Divine Comedy

A bitingly sarcastic and refreshingly jazzy satire of Iranian cultural bureaucracy and censorship, about a filmmaker struggling against the system to get his film shown in his home country.

Director Bahram Ark plays Bahram, a director with several uncompromising films behind him. When his latest work is also denied screening approval in Iran, he and his blue-haired producer Sadaf (played by actual producer Sadaf Asgari) refuse to back down and do everything they can to organize a screening. Divine Comedy follows a long day’s battle for artistic freedom in a country where absurd bureaucracy can only be overcome with equally absurd methods. With its wonderfully dry humor and subtly powerful performances, this charming film becomes both an artistic triumph and a quiet act of resistance.

• Johan Blomqvist