Taxi Tehran

A yellow taxi winds its way through the bustling streets of Tehran. At the wheel is the director himself, Jafar Panahi, with whom his colorful passengers candidly share their thoughts. A camera mounted on the dashboard captures the everyday life of Iranian society through conversations that are by turns comical and dramatic.

The 2015 film Taxi Tehran playfully blurs the lines between documentary and fiction: it is often difficult to tell what is real and what is fiction. Panahi shot the film five years after being banned from filmmaking; it was honored with the Golden Bear and the FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival.

At the 2026 Budapest International Film Festival, Jafar Panahi will receive the first Parrhesia Award. Taxi Tehran will be screened on the occasion of the award ceremony.

Berlin International Film Festival - Golden Bear Award and FIPRESCI Prize
Toronto International Film Festival
San Sebastian Film Festival

Jafar Panahi is one of the leading figures in contemporary Iranian cinema. His body of work is characterized by a strong social conscience, an exploration of topics considered taboo in Iran, and creative reflections on artistic and social issues. In 2010, the Iranian court sentenced him to six years in prison and banned him for twenty years from filmmaking, screenwriting, giving interviews, and leaving the country. However, this did not prevent him from continuing his work. During his ban, he completed, among others, the films This Is Not a Film (2011), Closed Curtain (2013), Taxi Tehran (2015), and Three Faces (2018). His films, shot in secret, were smuggled out of Iran via various data storage devices and made their way to international film festivals. In 2025, his film It Was Just an Accident won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He also made this film in secret, without an official filming permit.

To mark the presentation of the Parrhesia Award, we will screen his film Taxi Tehran, which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2015.

The White Balloon (1995)
The Circle (2000)
Offside (2006)
No Bears (2022)
It Was Just an Accident (2025)

Original title: Taxi Tehran
Director: Jafar Panahi
Cast: Jafar Panahi, Hana Saeidi
Cinematography: Jafar Panahi
Screenwriter: Jafar Panahi
Producer: Jafar Panahi
Editor: Jafar Panahi
Music: Mossoumeh Lahidji
Hungarian Distributor: Cirko Films
Colour: colour
Run Time: 82 mins