The Unbreakable Lens: An Artist’s Defiant Journey Through Silence and Light

During his years of official restriction, the director turned his own life and the limitations imposed upon him into the subject of his art. One of his most celebrated works from this era was famously smuggled out of his home inside a pastry, a testament to the lengths he was willing to go to share his vision with the world. In these "illegal" productions, he often appeared as himself, navigating his own apartment or posing as a taxi driver to capture the voices of a diverse cross-section of his fellow citizens. These films were not just acts of defiance; they were profound meditations on the nature of truth, the power of the image, and the enduring necessity of expression.