CRITICAL ZONE

Amir drives through nighttime Tehran, his bulldog on board, the voice of the navigation device his only company. He sells hashish and other things – to a young yoga teacher, to patients in hospital, to a flight attendant, to friends – and whoever gets into his car brings a burden they want to be rid of. Amir listens, provides, comforts, a kind of worldly saint of the underworld. Over one night, the encounters line up one after another, and in them a Tehran appears that officially does not exist: drugs, alcohol, women without headscarves, people taking their freedom in secret. “Critical Zone” by Ali Ahmadzadeh is an Iranian film from 2023, shot in a country that forbids such images.

The Iranian director Ali Ahmadzadeh worked without a shooting permit, with hidden mini cameras, non-professional actors and a small crew; Amir Pousti plays Amir. The drives recall Kiarostami and Panahi, while the sound design – echo, city noise, the motherly voice of the GPS – tips them into the feverish. Co-produced with Germany, 99 minutes. The film won the Golden Leopard in Locarno in 2023; the director was not permitted to leave the country, the authorities having previously pressured him to withdraw the film. It was shown at Around the World in 14 Films in Berlin in 2023.

Shown at the 2023 edition of Around the World in 14 Films.

All films 2023 · Film Archive