Goodbye

Iranian director Rasoulof has recently stirred passions among the global film community after being sentenced to jail and banned from filmmaking in his home country along with his fellow countryman and filmmaker Jafar Panahi. This latest film shows why he might trouble the authorities – but also why he won the Un Certain Regard director’s prize at Cannes in 2011. The film tells in a steely, unfussy fashion (its often dark and interior style perhaps a result of being shot in secret) of the attempts of a young woman to leave Iran illegally. Rasoulof captures a climate of fear and suspicion while crafting a deeply compassionate portrait of a woman in crisis. It’s gripping and saddening.