Panahi made several short documentary films for Iranian television through the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting's Channel 2. His first short film, The Wounded Heads (Yarali Bashar), was a documentary about the illegal mourning tradition of head slashing in the Azerbaijan region of northern Iran.
In 1992, Panahi made his first narrative short film The Friend (Doust), which was an homage to Kiarostami's first short film The Bread and Alley [REF].