Writing on the City
Writing on the City is a 60 minutes documentary film about graffiti in Tehran by Iranian Independent filmmaker Keywan Karimi. The Karimi started working on the documentary in 2012 and completed it in August 2015. It has since been edited several times and has been shown in several film festivals.
Karimi arrested in 2013 by Revolutionary Guard Corps and in October 2015 sentenced by the Islamic Revolutionary Court to six years imprisonment and 223 Lashes for "propagating against the Islamic Republic" and "insulting religious sanctities.
Reception
Raoul Vaneigem, who is an active member of the Situationist movement, wrote a piece to express his appreciation about the film.Giona Nazzaro, General Delegate Venice international film Critics' week, called Karimi a "challenger" and "creative" film-maker. also saying that Writing on the City was one of the best Iranian documentaries of recent years."
The Spanish newspaper, El Mundo also wrote about Writing on the city: "On the screen, a man strives to draw the last traces of an immense face. At the time the camera stops against him, the artist with his face obscured by night outline just strange eyes. Large and open. At that time, it is the viewer who feels observed.The film looks back at the audience."
In an interview with a Spanish newspaper, El Diario a critic said: "Like Agnes Varda in Mur murs or Chris Marker in Chats perchés, Karimi had realized that graffiti make up a sort of subconscious of a city. That was the territory Karimi wanted to understand and analyze, but the government of his country, which does not like riddles, wants to punish his curiosity."