No Bears directed by Jafar Panahi will open the Tokyo FILMex International Film Festival which will take place from October 29 until November 6, 2022.

Jafar PANAHI is staying temporarily in a small village near the border, in order to direct his latest film online from Iran, as it is shot in Turkey. As he makes his film depicting the anguish of an Iranian couple planning to emigrate to Europe from their exile in Turkey, he becomes unintentionally involved at the same time in a village dispute concerning a woman about to be forced into a marriage against her choosing based on local traditions… Although PANAHI has taken substantial risks for decades in creating self-referential films in the pursuit of personal, political, and artistic freedom, never before has he tackled so directly the human determination to flee oppression. PANAHI was detained on the spot in July of this year when he visited the authorities to inquire about and aid Mohammed RASOULOF and one other who had been arrested earlier. This film saw its world premiere at the 2022 Venice International Film Festival in early September, amidst international condemnation of the Iranian authorities who arrested PANAHI. (Tokyo FILMex2022)

Trailer:

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