Restored Communication

Directed by Neil Beloufa

Reality TV—a political form in which a group of isolated people disagree and compete—is one of the dominant clichés of Western representation. Shot in Iran, where reality shows are not yet widespread, Restored Communication stages candidates cut off from the world, who replay different seizures of power in various political contexts. In this system, as artificial as it is liberal, the competitors are locked up, filmed without interruption and subjected to the injunctions of a voice-over. Deprived of food, the voice, and contact with the outside world, they seem helpless, reflecting the stereotypical image of Iran’s geopolitical isolation. Between schoolboyish fiction and documentary, the film slowly turns into a scathing genre film in which even a water pistol can kill.