Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s latest film begins disturbingly, with a cellphone video of a young woman killing herself. Her reasoning? Her old-school parents won’t let her attend acting school.

The clip finds its way to a famous actress, Behnaz Jafari (playing herself), who ditches her film set in Tehran and goes off into the mountains with the director (Panahi) to find the girl.

Was the video staged? Is it a prank, or a cry for help?

It’s a tricky start — because just when you think you’re in for some self-torture, the movie warms up considerably.

We’re whisked off to provincial agricultural towns, where residents clutch old traditions as tightly as a stress ball. But during relaxed conversations with locals about cows or imprisonments, we get a travelogue-like glimpse into their heads.

Panahi, who defied a filmmaking ban from the Iranian government to make this, is a director always worth supporting.

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