No Bears

Bear becomes a metaphor for fear. The filmmaker is not frightened of any dire forces. But he is also not willing to flee the consequences of his attempts at truth-telling.

In the auteur’s latest masterpiece, every moment is suffused with not just purpose, but captivating beauty.

[Jafar Panahi's] latest film, NO BEARS, is an ambitious, powerful piece...

Panahi deftly juggles his stories, merging them together in the devastating final minutes of “No Bears.”

Witty and despairing in equal measure, “No Bears” is a fascinating cinematic layer cake of themes, sorrows, and banked fury.

A master class in house-arrest filmmaking from Jafar Panahi.

When witnessing a film like this, in which the poetic power is given by the heroic act of continuing to film despite circumstances, it is impossible not to think that fiction is a privilege... [Full review in Spanish]

... Perhaps Panahi's most raw and brutal film, as if the persistent censorship that engulfs him is already beginning to leave very deep wounds. [Full review in Spanish]

The control mechanisms disguised as magical realism are one of the many elements through which the Iranian director makes stinging observations about... a country ruled by the Koran interpreted, without exceptions, by men. [Full review in Spanish]

These visible workings foreground questions about cinema itself that usually get swept to one side, gentle provocations about ethics, truth and lies that could be asked of any film.