JAFAR PANAHI - Director

JAFAR PANAHI - Director

From Team Deakins by James Ellis Deakins, Roger Deakins

May 27, 2026 · 1h 6m · Season 2 · Episode 195

About this episode

In this episode, director Jafar Panahi discusses his filmmaking journey, censorship challenges, and the unique approaches he takes in his films.

SEASON 2 - EPISODE 195 Jafar Panahi - Director In this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast, we speak with director Jafar Panahi (IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT, NO BEARS, THE WHITE BALLOON). Growing up amidst poverty in Tehran, Jafar's love for cinema began in childhood and led him to enroll in the film program at university. Unsatisfied with his final student film, he destroyed it, but he reveals to us why and shares how his approach to directing every subsequent film changed for the better. Throughout the episode, we discuss how he actually makes his movies—both as a filmmaker and as a citizen contesting with censorship and an authoritarian government. We discuss the making of THE WHITE BALLOON and THE CIRCLE, and Jafar shares how he attempts to make the events in his films feel as if they really happened. We also learn how and why he brings in non-actors during the casting process, and he reveals how he and his crew try to avoid government raids. We also discuss the making of IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT, which features a return to a more traditional form of storytelling compared with Jafar's preceding films, and he reflects on his period of making films while being banned from…

People in this episode

Hosts: James Ellis Deakins, Roger Deakins

Guest: Jafar Panahi

Topics covered

  • cinema
  • directing
  • censorship
  • storytelling
  • non-actors
  • filmmaking process

Keywords

  • Jafar Panahi
  • censorship
  • filmmaking
  • non-actors
  • THE WHITE BALLOON
  • IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT
  • THE CIRCLE
  • storytelling

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT, NO BEARS, THE WHITE BALLOON, THE CIRCLE

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