with his pet iguana.
While appealing his sentence - six years in prison and a twenty-year ban from filmmaking-Panahi is seen talking to his family and lawyer on the phone, discussing his blight with Iranian filmmaker and film producer Mojtaba Mirtahmasb and reflecting on the meaning of the art of filmmaking
In the late 2010s, Panahi won the Award for Best Screenplay (tied) 71st Cannes Film Festival for his 2018 Iranian drama/road film 'Se rokh' ('3 Faces').
However, he was unable to leave Iran to attend the festival, so his daughter, Iranian actress Solmaz Panahi, read his statement and received the award on his behalf.
Like many Iranian filmmakers, Panahi has occasionally combined what is essentially a realist aesthetic (allowing for socio-political critique) with a playful, even quizzical approach to film form that undercuts conventional notions of reality and representation.
Panahi has been active from 1988–present.
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