Mon pire ennemi

Mojtaba, Amzeh and Zar are refugees who have all endured prison and ideological interrogation in Iran. Filmmaker Mehran Tamadon – who lives in France – inquires if one of them would be willing to take part in an experiment in which he or she is interrogated by someone playing the role of an agent of the Islamic Republic. An internationally renowned actor in exile accepts the challenge. Tamadon has long shown a keen interest in understanding “the other side” – a side diametrically opposed to his own humanist values. He is motivated by the hope – which even he sometimes perceives as naïve – that by establishing a relationship he will be able to break down the ideological wall which surrounds his interlocutors. Since his passport was confiscated following his film Iranian, this means that he can only question the regime in his homeland from afar. This enforced distance provides the starting point for an unusual role play in which his interrogator raises questions about the filmmaker’s own motivations and goals. The project’s very limitations soon become one of the main topics at the heart of this fascinating and unsettling film. (Berlinale)