“Is he dreaming? Is it real?”: Shahram Mokri and Nasim Ahmadpour on Black Rabbit, White Rabbit at Red Sea Interntional Film Festival 2025

Iranian filmmaker Shahram Mokri, alongside co-writer Nasim Ahmadpour, brought their film Black Rabbit, White Rabbit to the Red Sea Film Festival. This multi-layered drama, Tajikistan’s Oscar entry, follows a car crash victim whose story unfolds through a film-within-a-film narrative, blurring reality and fiction.

In a conversation with The Upcoming, Mokri discussed how his unique structure stemmed from exploring a digital camera’s relationship with time and long takes. He posed the feature’s central question about perception: “Is he dreaming? Is it real?” Ahmadpour added that making a movie full of references simultaneously tells the audience, “Find your own way, and try to find your own references,” inviting deep engagement with its complex narrative.

Laura Della Corte

Black Rabbit, White Rabbit does not have a release date yet.