The Hollywood Reporter reports that Iranian director Mohsen Amiryousefi's new film *The Banning Curse* (*Nefrin-e Toghif*) world premieres Wednesday in the program of the 70th BFI London Film Festival, which WWD notes kicked off on Oct. 7 and runs through Oct.

18. The festival bills the film as a piece of "cinematic autofiction about the highs and lows of radical filmmaking," blending biography and constructed fiction as the director looks back on a career of bans.

There is a bitter irony to the occasion: according to The Hollywood Reporter, a representative says Amiryousefi and his editor, Kamy Saffari, both saw their U.K. visa applications rejected, so neither can travel to London to experience the audience reaction firsthand.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the pattern behind the film is stark: after the critical success of his first feature, the black comedy *Bitter Dream*, which won a Golden Camera special mention for best first feature at Cannes, Amiryousefi returned to Iran to find it banned by state authorities — a pattern that continued through his entire career, according to the synopsis on the festival's website.

The film itself is shot as a conversation with the Angel of Death, a figure he tells the outlet has appeared in his work from his very first film onward.

He explains that in Iranian society feeling the Angel of Death beside you is common, and that midway through the film the character shifts into the double of the filmmaker himself.

The Hollywood Reporter's interview, conducted by Zoom through an interpreter, reveals how unorthodox the production was. Amiryousefi says the film was shot indoors without shooting permits and without a big budget — something, he notes, that he and many other Iranian filmmakers have done before.

The real departure, he says, was stepping in front of the camera himself for the first time, acting in an attempt to be very honest about his reflections on the subject.

The film also weaves in a rich trove of archive footage and, per The Hollywood Reporter, deliberate references to Federico Fellini — whom he calls the greatest filmmaker in history, citing *La Strada* and *Amarcord* — plus Christopher Nolan and a tribute to Abbas Kiarostami.

The risks of filmmaking in Iran are not abstract.

The Hollywood Reporter notes Mohammad Rasoulof is among directors who have served time, and asks Amiryousefi whether he fears the same; the 54-year-old jokes that he was much more fearless when young and has become somehow more conservative now that his hair is turning gray.

On distribution, he expects *The Banning Curse* to be banned at home too, but tells the outlet that streaming and virtual screenings mean there are many ways Iranian audiences can still find his work, and he remains optimistic that one day anyone — including himself — could release films in Iran without problems.

Amiryousefi tells The Hollywood Reporter he does not know how audiences will react but hopes the film's mix of funny moments, anger and sorrow can connect with them.

His gala-less, visa-blocked premiere lands in a festival where star wattage is high: Yahoo News UK reports Cynthia Erivo walked the red carpet at the Royal Festival Hall for the *Prima Facie* gala, adapted by Suzie Miller from her 2019 stage play, while WWD catalogs metallic Jimmy Choo and Paris Texas heels paired with custom gowns from Chanel, Prada and Dior across the 70th edition.