LEGACY - REVIEW

LEGACY - REVIEW

The war crimes that we are witnessing daily in the world, not only fill the news pages. Many works of art, literature, theatre or cinema denounce them. The endless deaths of children, women, old people and civilians in Ukraine and Gaza especially fill us with horror. But "Legacy", the film directed by Amirmehdi Tavakolian, plays with fiction so that we do not forget reality.
This almost six-month-long short, which was presented at the last film music festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, tells the story of a dictator who plans to launch a nuclear attack, tormented by the memory of his daughter’s innocence and joy. Torn between duty and conscience, he experiences a nightmare vision of war, cruelty and mass suffering. In a surreal journey through explosions, enclosed elevators and endless corridors, the boundaries of reality collapse, revealing the devastating human cost of power and violence. Finally, he faces the horrible consequences of his decisions in a vast and desolate cemetery where echoes of innocent lives linger.
As Tavakolian, Tavakolian stated, "This film was not made to be "seen". It was made to be experienced.
He did not want the public to stand outside of the dictator and judge him. Instead, he wanted the viewer to inhabit his body, to feel his vacillation, fragility and potential for cruelty.
That’s why the film is deliberately silent, driven only by images, sound, tremors and silences. Every element, from the darkness of the frame to the trembling of the elevator, belongs to the psychology of the dictator.
Dictatorship, for me, is not just a political condition; it’s a human possibility. Anyone in any position can slip into it. The film tries to build that dangerous moment of empathy: the moment when the viewer feels, "I might as well sign". 

This is not a political manifesto, but an inner mirror. I hope the film confronts audiences with themselves, not as judges, but as potential perpetrators."
Amir Mehdi Tavakolian is an Iranian filmmaker, known for bold and thoughtful works that explore themes such as war, power and human rights. His films, such as Reptilians, Phobia and Paradox, have been internationally acclaimed: he won the Special Jury Prize at the UK RTF Festival (2025), the Special Award at Iran’s Raghia Festival and was nominated for Best Film at the US Black Brown Feminist Film Festival. US. (2025). His works have been exhibited in more than 50 prestigious festivals around the world.