Babak Anvari’s Persian 2011 BAFTA-nominated short Two and Two uses a classroom setting and its credulous inhabitants to highlight the absurdity and injustice of totalitarianism.

The minimalism, orderliness and apparent simplicity of the concept, script and production design are all part of the plan here as these elements coalesce to deliver Two & Two‘s message without pomp or complication.

With his debut feature – allegorical Tehran-set horror Under the Shadow – accepted last month onto the 2016 Sundance Midnight lineup, it is interesting to look at Anvari’s earlier work, which shows his desire to deliver important themes and ideas in original and intriguing ways.

Do you have a short film you’d like to be considered for our Short of the Week feature? Get in touch with us at [email protected]

INFORMATION

CAST: Bijan Daneshmand, Ravi Karimi, Pouyan Loti

DIRECTOR: Babak Anvari

WRITERS: Babak Anvari, Gavin Cullen

SYNOPSIS: In an authoritarian schoolhouse, an apparently ridiculous lesson quickly gets serious as we see how far students will go to defend their right to the truth.