Focus on Jafar Panahi

Resilient, unwavering, uncompromising. Join us in the cinema as we celebrate the career of Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi.

When he visited Australia earlier this year, Iranian New Wave director Jafar Panahi said: “When I look at people, I always look at the social context they come from”. Not only does this illustrate Panahi’s compassion, but it also mirrors his approach to filmmaking. In his films, characters aren’t merely functional; they bring their class, family and upbringing to the story, which all influence the decisions they make – good and bad. 

This comment is particularly profound in its humanism given the oppression that Panahi has faced throughout his career. In 2010, he was arrested, imprisoned and banned from filmmaking by Iranian authorities after he filmed protesters opposing the president of Iran. Fifteen years on, he’s still prohibited from making films – although he’s directed six features in secret during that time – and his ban on leaving Iran has only just been lifted. This year, Panahi was finally free to attend the Cannes Film Festival, where he won the Palme d’Or for his latest film, It Was Just an Accident. 

Join us as we celebrate Panahi’s profound resilience through three stages: his early career, his brazen post-arrest cycle of clandestinely shot films flouting his filmmaking ban, and a new chapter beginning with It Was Just an Accident, signalling a greater creative freedom that’s long overdue.

Reece Goodwin, Curator (Film & TV)