Jafar Panahi
Jafar Panahi (born 1960) is an Iranian director and screenwriter, a major second-generation figure of the Iranian New Wave. He worked as an assistant to Abbas Kiarostami before debuting with The White Balloon, and over subsequent features developed a sharp, often documentary-inflected style focused on women, children, and the marginalized in contemporary Iranian society. Banned from filmmaking by the Iranian state, he has continued working in defiance of the ban, producing several internationally acclaimed films shot in restricted or clandestine conditions. His acclaimed films include The White Balloon, The Circle, Offside, This Is Not a Film, Taxi, and No Bears.