No One Knows About Persian Cats

The Iranian-Kurdish director Bahman Ghobadi takes an interest in the hectic subculture of rock and heavy metal in Teheran. In a mixture of documentary comedy, drama and thriller, Ghobadi composes both a serenade to and an indictment of his beloved Teheran, shackled as it is by religious fanatics, with Nobody Knows About Persian Cats. The title refers to an Iranian law that bans dogs and cats from going outside. The film tells the story of two young musicians, Negar and Ashkan, who have just been freed from jail where they had been imprisoned for playing rock music. They go looking for other musicians to play a gig. When they later want passports to flee to a country with more freedom, they end up in a hair-raising adventure.