FOCUSONASIAAND
THE MIDDLE EASTThe historyof cinemais one definedby the tension
betweenpossibilityand constraint:constraint,because
filmmakinghas so often wrestledwith seriouslimitations,
be they technical,commercialor political;and possibil-
ity, because,in the face of these challenges,artistryhas
nonethelessflourished,from the great achievementsof
the silent era to the radicaland ambitiousunderground
worksthat have emergedwithoutthe supportof estab-
lishedfundingbodies.^1 It’s hard to think of a contemporary
figure in the film world who betterembodiesthat strug-
gle than Jafar Panahi– nor many other nationalcinemas
that have servedas a backdropfor it quite so acutelyas
that of his homeland,Iran. It’s fitting,then, that his latest
work,3 Faces(2018),has both of those at its centre:the
plight of the artist-individualin a repressiveenvironment,
alongsidethe blotted-outhistory of the country’s nascent,
pre-revolution cinema.
To those in the West who are familiarwith him, Panahi
is mostlyknownas the directorwho, in December2010,
was placedunderhousearrest,preventedfromleaving
Iran and bannedfrom makingfilms for twentyyears.^2 Long
beforethis, however,he had establisheda reputationamong
cinephilesas one of Iran’s most formallybrilliantand poli-
ticallyuncompromisingfilmmakers,somethingthat the
conservativeauthoritieswere no doubteager to hobble.
Since his sentencewas handeddown,he has nonetheless
managedto continueto work discreetly,completingfour
featurefilms of increasingnarrativeand technicalcom-
plexity.While these have all been somewhatmakeshiftby
necessity– much ofThis Is Not a Film(2011)takes place
in Panahi’sown apartment,andTaxi(2015)is filmednearly
entirelyfrom a dash cam –3 Faces, with its visual polish,
intercuttingand road-movienarrative,is the first to feel like
a return to the scale of the work he made before his arrest.Thisspread,L–R:ActressBehnazJafariand
directorJafarPanahi;Marziyeh(MarziyehRezaei,
right) with her friend, Maedeh (Maedeh Erteghaei)http://www.metromagazine.com.au | © ATOM | Metro Magazine 201• 59