The Witness

Nader Saeivar's Iranian film follows Tarlan, a retired dance teacher. She witnesses the murder of her friend Rana by her husband, but the husband is a senior figure in the state and the police refuse to open an investigation. The subject is the cost of testimony. Tarlan's telling produces no result; instead her own life begins to narrow. The narrative does not frame the pursuit of justice as heroism but shows it as a process of attrition. The screenplay was written with Jafar Panahi and the film was shot in Iran without official permission. Those conditions shape the form as well; the locations are enclosed, the crew small and the shooting plain. Maryam Boubani leads. Who it's for: those who like independent Iranian cinema and political drama. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a story of justice that reaches resolution; the film provides no such ending.