Premiering at the Venice Film Festival, “The Witness” has been sold to Benelux (Edgy), France (Jour2fete) and No.mad Entertainment (Italy). The film’s German distributor is Missing Films, as previously reported. The film, which is directed by Nader Saeivar and co-written by Saeivar and Jafar Panahi, debuts with its trailer (below). “I’ve been working with Jafar Panahi and ‘3 Faces’ since 2017. He taught me that it’s possible to make a good film with a small group of people, in secret. Maybe this kind of filmmaking was actually invented by Panahi himself?” wondered Saeivar. Panahi has been repeatedly prosecuted and arrested, and was recently released from prison in 2023 after going on hunger strike. “I’m proud that he’s been by my side, like a teacher, in all three films I’ve made. I’ve learned not to be afraid, not to make excuses and just make films.” In "The Witness," a retired dance teacher claims that her friend was murdered by her violent — and powerful — husband. The police refuse to investigate, and her own family wants her to keep quiet. But Tarlan (Maryam Bobani) isn't going to give up so easily. "The Iranian women's struggle for freedom reached its peak during the Iranian Revolution of 1978. Unfortunately, it was suppressed from the beginning. By choosing an older woman as the main character, I wanted to show the continuation of this movement," Saeivar said. But the struggle itself has actually changed a lot. "Now there is no sign of violence. This generation started the struggle by dancing and wants to win it by dancing. They are not afraid and they are happy." In the film, however, it's not just men who try to control women.

“There are many traditional, religious women in Iran. They live in small towns and villages and believe that they should live their lives like their mothers. They believe that politics is not their business. The ones you see in the media, who bravely say no to tyranny and fascism, do not represent all Iranian women. But they are undoubtedly among the best.” Saeivar, who gave “The Witness” a thriller twist, does not want to make films for just “ten days of a festival.” “I want it to ‘circulate’ among people and attract more viewers. Moreover, I am not in a position to tell festival audiences anything. They probably know more about the situation in Iran than I do. Instead, I talk to audiences in small towns, who buy tickets, because they should be more aware of what is happening to Iranian women.” His leading lady cannot count on anyone to help her. That does not stop her – nor do threats and constant harassment. “It is true. She does not give up, but she did not choose the right way to fight. When she laughs at the end of the film, it’s hopeful: this new generation will continue [what she’s doing], but they’ll do it in their own way. I believe this is the only way to save Iran: we have to refrain from violence,” Saeivar emphasizes. Still, he doesn’t think the situation will change anytime soon. “I think it will get worse.” “Of course, this doesn’t mean we should despair and stop fighting. It means we have to keep going,” he adds, emphasizing that Iranian artists and filmmakers need the world to respond to all the injustices that are happening to them. “We hope that one day Iranian artists will be given basic rights,” he notes. “The government is clinging to Iran like an octopus, and it’s very difficult to remove its thousands of hands and feet from the sick body of this country. To survive, sometimes you have to retreat and then attack again to regain the position you’ve lost.”

“When artists unite and make their voices heard, the government backs off a little bit. But when all the noise dies down, the same strict and authoritarian rules return very quickly. We have been playing this game for as long as I can remember.”

“The Witness” was produced by Said Nur Akkus and Silvana Santamaria for ArtHood Films, which is also handling sales, Arash T. Riahi and Sabine Grüber for Golden Girls Films, and Emre Oskay and Timur Savci for Sky Films.