“I watched a very bad print of my father’s Shatranj-e-Baad [Chess of the Wind] when I was 12 and I remember watching Cries and Whispers. We didn’t have a TV but we had a VHS player,” Iranian filmmaker Amin Aslani told me over Zoom when I asked about his childhood during a conversation on Chess of the Wind (1976), the long-lost feature debut of his father, Mohammed Reza Aslani. “You can imagine what it’s like to be 12 and watching the films without understanding any word, seeing all these scary images. So psychologically, I don't know what happened to us.” Mohammad Reza Aslani and his wife, Soudabeh Fazaeli were poets of the Iranian New Wave, both members of the She'er-e-Digar and Nathr-e-Digar literary movements. “Growing up with parents like them, it's like not living on earth. It was like living on the moon or another planet,” added Gita Aslani Shahrestani,...
- 11/10/2021
- MUBI
The Criterion Collection continues 2021 with a recently rediscovered classic, an established tenet of the conspiracy genre, a horribly underrepresented African filmmaker (evergreen), and two by Ramin Bahrani. Respectfully, those are: Joyce Chopra’s Smooth Talk; Alan J. Pakula’s The Parallax View; Ousmane Sembène’s Mandabi; as well as Bahrani’s Chop Shop and Man Push Cart.
Check out the cover art and special features below, and see more on Criterion’s website.
New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director Joyce Chopra, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-rayConversation among Chopra, author Joyce Carol Oates, and actor Laura Dern from the 2020 New York Film Festival, moderated by TCM host Alicia MaloneNew interview with ChopraNew interview with production designer David WascoKPFK Pacifica Radio interview with Chopra from 1985Joyce at 34 (1972), Girls at 12 (1975), and Clorae and Albie (1976), three short films by ChopraAudio reading of the 1966 Life magazine article “The Pied Piper of Tucson,...
Check out the cover art and special features below, and see more on Criterion’s website.
New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by director Joyce Chopra, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-rayConversation among Chopra, author Joyce Carol Oates, and actor Laura Dern from the 2020 New York Film Festival, moderated by TCM host Alicia MaloneNew interview with ChopraNew interview with production designer David WascoKPFK Pacifica Radio interview with Chopra from 1985Joyce at 34 (1972), Girls at 12 (1975), and Clorae and Albie (1976), three short films by ChopraAudio reading of the 1966 Life magazine article “The Pied Piper of Tucson,...
- 11/13/2020
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
The 12th Osian’s Cinefan Film Festival which will be held in New Delhi from 27 July to 5 August 2012 has announced its Jury. 38 countries will participate with a total number of 175 films (see lineup here).
The Jury for the Asian and Arab Competition comprises Marco Mueller, Artistic Director of the Rome Film Festival; painter and filmmaker Muzaffar Ali (Umrao Jaan); Iranian filmmaker Ali Mosaffa, Egyptian filmmaker Magdi Ahmed Ali; and American filmmaker James V Hart.
The Jury for the Indian Competition comprises Hamid Dabashi, cultural critic and author from Iran; Indian film critic Khalid Mohamed; Indian theatre director and actor Lillete Dubey; Annemarie Jacir, filmmaker from Jordan; author Atiq Rahimi from Afghanistan; and Dutch documentary filmmaker Sonia Herman Dolz.
The Jury for the First Features Competition is made up of Hüseyin Karabey from Marmara; Korean director Jeon Kyu-hwan; and National award winning Indian filmmaker Gurvinder Singh.
The Jury for Shorts Competition...
The Jury for the Asian and Arab Competition comprises Marco Mueller, Artistic Director of the Rome Film Festival; painter and filmmaker Muzaffar Ali (Umrao Jaan); Iranian filmmaker Ali Mosaffa, Egyptian filmmaker Magdi Ahmed Ali; and American filmmaker James V Hart.
The Jury for the Indian Competition comprises Hamid Dabashi, cultural critic and author from Iran; Indian film critic Khalid Mohamed; Indian theatre director and actor Lillete Dubey; Annemarie Jacir, filmmaker from Jordan; author Atiq Rahimi from Afghanistan; and Dutch documentary filmmaker Sonia Herman Dolz.
The Jury for the First Features Competition is made up of Hüseyin Karabey from Marmara; Korean director Jeon Kyu-hwan; and National award winning Indian filmmaker Gurvinder Singh.
The Jury for Shorts Competition...
- 7/12/2012
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
The Sarasota Film Festival, wrapping today, has announced this year's round of awards and SarasotaPatch has the full list. We especially want to congratulate Dan Sallitt, whose The Unspeakable Act has won Best Film in the Independent Visions competition. As Dan tells the Ditmas Park Corner, the film centers on a girl who "has her own vision, which is totally at odds with society's vision of what she's supposed to do with her romantic and sexual urges." And, as we noted last month, The Unspeakable Act will screen in June at New York's BAMcinemaFest.
The Nashville Film Festival is on through Thursday and Sam Smith's designed not only the poster but also the cover of the current Nashville Scene, wherein you'll find a robust collection of capsule reviews.
Nadav Lapid's Policeman won Best Film and Best Director at the Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente yesterday. Diego...
The Nashville Film Festival is on through Thursday and Sam Smith's designed not only the poster but also the cover of the current Nashville Scene, wherein you'll find a robust collection of capsule reviews.
Nadav Lapid's Policeman won Best Film and Best Director at the Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente yesterday. Diego...
- 4/22/2012
- MUBI
A revealing new season of films at the Ica looks at the links between religion and revolt
Do the roots of the Arab spring lie in cinema? The question seems absurd: surely kleptocratic dictatorship, youth unemployment and grain prices all played a more important part. Iranian film scholar Hamid Dabashi disagrees: "If you want to understand the emotive universe from which the Arab spring arose, cinema is a good place to start. Look at a film like Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention: there the director spits out an apricot pit at an Israeli tank and blows it up. The scene is both fantasy and prophecy."
Dabashi will be speaking this month at Winds of Change, a series of talks and screenings at the Ica in London showcasing films from across the Muslim world; it hopes to explore the rich, sometimes fraught relationship between religion and civic society. Özer Kiziltan's...
Do the roots of the Arab spring lie in cinema? The question seems absurd: surely kleptocratic dictatorship, youth unemployment and grain prices all played a more important part. Iranian film scholar Hamid Dabashi disagrees: "If you want to understand the emotive universe from which the Arab spring arose, cinema is a good place to start. Look at a film like Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention: there the director spits out an apricot pit at an Israeli tank and blows it up. The scene is both fantasy and prophecy."
Dabashi will be speaking this month at Winds of Change, a series of talks and screenings at the Ica in London showcasing films from across the Muslim world; it hopes to explore the rich, sometimes fraught relationship between religion and civic society. Özer Kiziltan's...
- 9/20/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
"Do the roots of the Arab spring lie in cinema?" asks Sukhdev Sandhu in the Guardian. "The question seems absurd: surely kleptocratic dictatorship, youth unemployment and grain prices all played a more important part. Iranian film scholar Hamid Dabashi disagrees: 'If you want to understand the emotive universe from which the Arab spring arose, cinema is a good place to start.' … Dabashi will be speaking this month at Winds of Change, a series of talks and screenings at the Ica in London showcasing films from across the Muslim world; it hopes to explore the rich, sometimes fraught relationship between religion and civic society." Tomorrow though October 13.
Iranian authorities have arrested six independent filmmakers, accusing them of working covertly with the BBC "and supplying it with content, including films, that depict the country in a negative way," reports Rick Gladstone in the New York Times. In its own report, the...
Iranian authorities have arrested six independent filmmakers, accusing them of working covertly with the BBC "and supplying it with content, including films, that depict the country in a negative way," reports Rick Gladstone in the New York Times. In its own report, the...
- 9/20/2011
- MUBI
Hollywood petition calls for repeal of Jafar Panahi's six-year sentence for making anti-regime propaganda
Hollywood stars including Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon are launching a campaign with Amnesty International calling for the release of the acclaimed Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi, who has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Panahi, who angered the government by supporting Iran's opposition green movement, is also banned from directing and producing films for 20 years after being found guilty in December of making propaganda against the regime.
Amnesty International said a group of campaigners would deliver to the Un in New York tens of thousands of signatures including from Penn, Sarandon, Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott demanding Panahi's conviction be overturned.
About 20,000 people have signed the petition, along with Iranians including film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, pop singer Googoosh, academics Hamid Dabashi and Azar Nafisi, and previously imprisoned journalists Roxana Saberi and Maziar Bahari.
Campaigners...
Hollywood stars including Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon are launching a campaign with Amnesty International calling for the release of the acclaimed Iranian film-maker Jafar Panahi, who has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Panahi, who angered the government by supporting Iran's opposition green movement, is also banned from directing and producing films for 20 years after being found guilty in December of making propaganda against the regime.
Amnesty International said a group of campaigners would deliver to the Un in New York tens of thousands of signatures including from Penn, Sarandon, Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott demanding Panahi's conviction be overturned.
About 20,000 people have signed the petition, along with Iranians including film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, pop singer Googoosh, academics Hamid Dabashi and Azar Nafisi, and previously imprisoned journalists Roxana Saberi and Maziar Bahari.
Campaigners...
- 6/9/2011
- by Saeed Kamali Dehghan
- The Guardian - Film News
Several of Hollywood's biggest names are coming out in support of Julian Schnabel's controversial new film "Miral," with quotes from Johnny Depp and Javier Bardem featured in a new ad for the film in the Los Angeles Times.
Schnabel wades into the ever-simmering Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his new film, "Miral"; based on the semi-autobiographical book by Rula Jebreal, "Miral," a new Weinstein Company release, tells the story of an orphaned Palestinian girl (Freida Pinto of "Slumdog Millionaire") who finds herself thrust into the ethnic and political conflict once she leaves her safe orphanage. A number of Jewish groups have protested against the film, including asking the Un not to show it at a recent screening.
Their sentiment is not shared by a number of other Jewish groups, or by many in both the film and political studies worlds.
“Julian Schnabel’s film is a unique and courageous glimpse into one woman’s painful journey.
Schnabel wades into the ever-simmering Israeli-Palestinian conflict in his new film, "Miral"; based on the semi-autobiographical book by Rula Jebreal, "Miral," a new Weinstein Company release, tells the story of an orphaned Palestinian girl (Freida Pinto of "Slumdog Millionaire") who finds herself thrust into the ethnic and political conflict once she leaves her safe orphanage. A number of Jewish groups have protested against the film, including asking the Un not to show it at a recent screening.
Their sentiment is not shared by a number of other Jewish groups, or by many in both the film and political studies worlds.
“Julian Schnabel’s film is a unique and courageous glimpse into one woman’s painful journey.
- 4/8/2011
- by Jordan Zakarin
- Huffington Post
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