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"The very fact that this film exists is cause for celebration: it's the second time, after This Is Not A Film, that Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has managed to defy the 20-year-filmmaking ban imposed on him by the Islamic republic's authorities." - Screen
A Silver Bear-winner at the Berlinale for Best Script, Closed Curtain begins as the story of a man who has barricaded himself inside an Iranian villa in order to protect his dog from being seized by the authorities. As other characters appear, the narrative becomes more enigmatic and a film-within-a-film structure emerges, featuring Panahi (The White Balloon, MIFF 2006; Offside, MIFF 2005) himself.
Clearly autobiographical, this is a thoughtful, somewhat meta-fictional, account of despair that is balanced by the touching relationship between man and dog (in a very cute performance).
After the film's success in Berlin, the Iranian government protested by confiscating the passports of co-director Kamboziya Partovi and actress Maryam Moghadam. Panahi remains under house arrest in Tehran.
"Beautifully composed and patiently told." - Indiewire
D Jafar Panahi, Kamboziya Partovi P/S Jafar Panahi WS Celluloid Dreams L Farsi w/English subtitles TD DCP/2013