A Voice From Within

Acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s 18-minute short film Hidden was showcased at the Serendipity Arts Festival in Goa, 2022 as part of Sudarshan Shetty’s curation, Who is Asleep Who is Awake. Blurring the line between documentary and fiction, Panahi stars as himself in the film as he embarks on a journey to find a young Kurdish woman reputed to have a golden voice but is forbidden by her family from singing. Against the backdrop of Iranian women risking death and torture in the face of state repression as well as Panahi himself having been imprisoned and banned from making films for 20 years, Hidden becomes that much more significant as part of the Iranian New Wave of cinema.