Banned Iranian director Panahi’s ‘Taxi’ wins Berlin’s Golden Bear

Banned Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s “Taxi”, which shows a cabby driving an odd assortment of people around Tehran but is really a condemnation of censorship, won the Golden Bear for best film on Saturday at the Berlin International Film Festival. The award, which the director was not in Berlin to accept, was hailed by German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as “an important sign for the freedom of art.” The film is an apparently whimsical but ultimately profound look at life and filmmaking in Iran, shot from the interior of a taxi with the director at the wheel.

This is an important artistic and political acknowledgment of the film that makes me very proud.

Iranian journalists at a post-awards news conference said Jafar Panahi issued this statement on Instagram

Panahi was banned from making films for 20 years and sentenced to six years in prison for “propaganda against the system”. He was later released into house arrest but still banned from leaving the country, shooting films or scriptwriting. The award was accepted on Panahi’s behalf by a girl identified on the Berlin festival’s website as Hana Saeidi, who cried as she stood in front of the glittering audience. Saeidi appears in the film and, according to the website, is Panahi’s niece. But, because of sensitivities surrounding the film, the people appearing in it are not listed in the credits.

Arts Golden Bear