The Report was screened in Iran during the last months of the Pahlavi reign, but then all the copies were destroyed during the revolution (this screening is from the sole surviving element). As the Iranian critic Nima Hassani-Nasab notes, this film was totally aware of the chaos which lay ahead: “the characters are torn between a desire to revolt on one hand, and cowardice and social inaction on the other.” A major influence on many Iranian directors of the post-revolutionary era (including Asghar Farhadi), this deftly crafted, semi-autobiographical domestic drama was the director's first work to feature professional actors.

Rasmus Brendstrup is a programmer at the Cinematheque of Copenhagen since 2004 and in charge of an array of minor film festivals. He holds an MA in Modern Culture with a thesis on the films of Abbas Kiarostami, and frequently gives lectures and writes freelance articles, particularly on non-Western cinemas and filmmakers.