A guard will never act in such a way as to put himself in danger. Only if there is no threat. Keeping watch over a large park area, a young man doesn’t really have any duties or things to do, so he wanders around looking for an opportunity in the cover of night. Suddenly he meets a woman in distress, and his moral duty taps at his conscience. 

Amirhossein Shojaei is an experienced and well-known photographer, currently living in Iran and working as an on-set photographer. He has collaborated with Saeed Roustayi (Leila’s Brothers, 2022), Asghar Farhadi (A Hero, 2022) and many other Iranian filmmakers. The Guard, which screened in competition at the Locarno Film Festival, marks a turning point in his career: making his directorial debut, Shojaei continues to explore visual storytelling; this time working thoughtfully with long takes, concise film plots and tactile, atmospheric qualities.