May seem absurdist, but it is at least partially autobiographical
Like his countryman Jafar Panahi, a ban on filmmaking didn’t stop Mihandoust and, in the three years he was waiting for the sentence to be enacted, he made this film.
Jailed Iranian filmmaker Navid Mihanoust presents a self-referential tale of a director living in limbo while waiting for a prison sentence.
This satirical tale of an Iranian director who is running a coffee shop while waiting to see if a jail sentence will be enacted at the same time as navigating his turbulent personal life may seem absurdist, but it is at least partially autobiographical.
Director Navid Mihandoustbegan serving his own three-year sentence in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison in August 2023 after being charged with ’acting against national security’ and ’propaganda against the regime through slogan writing’. The charges relate to an unreleased 2009 documentary about Masih Alinejad, a journalist and women’s rights activist.
Like his countryman Jafar Panahi, a ban on filmmaking didn’t stop Mihandoust and, in the three years he was waiting for the sentence to be enacted, he made this film.
Cafe premiered in Thessaloniki’s Open Horizons, and further festival play and arthouse interest seem highly likely going forward; not just because of the filmmaker’s personal story but because of the accessible nature of the film, scripted by David Mihandoust, which interweaves its more melancholy moments with a considerable amount of humour.
We meet Sohrab (veteran stage star Ramin Sayar Dashti) in the middle of a dream that is immediately likely to win over cinephiles as it is composed of snippets of Krystof Kieslowski’s work. Although seemingly random in the moment – as though the Polish auteur’s films ”have been given to a dumb editor,” as Sohrab puts it – it acts as a sort of emotional flip-book of what lies ahead, as ideas encountered here (including a marionette, a lawyer and a regretful son) are heard through the course of the film.
As Sohrab relates the dream the following morning, it becomes apparent that his breakfast companion is an embryo in a jar, whose identity will soon be revealed. The jar represents just one facet of the tension that exists between Sohrab and his wife Mahgol (Mahsa Mahjour), who is studying for a geology doctorate in Isfahan and trying to persuade him over video messages to leave the country with her. There’s a playfulness to the scripting, which brings humour even though the couple are discussing serious things. “Which is more important to you, your marriage or your stupidity?” she asks in a voice message. “Our marriage is part of my stupidity,” he texts back.
At the coffee shop, with its walls lined with photos of famous directors, including Kieslowski, Woody Allen and Jim Jarmusch – all of whom could be said to exert some influence here – he has a surprise visitor. Berke (Setareh Maleki) is a young student who wants to use his cafe for a series of interactive performances. Despite insisting he is “conservative” and knowing full well he’s under surveillance from the authorities, Sohrab agrees, and it is not long before she is setting up shop in a locked cage with the sign, ’Who will help me?’ next to her. As the friendship between him and Berke grows, Sohrab is also coming under increasing pressure from powers that be to turn informant in order to commute his sentence further.
In his off-hours we see Sohrab working on the edit of a film involving children, and his father talking about everything from wishes to God. Meanwhile, opting not to reveal secrets to those who ask for them is set to cost the director liberty. Behind the humour, this is a film that revolves around ideas of choice, the moral dilemmas that can lie behind the decisions people make and the ulterior motives which may not always be immediately apparent.
In the real world, Mihandoustis continuing to make courageous choices. In the week before his film’s premiere it was reported that he had been moved to solitary confinement in Evin. The International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (ICFR), among others, continues to call for his release.
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Independent cinema, the savior of Iranian cinema from recession
Although the Iranian filmmaker, Navid Mihandoust, is in prison, his film "Cafe" was unveiled at the 64th Thessaloniki International Film Festival with a large crowd, and since he himself could not attend, his sister, Neda Mihandoust, traveled to Greece from Toronto and read his message. It should be noted that the film "Cafe" was shown twice in this festival and was well received by the audience. This unique reception shows that this independent cinema can save Iran's cinema, which is dying due to the form of ruling in our country.
In the following, you will read the message of Navid Mihandoust:
This is my voice, Navid Mihandoust, the writer and director of "Cafe", which you hear from Evin Prison in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The government that currently rules my country has put me in prison because of some films I have made. Of course, I have been a bit lucky to be alive until now, because about two years ago, another poet and filmmaker died in this same prison because of lack of timely medical treatment due to Corona. His name was Bektash Abtin.
However, this unfortunate pseudo-murder is a shame for the regime, which 25 years ago by high-ranking members of the Ministry of Intelligence slaughtered some members of the Iranian Writers Association and its attempt to mass kill some of them failed as a result of their good fortune.
Despite all this, I expect the world's community of artists to show an appropriate reaction to the pressure exerted on Iranian artists by the Islamic Republic. I don't expect this from the political authorities of the world for a long time, because I know that for them, the issue of human rights in other countries is just an excuse to gain economic privileges for their respective countries, and not a benevolent and humanitarian cause.
The film I made was made without obtaining permission from the authorities of the Islamic Republic, because I believe that cinema and art have their own world, a world beyond the temporary permits of the rulers. Governments may be able to control and monitor the cinema, but they are never able to silence the voice of independent filmmakers because
If the wall is a wall, it can't avoid having cracks from somewhere!
In the end, I would like to thank the officials of the Thessaloniki festival, who hosted the first public screening of my film, and I hope that the seed of democracy, which was first planted in the ancient country of Greece, will grow a tree in my country, Iran. long live Iran "Woman, Life, Freedom"
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