A taxi driver is driving through the vibrant streets of Tehran. Diverse passengers enter the taxi, each candidly expressing their views while being interviewed by the driver who is no one else but the director Jafar Panahi himself. His camera placed on the dashboard of his car, transforming de facto his car into a mobile film studio, captures the spirit and contradictions of Iranian society through this comedic and dramatic drive. Banned from travelling and making films in 2010, Jafar Panahi has managed to astonish us with his beautiful trilogy composed of This is not a Film (2011), Closed Curtain (2013) and now Taxi, winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. 

'I’m a filmmaker. I can’t do anything else but make films. Cinema is my expression and the meaning of my life. Nothing can prevent me from making films as when being pushed to the ultimate corners I connect with my inner self and in such private spaces, despite all limitations, the necessity to create becomes even more an urge. Cinema as an Art becomes my main preoccupation. That is the reason why I have to continue making films under any circumstances to pay my respect and feel alive.’ (Jafar Panahi)

Golden Bear & Fipresci Prize, Berlin Film Festival 2015

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