Published: July 06, 2023| 12:06 AM

A teacher with a dark past, Ahmed lives in exile in a harsh desert region near the Afghan border, from which he is trying to escape. Winner of the Big Screen Award at the Rotterdam International Film Festival, Endless Borders was presented at the Pupp Cinema by producers Kaveh Farnam and Gabriela Daniels. The film’s plot is surprisingly similar to the reality of filmmaking in Iran – making a film can literally be a struggle for freedom.

“When you are making a film in Iran, you are not safe at all. That’s why it’s good to have some European backing. When I was looking for a place to start a production company in Europe, I chose Prague because of the rich history of Czech cinema. I also think that Iranians and Czechs are united by our common experience of living under a totalitarian regime,” Farnam said. The Czech Republic co-produced director Abbas Amini’s Iranian social drama, which is featured at KVIFF in the Horizons section.