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NO BEARS

(Khers Nist)

خرس نیست

A Film by Jafar Panahi

Limited Theatrical Engagement

New York

Opens December 23

Los Angeles

Opens January 13

Encino

Opens January 20

** WINNER - Special Jury Prize - Venice Film Festival 2022 ** 

"THE CURRENTLY INCARCERATED IRANIAN DIRECTOR DELIVERS”
- Variety

"DON'T MISS 'NO BEARS'"
- The New York Times

“A MASTERWORK.
PANAHI ONCE AGAIN USES HIS SITUATION TO PRODUCE SOMETHING THAT’S SOMEHOW LIFE-AFFIRMING AND DEEPLY DEVASTAING.”
- Rolling Stone

“BRILLIANT.
INSTANTLY GRIPPING, FORMALLY INGENIOUS.”
- Los Angeles Times

In his new virtuosic sleight-of-hand — completed shortly before his imprisonment in July 2022 — Jafar Panahi plays a fictionalized version of himself, who has relocated to a rural border town in Iran to remotely direct a new film in nearby Turkey. While there, he finds himself thrust in the middle of a local scandal, confronting the opposing pulls of tradition and progress.

A statement from Jafar Panahi:

“We are filmmakers. We are part of Iranian independent cinema. For us, to live is to create. We create works that are not commissioned. Therefore, those in power see us as criminals. Independent cinema reflects its own times. It draws inspiration from society. And cannot be indifferent to it.

“The history of Iranian cinema witnesses the constant and active presence of independent directors who have struggled to push back censorship and to ensure the survival of this art. While on this path, some were banned from making films, others were forced into exile or reduced to isolation. And yet, the hope of creating again is a reason for existence. No matter where, when, or under what circumstances, an independent filmmaker is either creating or thinking about creation. We are filmmakers, independent ones.”

Though banned from filmmaking and from leaving the country since 2010, Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi has employed docufiction techniques to evade further sanctions, winning awards internationally at film festivals that he is unable to attend. In his latest, Panahi – as himself – relocates to a small town along the Turkish border to direct his crew from afar in making a film about a couple attempting to flee the country. As events in the small town begin to mirror those of the film, the filmmaker’s own circumstances and the impact of the production on his supporters threatens danger. Not since THIS IS NOT A FILM, has Panahi so explicitly addressed the ramifications of his sentencing, this time implicating himself, in this collaborative artform.

Just prior to the film’s Venice premiere, a government crackdown saw the arrest of fellow Iranian filmmakers Mohammad Rasoulof and Mostafa Aleahmad. Panahi barged into the prosecutor’s office to inquire about their well-being and was promptly arrested himself. He now serves his deferred six-year sentence. The film went on to win the Venice Film Festival Special Jury Prize. – Malin Kan

Cast:

Jafar Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobaseri, Bakhtiar Panjei, Mina Kavani