The Film Comment Podcast: Ahed’s Knee and Cinema and the State
With Ahed’s Knee, the rawest, most autobiographical entry in Nadav Lapid’s blistering filmography (The Kindergarten Teacher; Synonyms), the director crafts a stylized and self-lacerating portrait of an Israeli filmmaker railing at the censorship, hypocrisy, and violence of his government. Last week, we welcomed Lapid for a Film Comment Live Talk exploring his new film and the questions it raises about state censorship, the politics of self-critique, and the political role and responsibility of the artist. We were also joined by Jamsheed Akrami, scholar of Iranian cinema and director of several documentaries, including A Cinema of Discontent (2013). Listen all the way to the end for Jamsheed’s translation of a viral video by the legendary Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui, excoriating government censorship.