Outside/Inside

Maani Petgar / Iran / 2026 / World Premiere / 108 min.

synopsis

For seven years, the director follows the life of Ceci, a stray cat that gradually settles into his home without ever completely leaving the world of the streets. Their ever-changing relationship forms the backbone of this time-lapse narrative, into which other cats and fragments of the director’s life are woven: unfinished film projects, relationships with neighbours, his deteriorating health, and events unfolding in the city and across the country. Dialogue is almost entirely absent, and the director’s personal memories and reflections appear only in the captions, alongside information about the cats and the history of their coexistence with humans. The film thus consistently shifts the focus from humans to its non-human protagonists, viewing everyday life primarily through their eyes. Detailed observations of Ceci and other stray cats alternate with melancholic views of the city, capturing their own relationships, habits and methods of survival. This intimate chronicle of an unusual friendship simultaneously records the passage of time and the transformations of a human life, which becomes ever more closely intertwined with that of the cat.

“The presence of the cat is central, but not as a character in a narrative sense. Rather, she becomes a point of departure, a way to move away from a human-centred perspective, without replacing it with another fixed position.” — Maani Petgar

biography

Iranian filmmaker Maani Petgar (1959) began his career as a photographer, assistant director and editor. In the 1980s, he emigrated to Australia, where he worked in the film industry and made his first short film. In 1997, he returned to Iran, where he has lived ever since, mainly making documentary films.