Jafar Panahi's car share

“Here is a rose for the people of cinema, because the people of cinema can be relied on.” Civil rights attorney, Taxi (2015)

Fermanagh Film Club takes us on a stirring journey into the heart of Tehran with Jafar Panahi's award-winning, Taxi.

Filmmaking in Iran is a fraught business, writers and directors forced to work under severe restrictions, the government prohibiting materials it perceives as "sordid realism". Known as the 'Master Poet of Iranian Cinema', Panahi - in films, such as The Circle (2000) and Offside (2006) - depicted the everyday struggles facing his country's people. It is little surprise then that he eventually ran afoul of the authorities and, in 2010, was convicted of, "colluding with the intention to commit crimes against the country’s national security and propaganda against the Islamic Republic”.

Continuing to defy the court order banning him from filmmaking for 20 years, Panahi took to the streets of Tehran to make his latest film, masquerading as a cabbie, in a taxi fitted with three discreet cameras. Described as a "victory for freedom of speech and the art of cinematic filmmaking, Taxi is built around his encounters with the various passengers he picks-up.

In the process, it reveals not only the modern Iran and the spirit and resilience of the country's people, but speaks too to Panahi's bravery and brilliance as a filmmaker.

Taxi screens 8pm, Weds, 16 March 2016, at Fermanagh Film Club, Blakes of The Hollow (Enniskillen)

Fermanagh Film Club is a member of  FilmHubNI