No Bears
Directed by Jafar Panahi
Iran
2022
107 mins

Synopsis

This courageous and sophisticated meta-fiction reflects on art, creativity, and borders that can’t be crossed, both geographical and mental. Special Jury Prize, Venice 2022.

“Cut!” A director banned from working or leaving Iran is nevertheless in the process of making a new film, remotely, via video – about a couple who want to emigrate from Turkey to the West. The director is of course Jafar Panahi, again playing a fictionalised version of himself and making ingenious use of highly restricted circumstances. While his crew works on-site in a Turkish border town, Jafar explores the Iranian village just across the border where he’s staying, camera in hand. When he’s accused of taking an incriminating photo, he finds himself enmeshed in a local drama. In the fifth and perhaps most subversive film he’s made under his ban, Panahi questions the role of the artist in a society all too willing to scapegoat them.  

A complex work of novelistic density, this is among the boldest and most accomplished statements from one of the world’s exemplary filmmakers.
Jonathan Romney, Screen International

Tickets

  • Original Title
    KHERS NIST
  • Year
    2022
  • Classification
    All Ages
  • Country
    Iran
  • Language
    In Farsi, Azerbaijani and Turkish with English subtitles
  • Director
    Jafar Panahi
  • Producer
    Jafar Panahi
  • Cast
    Jafar Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Mina Kavani
  • Screenwriter
    Jafar Panahi
  • Cinematographer
    Amin Jafari
  • Editor
    Amir Etminan
  • Genre
    Human Rights, Experimental, Award Winner, Retrospective, Middle East
  • Company Credits
    Rights/Print Source: Tamasa Distribution
Aboriginal FlagTorres Strait Flag

Sydney Film festival acknowledges Australia’s First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land, and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country SFF is based.

We honour the storytelling and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.

Don’t miss a thing!

Whether you’re in Sydney or one of our rural locations, sign up to our newsletters for all the latest news and offers.