Crimson Gold

Filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Abbas Kiarostami reunite to create the award-winning crime film with understanding at its heart.

Each night Hussein (played by real-life pizza delivery person Hossain Emadeddin) traverses Tehran’s wealthy neighbourhoods on his motorbike, delivering fast food. With each new encounter with the city’s elite, Hussein is reminded of his lowly place in the social strata. When his friend Ali (Kamyar Sheisi) finds a purse containing a receipt for a luxury necklace, the men are aghast at the price, and they are assumed to be petty criminals.

The insult plants a seed in Hussein’s mind that he cannot shake.

Curator’s Note

Beginning with a bang, Jafar Panahi’s fourth feature as director flips the crime film on its head. Opening with a heist-gone-wrong, the narrative swiftly winds back to park the ‘what’, and focus instead on the 'why'.

Based on a true story and written by Abbas Kiarostami, Crimson Gold is said to have been born from a story told during a car ride the two directors shared. The film became the final collaboration between the pair.

Banned in Iran due to Panahi’s refusal to make significant changes to the final cut, Crimson Gold premiered at the 56th Cannes Film Festival where it received the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize.

Reece Goodwin, Curator (Film & TV)