Taxi Tehran

★★★★ "Subtle, humorous and humane" The Guardian
"A great film, a funny film and - predominately - a defiant film" Little White Lies

Winner of the Golden Bear at the 2015 Berlinale, Jafar Panahi’s latest film is a spare and moving road movie exploring—with characteristic nuance and sensitivity—the social and political climate in contemporary Tehran. Shot in secret and entirely from the confines of a taxi cab, Panahi plays a loosely scripted, taxi-driving version of himself, seen travelling across the city, picking up a wide array of passengers and speaking, arguing and thinking with them.

Reminiscent of Kiarostami’s Ten in concept and style, and featuring wonderfully authentic performances from its cast of non-actors, Taxi Tehran finds a perfect blend between documentary realism and cinematic poetry that few outside of contemporary Iranian cinema achieve. A vital piece of filmmaking from one of cinema’s most urgent voices.

Taxi Tehran, dir. Jafar Panahi, Iran 2015, 85 mins, Persian with English subtitles.