- Iran
MANUSCRIPTS DON’T BURN
Synopsis
In 1996, a bus carrying 21 Iranian writers was meant to be driven off a cliff; the passengers survived. Years later, three of them wrote down what had happened – manuscripts that are not allowed to be published. Two men acting on behalf of the state are tasked with retrieving the texts and silencing the witnesses. They go about their work like any other job, with family worries on their minds. “Manuscripts Don’t Burn” (Dast-neveshtehaa nemisoozand) by Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran, 2013.
Rasoulof shot the film secretly and without a permit in Iran, despite a twenty-year ban on working. At its premiere in Cannes in 2013, the names of all those involved were omitted to protect them; only the director is credited. The film screened in the Un Certain Regard section and won the FIPRESCI Prize. “Manuscripts Don’t Burn” was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2013.
Festival
Shown at the 2013 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.
