A tender and unexpectedly funny story about a family’s road trip through the twisting desert highways and misty green valleys of northwestern Iran has won the most prestigious prize at this year’s London film festival.
Hit the Road, the debut by Panah Panahi – son of esteemed Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi – centres on a family of four making a run for the border, as the father (Hassan Madjooni) struggles with a broken leg, the mother (Pantea Panahiha) laughs when she’s holding back tears, the youngest (Rayan Sarlak) explodes into car karaoke, and the older son (Amin Simiar) remains mysteriously sullen. Nobody mentions where they’re going, but knowledge of their unspoken destination turns despair into affection and eccentric behaviour, all set to the soundtrack of 70s Iranian pop.
“The best film award recognises inspiring and distinctive film-making that captures the essence of cinema. The essence of life,” said Małgorzata Szumowska, the competition president, whose own film screened at last year’s festival. “At all times in cinema history, but perhaps during a pandemic especially, we are looking for ways to connect to life. Our choice is for a film that made us laugh and cry and feel alive.”
Panahi has said he ran the finished script by his father, who is banned from making films and leaving Iran after he was found guilty of “propaganda against the state”. “The more I think about it, the more I realise that we have always lived with this feeling that we are being watched,” he said. “This is how it’s been for my family, but I’m sure it’s the same for the families of a lot of artists and intellectuals.”
The Sutherland award for first feature film went to Belgian director Laura Wandel’s Playground, the story of seven-year-old Nora’s (Maya Vanderbeque) efforts to help her big brother Abel (Günter Duret) overcome his bullying. Their school, with its own customs, is presented as a microcosm of the wider world’s injustices
Isabel Sandoval, the first feature competition president, said Playground was something “everyone can identify with and connect with, and yet has a striking and singular voice, with a courageous commitment to its vision. It has a visceral ability to capture beautifully and clearly how we are shaped by our experiences, and through an insular setting shows us a microcosm for the human condition.”
This year’s BFI London Film Festival included a programme of 159 feature films – including 21 premieres – from around the world. They included Jeymes Samuel’s modern western The Harder They Fall, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s directorial debut, The Lost Daughter, and Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog.
