In this gripping blend of fact and fiction, revered Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi (3 Faces, MIFF 2018; Closed Curtain, MIFF 2013; Offside, MIFF 2006) decides whether to cross a line for his beliefs.

Panahi has ostensibly been making a docudrama about a Turkish couple who are procuring fake passports to cross the border into Europe. He directs them remotely beyond the Iranian border he himself cannot cross – he still faces house arrest for his filmmaking – but, coaxed on by his assistant director, ponders whether to transgress his home country’s limits. Meanwhile, the previously fawning villagers who have hosted him are growing suspicious. And are there really bears out there in the dark?

Moments of profound and painful symbolism abound in this trademark playful yet soul-achingly metatextual drama, which was awarded a Special Jury Prize at Venice. Shooting across this demarcation line, Panahi – here seen as his own avatar – raises questions about the flimsiness of nation-states’ frontiers, the corruptive effect of parochialism and the repressive power of dogma. But, ultimately, this startlingly self-aware work reminds us of Panahi’s bravery every time he treads the tightrope of sedition through storytelling.

“Brilliant, furious and despairing ... A work of extraordinary emotional power, conceptual ingenuity and critical force.” – Los Angeles Times

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