Destiny (Iran) by Yaser Talebi

Yaser Talebi’s Destiny Added to the Auteur Cinema Archive

An unflinching portrait of duty, dreams, and the quiet burdens of love.
The Auteur Cinema Archive is proud to welcome Destiny (Iran, 2023) by acclaimed filmmaker Yaser Talebi—a profound observational documentary that gently yet piercingly navigates the tangled relationship between personal freedom and familial obligation.

At the heart of Destiny is Sahar, a teenager grappling with the expectation to abandon her aspirations and care for her mentally disabled father after the passing of her mother. Her mother, whose final confession is captured on a crackling cassette tape, admits she had a child for selfish reasons, and now that child faces a life-altering decision. Should Sahar sacrifice her own future—or fight for it?

With elegant restraint, Talebi lets the camera sit patiently as life unfolds: Sahar arguing with her aunt, tenderly brushing her father’s hair, agonizing over exams, and cautiously navigating her father’s possible remarriage—an escape route for herself, yet one she refuses to allow unless love, not convenience, guides it.

Curator Kris De Meester on the selection:
“DESTINY is pure, intimate, and deeply uncomfortable in the way only real life can be. Talebi’s observational method strips away judgment and sensationalism, letting us bear quiet witness to a young woman’s impossible balancing act. It’s in the pauses, in the unspoken moments between father and daughter, that the emotional gravity accumulates. This is auteur cinema in its most unvarnished, honest form.”

Yaser Talebi is no stranger to international acclaim. His previous film Beloved captivated audiences at Hot Docs and IDFA, while Destiny earned the Silver Dragon at Krakow Film Festival and Best Documentary Feature Director at DOKER. But accolades aside, Talebi’s strength lies in his unobtrusive storytelling—documenting rather than directing, observing rather than explaining.
In Destiny, Sahar’s quiet resistance becomes a form of revolution. She does not shout or rebel; instead, she insists on honesty, on compassion, on carving space for her own life to bloom. The result is a documentary that is as restrained as it is powerful—a reminder of the complexity behind choices that, from the outside, may seem simple.

By including Destiny in the Auteur Cinema Archive, we highlight not just a remarkable film, but a filmmaker whose voice continues to shape the landscape of global documentary cinema—one intimate, heartbreaking portrait at a time.