Taxi Tehran

Ingeniously circumventing the Iranian state’s ban on his filmmaking, Jafar Panahi’s Golden Bear winner Taxi Tehran is filmed almost entirely within a makeshift cab. A surprisingly genial statement on the restrictions placed upon him and fellow artists under similar circumstances, Panhai positions a camera on the dashboard of a taxi cab, capturing a flowing assortment of local stories that unfold to ultimately present life under the strain of a repressive regime.

Initially, there's a documentary feel to the film, but it eventually becomes apparent that Panahi has allowed fiction to seep into his taxi, with each of his fares expressing views linked to the reoccurring themes of his previous work. There’s a teacher and mugger who argue about crime and punishment, and even Panahi's own niece makes an appearance, discussing a school project where she’s been asked to shoot a “distributable” film. Panahi’s latest not only highlights the difficulty faced by filmmakers attempting to represent Iranian reality, but how a blend of fact and fiction can sometimes be the only route to unearthing the truth. [Patrick Gamble]