THE CIRCLE

THE CIRCLE (DAYEREH), 2000
Iran | 35mm, Color, 90' | Persian
Director: Jafar Panahi
Cast: Maryiam Palvin Almani, Nargess Mamizadeh, Mojgan Faramarzi

The Circle is about four women with different backgrounds and trapped within social restrictions. Through his images Panahi draws the spectator into the film and places them right at its center. The film conveys the difficulties of being a woman in a male-dominated society and stigmatized as “ex-cons,” and the stifling atmosphere and living conditions. By choosing to tell the story in a circular motion Panahi further intensifies the socio-political geometry of society. The film, which won the Golden Lion in Venice, is a masterpiece that shows the impossibility of escaping the “circle.”