Artists create not because they’ve been given permission to do so, but simply because they must. This certainty illuminates filmmaking duo Hossein Keshavarz and Maryam Ataei’s Tehran-set drama “The Friend’s House Is Here,” a sophisticated and heroic celebration both of Iran’s brave communities of underground artists who boldly express themselves despite their autocratic government’s attempts to muzzle them, and of the country’s resilient women who recently led the pivotal “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement.
Shot entirely (and perilously) in secret, much like the recent, genre-defying work of Jafar Panahi (including the Oscar-nominated “It Was Just An Accident”), and completed in the aftermath of the June War, “The Friend’s House Is Here” was reportedly smuggled out of the country once the ongoing protests, with thousands of confirmed deaths, erupted. In that regard, Keshavarz and Ataei’s spirited effort feels like a modern-day heir to virtuosos like Panahi,…
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