Cineliterate, meta-textual and wryly sarcastic, the latest film by Ali Asgari is a free-wheeling, sharp-witted satire.

The film seems to unpeel seemingly endless layers of Iranian cultural bureaucracy. A 40-year-old filmmaker, Bahram (director Bahram Ark, playing a fictionalised version of himself) has made a career crafting uncompromising Turkish-Azeri-language arthouse films, none of which have been shown in Iran. When his latest film is refused screening permission yet again, Bahram and his blue-haired producer Sadaf (Sadaf Asgari, also playing a version of herself) decide to organise a showing of it in defiance of the censor’s decision. Set in a single day, the picture’s droll tone and dry wit skewer the absurdity of the restrictions placed on life in Iran as Asgari’s light touch and the likeable, naturalistic performances carry the picture.

Wendy Ide, Screen Daily