Film: "3 Faces"
Once more defying a filmmaking ban, Iranian director Jafar Panahi sounds the depths of traditional values in a road movie with actress Behnaz Jafari.
Discussion follows with Cannes Film Festival critic Jean-Michel Frodon
Traditional ideas about male virility and a woman’s place in the home are challenged in Jafar Panahi’s allusive think piece, the fourth feature film he has made since being officially banned from directing films by the Iranian authorities. As deceptively simple as its title, which refers to three actresses of times past, present and to come, the no-budget 3 Faces is charming Iranian cinema at its purest, defiantly modern in its liberating message about freedom of choice.
Well-known actress Behnaz Jafari (playing herself) is distraught by a provincial girl’s video plea for help, after her family’s refusal to let her pursue her studies at the Tehran drama conservatory. Jafari abandons her current shoot and turns to filmmaker Jafar Panahi to help solve the mystery of the young girl’s troubles. They take a road trip through the rural northwest of Iran, where they have amusing encounters with village folk—but the city visitors soon discover that protection of age-old traditions is as persistent as local hospitality.
D: Jafar Panahi, Iran, subtitled, 1h40m