Hit the Road

  31st May 19:00 - Live at Parabola Arts Centre

In Competition

The directorial debut of Panah Panahi, son of the persecuted Iranian master Jafar Panahi, director of world cinema classics The White Balloon, The Circle and Taxi Tehran (made under house arrest). Panah’s film features many familiar traits of Iranian cinema: panoramic landscapes, self-reflexive realism and complex adult issues as seen through the eyes of an inquisitive child. In true Iranian style, much of the action takes place in a car, as an intriguing domestic narrative evolves alongside a secretive road trip. We never know why Mother (Pantea Panahiha) and Dad (Hassan Madjooni) have left their home to smuggle their adult son (Amin Simiar), out of the country. Instead, the film concentrates on the consequences of the decision: the need for family unity and loyalty for the safety of the son and the protection of his feisty six-year-old Little Brother (Rayan Sarlak, a definite crowd-pleaser). Panahi uses deadpan humour with great skill to offset the darkness of the drama, which remains a haunting mystery even after the closing shot.

Persian with English subtitles