Dead of Night

In dictatorships, intellectuals have always played a crucial role in shaping thoughts and leading struggles. Totalitarian governments are fully aware of this fact and have consistently pursued these intellectuals, utilising methods such as threats, censorship, imprisonment, torture, and even murder, to diminish their influence. Intellectuals who have dared to expose the monstrous nature of dictatorial governments and raise awareness among the people have always been under the threat of elimination. As someone who was born and raised in such a government, and through my involvement in the art of cinema and close connections with the intellectual community, I have witnessed firsthand the atrocities committed by these regimes. There is one particular example that has stayed with me for years and inspired me to create this film. Years ago, by sheer coincidence, I witnessed a part of the painful life of a writer and translator whose lifeless body I saw after his murder. Interestingly, we shared the same name: Farhad. This writer had migrated to a small village years before, due to threats, censorship, and poverty, and was ultimately murdered in complete innocence. After years of living in exile for shared reasons, as an artist and filmmaker, I felt compelled to shed light on the lives of those who are living under dictatorial regimes and censorship, so that everyone knows what they are truly going through