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The Circle ()

Dayereh (original title)
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Various women struggle to function in the oppressively sexist society of contemporary Iran.

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...
Nargess
Maryiam Palvin Almani ...
Arezou (as Maryam Parvin Almani)
...
Mojgan - Prostitute
Elham Saboktakin ...
Elham - Nurse
Monir Arab ...
Monir - Ticket Seller
Maedeh Tahmasebi ...
Maedeh
Maryam Shayegan ...
Parveneh
Khadijeh Moradi
Negar Ghadyani
Solmaz Panahi ...
Solmaz
...
Pari (as Fereshteh Sadr Orafai)
...
Nayer
Ataollah Moghadas ...
Haji
Abbas Alizadeh ...
Father of Pari

Directed by

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Jafar Panahi

Written by

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Kambuzia Partovi ... (written by)
 
Jafar Panahi ... (idea)

Produced by

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Mohammad Atebbai ... associate producer
Morteza Motavali ... executive producer
Jafar Panahi ... producer

Cinematography by

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Bahram Badakshani ... (as Bahram Badakhshani)

Editing by

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Jafar Panahi

Editorial Department

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Gérard Estival ... color timer (uncredited)

Production Design by

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Vajid Allah Fariborzi ... (as Vajihollah Fariborzi)

Art Direction by

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Iraj Raminfar

Makeup Department

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Hemasseh Malaki ... make-up

Production Management

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Abolfazl Laleh ... production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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Ali Aghababai ... assistant director
Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy ... assistant director (as Fereshteh Sadr Orafai)

Sound Department

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Ahmad Ardalan ... sound
Sassan Bagherpour ... sound
Mehdi Dejbodi ... re-recording mixer

Camera and Electrical Department

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Ghogha Bayat ... still photographer
Amir Karimi ... assistant camera
Mohammad Lashkari Nezhad ... assistant camera (as Mehrdad Lashkari) / second assistant camera (as Mehrdad Lashkari)

Additional Crew

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Ahmad Moradi ... production assistant
Mehdi Samakar ... title
Crew believed to be complete

Production Companies

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

In a hospital waiting room a woman learns her daughter, Solmaz Gholami, has just given birth. The ultrasound test had prepared the family for a boy. The baby, it turns out, is a girl. The joy the mother anticipated turns to terror for she knows her son-in-law's family will abandon her daughter. The old woman flees as the in-laws arrive. On the crowded streets of Tehran - a place where women are not permitted to stay out on their own or smoke in public - two women are also on the run. Arezou and Nargess have just been granted temporary leave from prison but they have no plans to return. They manage to scrounge together enough money for the bus trip to Nargess' hometown, but she lacks proper identification, and the police are searching everyone at the station. Meanwhile, their friend Pari has just escaped from prison in order to have an abortion. Threatened with death by her brothers, she flees from her father's house and meets with a former inmate, Elham, who is now married to a doctor and works in a hospital. Despite her connections, Elham is unable to help Pari in her hour of need. Despondent, Pari wanders the streets and chances upon Nayereh, a woman about to abandon her young daughter. Pari tries to stop her, but it is too late. Soon after, Nayareh, falsely accused of prostitution, is taken into custody by the police. As Panahi's narrative shifts dynamically from woman to woman, their stories culminate with tremendous potency, transforming a shared sense of despair and injustice into one kinship, and even hope. Written by Anonymous

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Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Il cerchio (Italy)
  • Le cercle (Switzerland, French title)
  • The Circle (World-wide, English title)
  • The Circle (United States)
  • The Circle (United Kingdom)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 90 min
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Box Office

Budget $10,000 (estimated)

Did You Know?

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Trivia Panahi adopted a different camera style to depict each of the four main protagonists' lives. For the first, an idealistic woman he used a handheld camera. For the second woman, the camera is mounted on a constantly moving dolly. The third woman's story is told at night in darker outside, and the camera is static with pans and tight close ups. For the last, least optimistic woman both the camera and the woman are completely immobile and very little sound is used. See more »
Movie Connections Featured in Cinema Iran (2005). See more »

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