Berlin-based Films Boutique has closed further deals on Iranian drama Subtraction directed by actor/filmmaker Mani Haghighi.
The film, which screened at Toronto and the BFI London Film Festival earlier this autumn, has now gone to Trigon for Switzerland, Mayfly for Poland and Megacom for ex-Yugoslavia. It had previously been acquired by Diaphana in France and September Films in Benelux.
Subtraction is produced by Majid Motalebi and stars Taraneh Alidoosti, Navi Mohammadzadeh, and Esmail Poor Reza. The Iran-France co-production follows a driving instructor who sees her husband on the streets of Tehran when he is supposed to be away on a business trip and suspects him of having an affair. But the explanation for the husband’s behaviour isn’t what it first appears.
Haghighi is one of several prominent Iranian directors who’ve had troubles with the authorities in recent months. Last month his passport was confiscated and he was prevented from boarding a flight to London for the BFI London Film Festival screening of Subtraction.
No explanation was provided for the travel ban but speculation is that it followed critical comments the director made on social media about Iran’s mandatory hijab laws in the wake of the protests around the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.
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