KOLKATA: It has been called a film of quiet but profound outrage. Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi’s film ‘Taxi’, to be screened at Nandan I as part of KIFF on Thursday, has generated considerable curiosity among film buffs and critics who are eager to watch how the rebel film-maker, now under house arrest in Tehran on charges of sedition, managed to sneak out of hishome and shoot a film.

The film was shot using a hidden camera inside a moving taxi that Panahi himself drives down the roads of Tehran. The film is a real-life account of passengers’ interaction with Panahi.

‘Taxi’ has been compared to fellow Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiorostami’s film ‘Ten’ that had been similarly shot inside a moving car. But Panahi’s film, according to reviews, is a bolder depiction of the accounts of his passengers, some of whom are just as disgusted as him with the lack of freedom in their country. His passengers in the film include Nasrin Sotoudeh, a lawyer and a human rights figure who had often joined movements with Panahi.

In the film, she extends a rose to the camera telling viewers that films remain trustworthy and help to carry on the fight for freedom and justice. ‘Taxi’ was released in August this year and received the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

Film historian and writer Sanjoy Mukhopadhyay, who had met Panahi at the KIFF in 2003, recalled an unassuming and soft-spoken young man who was eager to visit Coffee House and other hang-outs of the intellectuals in the city. “I took him around the city, mostly to tourist spots like Kalighat and Victoria Memorial. But Panahi was keen to know about the city’s intellectuals and their activities. He came across as a sharp, young film-maker eager to explore Kolkata. He was an emerging film-maker then and had not yet become famous,” recalled Mukhopadhyay.

The film is a bold, defiant attempt to break through the shackles that he has been put under, added Mukhopadhyay. “It is a revolt and an expression of anger and disgust at being denied freedom. For us, it is difficult to imagine how life would be in a country like Iran where film-makers and artists don’t have the freedom to show what they want to. They don’t even have the right to choose a subject. ‘Taxi’ conveys this feeling of being stifled. It must be a fascinating film,” he said.

According to Ray scholar Ujjal Chakrabarty, Panahi’s film is futuristic and shows the way for others to follow. “Two years ago, Antonioni had predicted that the future of cinema lay in using small, inexpensive cameras. They could even be shot using concealed cameras to get around the paraphernalia of shooting a film in the conventional way. Panahi has taken that route. He has shown that it is possible to shoot a film despite being under house arrest,” said Chakrabarty. The film stars Panahi’s niece Hana Saeidi, other than the real-life passengers.

Maker of celebrated films like ‘Crimson Gold’, ‘Off-side’ and ‘The Circle’, Panahi has been banned from making films and prohibited from leaving the country for 20 years.