CONCORD, NH – A special movie screening followed by a panel discussion will be held May 8 at Red River Theatre, from 6-9 p.m., creating an integral conversation around – and window into – contemporary Iranian lives.
⇒Click here to reserve a seat for the screening.
The film screening and discussion of Jafar Panahi’s incomparable film, No Bears, will be led by Yasamin Safarzadeh and Nahal Nazer, Somayeh Kashi and Dr. Fatemeh Rahmanifard regarding why Iran is in the middle of ongoing protests targeted at women.
Understanding the history of Iran/Persia is a journey that is tens of thousands of years old and hinges on the understanding that there are different experiences of ‘Iranian’ which range from generation to region to gender identity and sexual orientation. The panel will ask for and explore space and nuance in perceiving Iranian people.
No Bears was illegally shot in Iran and is a satire on the missteps of a protagonist who is an exaggerated version of the writer/director himself as he directs the movie being shot in Turkey through video calls over the border in Iran, exemplifying the traumas of invisible borders.
Panahi was jailed in Iran when he protested the incarceration of fellow filmmakers and subsequently released when he endangered his own life to go on a hunger strike while he was imprisoned for the release of fellow creatives who demand justice for the Iranian people.
The Iranian government, in 2005, originally placed a 6-year imprisonment term on Jafar Panahi and a 20-year ban on his filmmaking, which he continues to disregard in order to create his art – and so the artist continues to accrue more jail time and travel bans, restricting him from leaving Iran except for medical emergencies.
No Bears won the Special Jury Prize in 2022’s Venice Film Festival, the award for Cinematic Bravery at the Chicago Film Festival, a Silver Mirror Award from the Oslo Films from the South Festival, and the SNCCI Award from the Trieste Film Festival.
The free showing of this film and panel discussion was made possible with support from New Hampshire Humanities. Learn more at www.nhhumanities.org.
Donations are strongly encouraged.
Panelists
