{"id":3015,"date":"2026-07-04T06:06:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T06:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3015"},"modified":"2026-07-04T06:06:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T06:06:00","slug":"i-speak-to-him-every-day-nader-saeivar-on-hijamat-and-premiering-it-without-jafar-panahi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3015","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI Speak to Him Every Day\u201d: Nader Saeivar on \u2018Hijamat\u2019 and Premiering It Without Jafar Panahi"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The world premiere of\u00a0family drama\u00a0Hijamat<\/em> will be a bittersweet moment for Iranian writer and director\u00a0Nader Saeivar\u00a0(The Witness<\/em>, No End<\/em>, Namo<\/em>). After all, the film was produced and edited by his long-time friend and creative collaborator\u00a0Jafar Panahi. The auteur duo co-wrote\u00a0Cannes 2025 Palme d\u2019Or winner\u00a0It Was Just An Accident<\/em>, but only Saeivar will get to travel to the world premiere of\u00a0Hijamat<\/em> in the Crystal Globe main competition at the\u00a060th edition\u00a0of the\u00a0Karlovy Vary\u00a0International\u00a0Film Festival\u00a0(KVIFF) on Wednesday, July 8.<\/p>\n

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Saeivar left Iran for Berlin in the middle of the shoot for Accident<\/em>, making Hijamat<\/em> his first feature fully made outside of the country. Karlovy Vary was hoping to welcome Panahi as part of the delegation for the film, but the filmmaker had returned to Iran following the Accident<\/em> Oscar campaign. Recently, Iranian authorities took his passport, and he faces another prison term in Iran, following a verdict that found him guilty of \u201cpropaganda against the regime.\u201d <\/p>\n

In Hijamat<\/em>, multihyphenate Kida Khodr Ramadan plays Murad, who struggles to protect his younger brother Kerem (Jael Cem Ilhan) when he finds out that the young sibling is gay. Long-buried secrets soon threaten to tear his deeply religious Muslim family and their life in Berlin apart. Nicolette Krebitz, Aziz Capkurt,\u00a0Moritz Bleibtreu\u00a0and\u00a0Nastassja Kinski\u00a0also feature in the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cHijamat\u201d is an ancient therapeutic practice also known as wet cupping, which is designed to draw out small amounts of blood from the body for pain relief and detoxification.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the movie\u2019s world premiere, Saeivar talked to THR<\/em>, via an interpreter, about the inspiration for Hijamat<\/em>, how his personal journey plays into the film, talking to Panahi every day and why everyone needs hijamat.<\/p>\n

In fact, the idea that people can their minds is core to the film. \u201cI believe that we have to really tackle the issues that are like a wall that we have built around ourselves,\u201d Saeivar says of the inspiration for the film. \u201cWithout that, we cannot change any political issues. It\u2019s like the \u2018dirty\u2019 blood in the back of our bodies, as we see in Hijamat<\/em>. If we don\u2019t get rid of it, if we don\u2019t tackle it, nothing changes!\u201d<\/p>\n

Hijamat<\/em> marked a change from the filmmaker\u2019s more outside-focused activism. \u201cMy three previous films are about social issues and people\u2019s objectives,\u201d he tells THR<\/em>. \u201cBut for this film, I stopped thinking about that and instead thought about the roots of these problems. And in fact, this film is like my story in the present time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, his personal journey and experience mirror the themes explored in Hijamat<\/em>. \u201cMoving to Berlin helped me think about myself, my inner feelings\u2026\u201d says Saeivar. \u201cWhen I moved from Iran to Berlin after 50 years of my life, suddenly I realized that all those wrong beliefs I had \u2014 they broke down within one night. I suddenly realized that I was just wasting my energy on such wrong and rigid beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such as his take on the Iran-Iraq relationship. \u201cIn the \u201980s, in Iran, we believed that we had an eight-year war with Iraq, and we believed that if we went to that war and we fought, that would be the right thing, and we should die for our beliefs,\u201d Saeivar recalls. <\/p>\n

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\u201cI was a child, and I believed it strongly,\u201d he continues. \u201cI really wished to grow up fast to go to war and become a martyr. Just imagine what it was like when I later realized that all that war was due to political gains for some?! Imagine how I felt. Where was God? Where was paradise?\u201d<\/p>\n

Fear of questioning one\u2019s beliefs is as much a hurdle for change as is propaganda, he adds: \u201cThere are still many people in Iran who believe in those things, and even if they know about it, they are afraid of putting them aside and changing their mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Importantly, Hijamat<\/em> may be set in the Turkish community in Berlin, but its themes are universal. \u201cI used this issue in a small community as an excuse to tackle something global \u2013 the rigid beliefs that we have in our minds that we have built like a wall around ourselves,\u201d explains the director. \u201cIn the East, we can say that this wall around us is formed by religion and religious beliefs, but in the West, the wall is built by memories of the past. The Eastern person is broken under the weight of religion and rigid beliefs, but the Western person is broken or strangled by remembering the glorious past. Until you take this load off your shoulders, you will never reach real freedom. That\u2019s why I believe that everybody needs hijamat.\u201d<\/p>\n

That is why Hijamat<\/em> shows Murad, in one scene, being taken to the cellar of a building as if to dig deep and look inside himself. <\/p>\n

About the choice of Ramadan as the protagonist in the film, Saeivar tells THR<\/em>: \u201cHe is very well known in Germany and in the Arab and Turkish community in Berlin. We have a saying in Persian: \u2018If you want to conquer a village, you have to see the mayor first.\u2019 And Kida is like that mayor. I thought if I want to reach this community, it\u2019s better if he talks, not me. And he was like a brother by my side. I believe that he\u2019s an actor not only by skills but also by heart. He reminds me of the best of Jean Reno, the French actor.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Panahi came to Berlin to do the editing, \u201che was amazed by his work,\u201d Saeivar recalls about his famous friend\u2019s reaction to Ramadan\u2019s work. \u201cAnd he said, \u2018Wow, what a good choice! This guy is really amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Panahi\u2019s absence from the Karlovy Vary premiere hangs over the conversation. \u201cUnfortunately, he won\u2019t be there,\u201d Saeivar says simply. \u201cHe cannot leave Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet the two remain as close as ever. \u201cI speak to him every day. We speak at least one hour per day because he\u2019s just getting bored in Iran. He can\u2019t do anything. He\u2019s very busy with the judiciary, going to court and seeing a lawyer every day etc. Instead of spending his time on a new project, he has to spend all his time and energy on these issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bond between them shows no sign of fading. When Saeivar and several colleagues from It Was Just an Accident<\/em> were accepted into the Academy, it was Panahi who picked up the phone first. \u201cHe called me to congratulate me,\u201d Saeivar recalls. \u201cAnd every time I have a new idea, Jafar Panahi is the first person I speak with.\u201d<\/p>\n

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'Hijamat' director Nader Saeivar on premiering his film on rigid beliefs at Karlovy Vary 2026 without Jafar Panahi in Iran, why everyone needs hijama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,155,945,1213],"class_list":["post-3015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-international","tag-jafar-panahi","tag-karlovy-vary-international-film-festival","tag-kviff-2026"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cI Speak to Him Every Day\u201d: Nader Saeivar on \u2018Hijamat\u2019 and Premiering It Without Jafar Panahi - US Property Moves<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=3015\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cI Speak to Him Every Day\u201d: Nader Saeivar on \u2018Hijamat\u2019 and Premiering It Without Jafar Panahi - 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