Writing on the City: The Tehran Graffiti Documentary
In August 2015, Iranian independent filmmaker Keywan Karimi completed Writing on the City (Neveshtan bar Shahr), a 60-minute documentary exploring Tehran’s political and social history through its street graffiti. Shot over three years, the film treats public walls as a collective subconscious, tracing decades of Iranian transformation through slogans, murals, and visual symbols.
The project drew severe retaliation from Iranian authorities. Karimi was arrested in 2013 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and later sentenced in October 2015 to six years in prison and 223 lashes for propagating against the Islamic Republic and insulting religious sanctities.
Despite the crackdown, the film premiered on February 12, 2016, at Spain’s Punto de Vista festival, winning the Special Jury Prize. It went on to screen internationally at festivals including Visions du Réel and BAFICI, earning praise from critics and theorists alike for its bold analysis of urban space and artistic courage. Today, Writing on the City remains both a vital record of Tehran’s visual culture and a testament to the risks facing independent Iranian cinema.
link to the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1uEAD1rmsY
