CLOSED CURTAIN (PARDE) World Cinema

Jafar Panahi continues to defy Iran’s brutal 20-year ban on his right to make films with CLOSED CURTAIN, an allegorical narrative that takes aim at his country’s oppressive laws. It is an emotional piece of meta-fiction, examining the director’s government-imposed artistic frustration. Initially, the film casts a critical eye on an Islamic law declaring dogs impure and illegal to own.  Its protagonist is an old man hiding from authorities with his pet at a secluded beach house. Two young fugitives force their way in. Panahi creates palpable tension with this scenario, and then punches a hole right through it when he appears on camera himself, revealing the characters in this story to be the vivid creations of his own imagination. Ultimately an anguished cry for a means of fully realized creative expression, the film is also a formally daring and fiercely intelligent work of civil disobedience.