Shot covertly in Tehran just 17 days, without permission from the authorities, "Cats" looks at the risk of censorship - including prison terms - faced by Iranian musicians and artists. Scouting was done using two or three motorbikes and the scenes had to be shot at high speed, so the police couldn't spot them. The crew was arrested twice during the shoot. The co-writer - his fiancee American Iranian Roxana Saberi (below) - has famously been incarcerated (though just released) in Iran for spying.
Ghobadi's films are available only as bootleg DVDs in Iran, and he began "Cats" after the government refused him permission to start a long-planned project. The film also was partly inspired by the arrest of more than 200 music fans at a rock concert near Tehran in 2007. A local prosecutor at the time described the music as "satanic."
Despite his growing international acclaim, Ghobadi says, "I'm 100 percent sure this film won't be released in Iran."
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