Cannabis Indica

There Is No Evil
Film poster
Directed byMohammad Rasoulof
Written byMohammad Rasoulof
Produced byMohammad Rasoulof
Kaveh Farnam
Farzad Pak
Starring
  • Ehsan Mirhosseini
  • Kaveh Ahangar
  • Mohammad Valizadegan
  • Mohammad Seddighimehr
CinematographyAshkan Ashkani
Edited byMohammadreza Muini
Meysam Muini
Music byAmir Molookpour
Release date
  • 28 February 2020 (2020-02-28) (Berlin)
Running time
150 minutes
Countries
  • Germany
  • Czech Republic
  • Iran
LanguagePersian
Box office$824,066[1][2]

There Is No Evil (Persian: شیطان وجود ندارد, romanizedSheytân vojūd nadârad, lit.'Shaitan Doesn't Exist') is a 2020 Persian-language drama film directed and written by Mohammad Rasoulof. Banned in Iran, the film relates four stories concerning the death penalty in Iran. It had its world premiere at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Golden Bear.

Plot[edit]

The film relates four stories involving capital punishment in Iran.[3][4]

Cast[edit]

Credits adapted from the film's ending credits.

Episode I

  • Ehsan Mirhosseini as Heshmat
  • Shaghayegh Shourian as Razieh

Episode II

  • Kaveh Ahangar as Pouya
  • Alireza Zareparast as Hasan
  • Salar Khamseh as Salar
  • Kaveh Ebrahim as Amir
  • Reza Bahrami as Ali
  • Darya Moghbeli as Tahmineh

Episode III

  • Mohammad Valizadegan as Javad
  • Mahtab Servati as Nana
  • Anahita Eghbalnejad as Nana's Mother
  • Hassan Tasiri as Nana's Father

Episode IV

  • Mohammad Seddighimehr as Bahram
  • Jila Shahi as Zaman
  • Baran Rasoulof as Darya

Themes[edit]

Rasoulof explained that the film is about "people taking responsibility" for their actions, and that each story "is based on my own experience".[5]

Production[edit]

There Is No Evil was directed by Mohammad Rasoulof.[3][4] Recorded secretly, the film is banned from being shown in Iran.[6]

Release[edit]

The film was shown at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2020.[3]

Farhang Foundation and the UCLA Film & Television Archive released There Is No Evil online from 14 May to 10 June 2021,[7] and it was shown at the 68th Sydney Film Festival, Australia, in November 2021.[8]

Accolades[edit]

The director is jailed and banned from leaving Iran, so was not able to attend competitions or receive awards.[10]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Leave a Reply