No Bears

Saturday, January 3 - Wednesday, January 7, 2026

SHOWTIMES AT IFC CENTER

One of the world’s great cinematic artists, Jafar Panahi has been carefully crafting self-reflexive works about artistic, personal, and political freedom for the past three decades, despite his oppression at the hands of the Iranian government. Now, as the international film community vehemently denounces his summer 2022 arrest and continued imprisonment for his vocal support of a fellow artist’s independence, Panahi has gifted us all with a new virtuosic sleight-of-hand. I

n NO BEARS, as in many of his recent titles, Panahi plays a fictionalized version of himself, in this case relocated to a rural border town to remotely direct a new film in nearby Turkey – the story of which comes to sharply mirror disturbing events that begin to occur around him. As he struggles to complete his film, Panahi finds himself thrust in the middle of a local scandal, confronting the opposing pulls of tradition and progress, city and country, belief and evidence, and the universal desire to reject oppression.

Screening as part of PANAHI & KIAROSTAMI: TWO MASTERS

See more and save! Get a Panahi & Kiarostami Ticket Pack  ($30 for IFC Center members and $45 for non-members). Ticket packs are good for any three screenings in the series.

  • Country Iran
  • Year 2022
  • Running Time 107 minutes
  • Format DCP
  • Distributor Janus
  • Director Jafar Panahi
  • Cast Jafar Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobsari, Bakhtiar Panjei, Mina Kavani
  • Accessibility Assistive Listening, T-Coil

IFC Center does not generally provide advisories about subject matter or potentially triggering content in films, as sensitivities vary from person to person. In addition to the synopses, trailers and other links on our website, further information about content and age-appropriateness for specific films can be found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com as well as through general internet searches.