Programmed November 2025

Directed by Jafar Panahi

As his Palme d’Or–winning latest It Was Just an Accident comes to theaters this fall, revisit the vital, self-reflexive, slyly perceptive films of the brilliant Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi, whose every work is an act of resistance. In his first two films, the neorealist revelations The White Balloon and The Mirror , Panahi used the deceptively simple guise of the children’s film to skirt official censorship, offering vivid portraits of Tehran street life through the eyes of young girls on everyday adventures through the city. Officially banned from filmmaking since 2010 on the grounds of political dissent, Panahi has nevertheless found innovative ways to continue working: This Is Not a Film was shot in his own apartment and smuggled out of…