Filmmaker Mehran Tamadon is deeply concerned with matters of conscience, particularly in situations where power is drastically unequal. An Iranian exile living in France, he first gained attention with his 2009 documentary Bassidji, which focused on staunch supporters of Iran’s Islamic regime.
In 2012, Iranian authorities detained Tamadon for hours of intense questioning. Though eventually released, he was effectively banned from returning to his homeland. Now, he uses filmmaking to explore the possibility of reconciliation. He gathered fellow exiles to reenact the interrogations they once suffered, hoping the finished film might provoke reflection—or even empathy—in those who once persecuted them.
This ambition, while noble, proves somewhat naive—much like his directorial approach. Early scenes show Iranian refugees taking turns interrogating Tamadon in empty Parisian buildings. Yet these staged exchanges lack the weight of real testimonies, where exiles recount months or years of abduction and torture. Without real stakes, the reenactments feel fleeting, wrapping up in mere hours.
The film gains real traction when Holy Spider star Zar Amir Ebrahimi joins the experiment. Playing an intelligence officer, her sharp questioning exposes ethical flaws in Tamadon’s approach. Role-playing, she suggests, not only fails to reveal much about authoritarian control but risks retraumatizing survivors. Their tense two-day exchange, captured in intimate handheld shots, becomes the film’s core. Tamadon wisely centers these critiques, transforming My Worst Enemy into a self-examination—a meditation on failure and the limits of cinema in dissecting systemic oppression.
My Worst Enemy premieres on True Story on 1 August.
