How an Iranian director filmed a masterpiece while under a twenty-year government ban

Entertainment · Published 3 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Jafar Panahi was forbidden from making films by the Iranian government in 2010. Undeterred, he took to the streets of Tehran, posing as a taxi driver to capture candid conversations with his passengers. The resulting docufiction, Taxi, became a daring act of dissent that won the prestigious Golden Bear award.

In 2010, the Iranian government imposed a twenty-year ban on director Jafar Panahi, prohibiting him from filmmaking and traveling abroad. Rather than silencing his creative output, the restriction pushed Panahi to explore new methods of production. While his previous works, such as This Is Not a Film and Closed Curtain, were produced in extreme secrecy within private residences, Taxi saw him move his camera into the public sphere. By posing as a share taxi driver in Tehran, Panahi engaged with a diverse array of passengers—from human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh to pirated video vendors—who candidly shared their lives, struggles, and perspectives on Iranian society.

The film serves as a complex portrait of the capital, blending documentary-like realism with scripted elements. Panahi’s niece, Hana Saeidi, plays a central role, navigating the tension between artistic freedom and the state-imposed rule of avoiding siahnamayi, or the portrayal of a dark image of the country. The narrative touches on sensitive topics, including the 2014 detention of activist Ghoncheh Ghavami and the moral dilemmas of ordinary citizens facing poverty and crime. Despite the risks, Panahi has remained defiant, stating that the necessity to create becomes an urgent impulse when he is pushed into a corner.

Taxi premiered at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival in 2015, where it won the Golden Bear. Because Panahi could not leave Iran, his niece accepted the award on his behalf. Jury president Darren Aronofsky praised the work as a love letter to cinema. While the film received universal acclaim from critics—earning a 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes—it faced criticism from Iranian authorities, who accused the festival of spreading misunderstanding. Panahi continues to plead for the film to be screened publicly in his home country, maintaining his commitment to his art despite the ongoing legal limitations.

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