You made it to Saturday.

A chief cultural export, Iran’s films often shimmer. Former Monitor film critic David Sterritt, two decades retired, has been credited with helping to draw global attention to the artistry of Iranian cinema. Our current critic, Peter Rainer, also celebrates it.

“The irony is that repressive regimes often force filmmakers to come up with more creative, encoded solutions,” Peter says. “This was true of filmmakers in countries like Poland and Czechoslovakia in the Soviet era, and it’s true in Iran today, though in his latest film, Jafar Panahi is saying the quiet part out loud.”

Today, Peter reviews a film – made with French financial backing, and actually entered by France for the international-film Oscar – by that Iranian director. “He’s fearless,” says Peter, “and so is his movie.”

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Also: On our “Why We Wrote This” podcast, writer Scott Baldauf joins me to talk about seeing the United States with a fresh perspective after many years spent living and working abroad. You can listen here.

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