In his latest film, Mohsen Amiryousefi imagines a conversation with death, returning to the works and restrictions that have marked his life as a filmmaker since his Cannes success in 2004. It is also his first time acting in one of his own films.
The Iranian director will be absent when the film has its world premiere at the 70th London Film Festival, which runs from 7 to 18 October 2026. Amiryousefi has been denied a UK visa and is facing a film ban in Iran.
The Persian-language film is described as a black comedy with grotesque and satirical elements. It was made without formal permits from Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Guidance and shot underground.
The festival is hosting 127 films in 232 showings across the city.
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Amiryousefi’s first feature, made in 1382, won the Golden Camera award at Cannes Film Festival in 2004. When he returned to Iran, state authorities banned the film.
Over 23 years of filmmaking, four of his films accumulated 29 years of confiscation. None of his films received screening permits while awaiting release, and the Ministry of Culture and Guidance has withheld permission for his work to be exported.
He nevertheless managed to take films to foreign festivals, making work without formal permits. Hardline government figures have repeatedly criticised him for his films.
The new film turns that history into its subject. In the imagined exchange with death, Amiryousefi reflects on his work and his life under the limitations imposed after the Cannes award.
Pressure on the director has continued alongside the film’s selection. On 7th of Mehr, he was summoned to the prosecutor’s office of the Ministry of Guidance in Tehran after what was described as a ‘tense’ contact from the Ministry of Intelligence.
A film made under restrictions in Iran will play at the London Film Festival without its director present.
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