Disappointment hung in the air a few days into the 2024 Cannes Film Festival when no main competition films had universally wowed industry and press. But you have to know where to look, which often means going outside the official selection and into sidebars like Un Certain Regard and Directors’ Fortnight in search of gems.
By the end of the festival, though, more than a few stunners had emerged. The competition’s final days brought a series of potentially historic and beloved-on-the-ground Palme contenders: Mohammad Rasolouf’s searing Iranian drama “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Payal Kapadia’s day-in-the-life Mumbai portrait “All We Imagine as Light,” and Sean Baker’s wild and crazy sex worker odyssey “Anora.”
Elsewhere, movies like Matthew Rankin’s Abbas Kiarostami homage “Universal Language” and Mahdi Fleifel’s “To a Land Unknown,” the only Palestinian movie to play Cannes this year, impressed in Directors’ Fortnight, the...
By the end of the festival, though, more than a few stunners had emerged. The competition’s final days brought a series of potentially historic and beloved-on-the-ground Palme contenders: Mohammad Rasolouf’s searing Iranian drama “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Payal Kapadia’s day-in-the-life Mumbai portrait “All We Imagine as Light,” and Sean Baker’s wild and crazy sex worker odyssey “Anora.”
Elsewhere, movies like Matthew Rankin’s Abbas Kiarostami homage “Universal Language” and Mahdi Fleifel’s “To a Land Unknown,” the only Palestinian movie to play Cannes this year, impressed in Directors’ Fortnight, the...
- 5/27/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Newsflash: Iran has invaded the sleepy Canadian city of Winnipeg. Correction: Iranian cinema has actually invaded Winnipeg. And even more specifically: Two Iranian movies that launched the nation onto the international film scene, Abbas Kiarostami’s Where Is the Friend’s House? (1987) and Jafar Panahi’s The White Balloon (1995), have somehow found their way into the capital of Manitoba.
What exactly they’re doing there is never explained. Nor is it really the point of director Matthew Rankin’s bizarre and enchanting experimental comedy Universal Language, which picked up the first-ever audience award in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. Starring the director himself alongside a cast of Farsi-speaking locals both young and old, the film is rather hard to describe on paper, but let’s give it a shot.
We’re in snow-covered Winnipeg, which half-resembles the drab, midsized Canadian city, and half looks like a neigborhood somewhere in Tehran — not present-day Tehran,...
What exactly they’re doing there is never explained. Nor is it really the point of director Matthew Rankin’s bizarre and enchanting experimental comedy Universal Language, which picked up the first-ever audience award in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. Starring the director himself alongside a cast of Farsi-speaking locals both young and old, the film is rather hard to describe on paper, but let’s give it a shot.
We’re in snow-covered Winnipeg, which half-resembles the drab, midsized Canadian city, and half looks like a neigborhood somewhere in Tehran — not present-day Tehran,...
- 5/27/2024
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” has a lot going for it on the way to a potential Palme d’Or win: strong reviews, an anguished political call-out against Iranian oppression, and Rasoulof’s own status as an exile who just fled his home country and was finally able to attend Cannes after all. (Read our interview with the director here.)
On the steps of the Palais for Friday’s premiere, Rasoulof held up photos of two of the actors — Misagh Zare and Soheila Golestani – banned from leaving Iran to attend the festival. He’s already shared how the Islamic Republic has been pressuring his crew into convincing Cannes to drop the film, which charts the breakdown of a family after a Revolutionary Court judge’s gun goes missing, from its lineup. This is Rasoulof’s first time in competition. He previously won prizes in Un Certain...
On the steps of the Palais for Friday’s premiere, Rasoulof held up photos of two of the actors — Misagh Zare and Soheila Golestani – banned from leaving Iran to attend the festival. He’s already shared how the Islamic Republic has been pressuring his crew into convincing Cannes to drop the film, which charts the breakdown of a family after a Revolutionary Court judge’s gun goes missing, from its lineup. This is Rasoulof’s first time in competition. He previously won prizes in Un Certain...
- 5/24/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Despite being set in a parallel-universe Winnipeg where the people talk in Farsi and the world around them seems as if it’s been frozen in time since the mid-1980s, the haunted but hopeful “Universal Language” is an unmistakably modern film at heart.
Described by writer-director Matthew Rankin as a piece of “autobiographical hallucination,” this wonderfully deadpan whatsit is the work of a white 43-year-old Canadian man who fell in love with the movies a time when “foreign” cinema was becoming more available to people outside major cultural hubs. He found that Kanoon-style fables like “Where Is the Friend’s House?” and “The White Balloon” spoke to him in a way that few English-language films ever had. That discovery sparked a cross-cultural dialogue that eventually compelled Rankin to visit Tehran in an effort to locate the auteurs who had inspired him and learn why their films had whispered in his ear.
Described by writer-director Matthew Rankin as a piece of “autobiographical hallucination,” this wonderfully deadpan whatsit is the work of a white 43-year-old Canadian man who fell in love with the movies a time when “foreign” cinema was becoming more available to people outside major cultural hubs. He found that Kanoon-style fables like “Where Is the Friend’s House?” and “The White Balloon” spoke to him in a way that few English-language films ever had. That discovery sparked a cross-cultural dialogue that eventually compelled Rankin to visit Tehran in an effort to locate the auteurs who had inspired him and learn why their films had whispered in his ear.
- 5/24/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
In Universal Language, a man makes a journey to his childhood home and meets the family now living there––these are at least the broad strokes. The director is Matthew Rankin, a Canadian filmmaker whose work usually requires less-basic terms. In his previous film The Twentieth Century, Rankin reimagined the life of Canada’s longest-serving prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, through a lens of German expressionism: a trippy Brazil with a masturbation complex. Much of the casting was done either cross-gender or color-blind: “In a school play you can have a Filipino Captain von Trapp and a transgender Artful Dodger and it’s fine,“ Rankin explained at the time. ”In film, I don’t understand why there’s this pressure to always link an actor to their exact demographic profile.”
For Universal Language, Rankin takes that idea to a different place: the Winnipeg of this film is, for wont...
For Universal Language, Rankin takes that idea to a different place: the Winnipeg of this film is, for wont...
- 5/23/2024
- by Rory O'Connor
- The Film Stage
Mubi has unveiled next month’s streaming lineup, featuring recent releases such as Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Monster, Tynan DeLong’s Dad & Step-Dad, and Rachel Lambert’s Sometimes I Think About Dying. Additional highlights include Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Passion, Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy, Alex Thompson’s Saint Frances (ahead of the release of Ghostlight), as well as a spotlight on the Ross Brothers following Mubi’s streaming release of Gasoline Rainbow at the end of this month.
“Everybody’s raising this Rashomon thing, but I feel that it’s fundamentally different from Rashomon, because in Rashomon, each character, when they go back through the story again, they actually end up being a different character within the film, within the story, whatever specific story it is,” Hirokazu Kore-eda told us last fall regarding Monster. “Whereas with this, the people don’t change, but the monster who appears, appears in different places.
“Everybody’s raising this Rashomon thing, but I feel that it’s fundamentally different from Rashomon, because in Rashomon, each character, when they go back through the story again, they actually end up being a different character within the film, within the story, whatever specific story it is,” Hirokazu Kore-eda told us last fall regarding Monster. “Whereas with this, the people don’t change, but the monster who appears, appears in different places.
- 5/21/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
There are plenty of North American filmmakers influenced by the giants of international cinema. These filmmakers import stylistic references, different tones and rhythms, perhaps key collaborators, such as a cinematographer, to films that nonetheless are born of their own local filmmaking cultures. For his second feature, following the anarchic political satire of his The Twentieth Century, Canadian director Matthew Rankin has imagined a different approach. His formally precise and very funny Universal Language, a Cannes’s Directors Fortnight discovery this year, is not only influenced by the Iranian cinema of Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi, among others, but considers a Winnipeg […]
The post “We Wanted to Film These Beige Structures the Way Terrence Malick Films a Sunset”: Director Matthew Rankin on the Canadian/Iranian Interzone of his Cannes-Premiering Universal Language first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We Wanted to Film These Beige Structures the Way Terrence Malick Films a Sunset”: Director Matthew Rankin on the Canadian/Iranian Interzone of his Cannes-Premiering Universal Language first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/19/2024
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
There are plenty of North American filmmakers influenced by the giants of international cinema. These filmmakers import stylistic references, different tones and rhythms, perhaps key collaborators, such as a cinematographer, to films that nonetheless are born of their own local filmmaking cultures. For his second feature, following the anarchic political satire of his The Twentieth Century, Canadian director Matthew Rankin has imagined a different approach. His formally precise and very funny Universal Language, a Cannes’s Directors Fortnight discovery this year, is not only influenced by the Iranian cinema of Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi, among others, but considers a Winnipeg […]
The post “We Wanted to Film These Beige Structures the Way Terrence Malick Films a Sunset”: Director Matthew Rankin on the Canadian/Iranian Interzone of his Cannes-Premiering Universal Language first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We Wanted to Film These Beige Structures the Way Terrence Malick Films a Sunset”: Director Matthew Rankin on the Canadian/Iranian Interzone of his Cannes-Premiering Universal Language first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 5/19/2024
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The lush opening shots of “Savanna and the Mountain” introduce us to Covas do Barroso, a remote Portuguese village that time forgot. The townspeople are quite content to live a pastoral life of ranching and subsistence farming that hasn’t changed much over the past century. But Paolo Carneiro’s Cannes documentary quickly reveals that changes are coming to their lives whether they like it or not. The only question is whether they allow their town to be turned into something unrecognizable, or devote their lives to political activism with the hopes of stopping it.
Covas do Barroso sits on top of massive lithium deposits, and a British company called Savannah Resources has begun the legal proceedings to use eminent domain to build Europe’s largest open-cast lithium mine where the town currently stands. It’s a tale as old as time: Businessmen and politicians flood the region with promises...
Covas do Barroso sits on top of massive lithium deposits, and a British company called Savannah Resources has begun the legal proceedings to use eminent domain to build Europe’s largest open-cast lithium mine where the town currently stands. It’s a tale as old as time: Businessmen and politicians flood the region with promises...
- 5/18/2024
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
In the Canadian cities of Montreal and Winnipeg, a futile tension exists between French and English speakers — doubly silly, since the country is officially bilingual. In his gently satirical “Universal Language,” writer-director Matthew Rankin imagines a rather fanciful solution, where Farsi is now the region’s dominant tongue. Taking his cues from such Iranian classics as “Children of Heaven” and “The White Balloon,” Rankin mixes the humanism of Majid Majidi, Jafar Panahi, et al. with his own peculiar brand of comedy (as seen in the more off-the-wall “The Twentieth Century”), offering a delightful cross-cultural hybrid designed to celebrate our differences.
Though Rankin shows a genuine affection for all things Persian, the first and most obvious hiccup to his premise is that audiences don’t necessarily share his interest or his references. There’s something inherently provocative — and perhaps even triggering to some — about seeing a nondescript Canadian elementary school where...
Though Rankin shows a genuine affection for all things Persian, the first and most obvious hiccup to his premise is that audiences don’t necessarily share his interest or his references. There’s something inherently provocative — and perhaps even triggering to some — about seeing a nondescript Canadian elementary school where...
- 5/18/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
In an exclusive interview with Variety, German maestro filmmaker Werner Herzog discussed his plans to lead the 3rd Film Accelerator program organized by Barcelona-based La Selva. Herzog and his long-time cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger will be on hand to guide the 25 directing and 25 cinematography aspirants who will pair up to create short films no longer than 10 mins in length.
On day one, he will give them a framework on which to base their project. “They’re not to come with a pre-formulated plan for their projects,” said Herzog, who revealed that he was lending his voice to “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho’s upcoming hand-drawn animated feature about deep-sea creatures.
This would not be the first time for Herzog, who has lent his distinguished gravelly voice to many other parts in the past, most notably in episodes of “The Simpsons,” “The Boondocks” as well as Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” and “Metalocalypse.
On day one, he will give them a framework on which to base their project. “They’re not to come with a pre-formulated plan for their projects,” said Herzog, who revealed that he was lending his voice to “Parasite” director Bong Joon Ho’s upcoming hand-drawn animated feature about deep-sea creatures.
This would not be the first time for Herzog, who has lent his distinguished gravelly voice to many other parts in the past, most notably in episodes of “The Simpsons,” “The Boondocks” as well as Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” and “Metalocalypse.
- 4/15/2024
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Filmotor Nabs World Sales for Berlinale Title ‘Shahid’ Ahead of Visions du Réel Premiere (Exclusive)
Berlinale Forum entry “Shahid,” the debut feature of Iranian-German filmmaker Narges Kalhor, has been picked up by Prague-based doc specialist Filmotor ahead of its premiere at Swiss documentary festival Visions du Réel, where it is competing in the more experimental Burning Lights section.
Described by Kalhor as a collective work between herself and other artists, including a costume artist and a painter from Iran, a German music composer and a choreographer from Berlin, “Shahid” shifts playfully between genres, challenging conventional filmmaking rules.
Set in present-day Germany, where Kalhor emigrated as a political refugee in 2009, the film focuses on her desire to officially remove the first part of her surname, “Shahid,” which means “martyr” in Farsi and was inherited from her great-grandfather, in an act of feminist resistance to patriarchal structures.
During this process, the actor who plays Kalhor travels back in time and meets her great-grandfather, but she also uncovers...
Described by Kalhor as a collective work between herself and other artists, including a costume artist and a painter from Iran, a German music composer and a choreographer from Berlin, “Shahid” shifts playfully between genres, challenging conventional filmmaking rules.
Set in present-day Germany, where Kalhor emigrated as a political refugee in 2009, the film focuses on her desire to officially remove the first part of her surname, “Shahid,” which means “martyr” in Farsi and was inherited from her great-grandfather, in an act of feminist resistance to patriarchal structures.
During this process, the actor who plays Kalhor travels back in time and meets her great-grandfather, but she also uncovers...
- 4/14/2024
- by Lise Pedersen
- Variety Film + TV
Unlike Abbas Kiarostami, a poet of contemporary cinema whose films stopped being about Iran when he stopped making films there, Andrei Tarkovsky, Russia’s preeminent poet of the spirit, proved that while a Russian director could leave his homeland in the name of artistic freedom, he could still be imprisoned by the memories he took with him.
In his book Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky wrote that he wanted Nostalghia, his first film after leaving Russia to escape censorship, to be “about the particular state of mind which assails Russians who are far from their native land.” Shot in Italy and written by Tarkovsky and Tonino Guerra, the film explores this acute form of nostalgia through a spiritually wearied poet, Andrei Gorchakov (Oleg Yankovskiy), who’s traveled to Italy to research the life of a composer who studied in Bologna during the late 1700s before returning to Russia to hang himself.
In his book Sculpting in Time, Tarkovsky wrote that he wanted Nostalghia, his first film after leaving Russia to escape censorship, to be “about the particular state of mind which assails Russians who are far from their native land.” Shot in Italy and written by Tarkovsky and Tonino Guerra, the film explores this acute form of nostalgia through a spiritually wearied poet, Andrei Gorchakov (Oleg Yankovskiy), who’s traveled to Italy to research the life of a composer who studied in Bologna during the late 1700s before returning to Russia to hang himself.
- 4/12/2024
- by Kalvin Henely
- Slant Magazine
Image: Carnivalesque Films
As any cinephile well knows, the physical places that serve as meaningful ports of entry to our love affair with cinema can often take on swollen, totemic value. It’s fitting, then, that one of the most legendary independent American video stores of all time gets its...
As any cinephile well knows, the physical places that serve as meaningful ports of entry to our love affair with cinema can often take on swollen, totemic value. It’s fitting, then, that one of the most legendary independent American video stores of all time gets its...
- 4/5/2024
- by Brent Simon
- avclub.com
In the port city of Abadan in southern Iran, 11-year-old orphan Amiro (Madjid Niroumand) gazes out into the Persian Gulf, screaming and waving at the distant ships on the horizon. To Amiro, these vessels represent a sense of freedom that he’s never known yet innately yearns for. His yells are a frequent occurrence in Amir Naderi’s The Runner, and they’re a recurring reminder of Amiro’s unwavering desire to be heard and seen, and to connect with something, anything, outside of a society that has effectively discarded him.
Amiro lives in a region of the world where the oil trade has brought prosperity to few. Like many, he lives among the detritus left behind by the industry’s operations and the callous tourists and businessmen whose shoes he shines for pocket change. Spending his days collecting glass bottles that have been carelessly hurled into the sea and...
Amiro lives in a region of the world where the oil trade has brought prosperity to few. Like many, he lives among the detritus left behind by the industry’s operations and the callous tourists and businessmen whose shoes he shines for pocket change. Spending his days collecting glass bottles that have been carelessly hurled into the sea and...
- 4/1/2024
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
The first thing you notice about the Adamant is that it’s absolutely beautiful — not just for a psychiatric facility, which tend to resemble prisons or kennels, but for a building of any kind. A floating barge moored on the right bank of the Seine (where it’s surrounded by a labyrinth of unfeeling concrete towers), this self-contained wing of the Paris Central Psychiatric Group sticks out of the landscape like an antique cabinet that was accidentally dropped into the middle of an Ikea showroom; it’s hard to shake the feeling that someone might notice the error and scoop the whole thing right out of the water at any moment.
And yet the barge’s oak brown wooden slats continue to creak open every morning, music to the ears of local men and women whose mental disorders have left them nowhere else to go. Unlike so many other day centers like it,...
And yet the barge’s oak brown wooden slats continue to creak open every morning, music to the ears of local men and women whose mental disorders have left them nowhere else to go. Unlike so many other day centers like it,...
- 3/26/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The Independent Iranian Filmmakers Association (Iifma) has written to AMPAS to protest the omission of murdered director Dariush Mehrjui from the In Memoriam segment of the Academy Award on Sunday night.
As per Oscar tradition, the Academy paid tribute to a select group of 51 film and entertainment figures who had died over the previous year, including actor Matthew Perry, director William Friedkin, actor-performer Jane Birkin and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto in a short In Memoriam segment.
Mehrjui was named instead on the Academy’s In Memoriam page on its website, alongside 279 recently deceased figures related to the film world, including the 51 people feted at the ceremony.
The director was stabbed to death alongside his screenwriter wife Vahideh Moahmmadifar in their home outside Tehran last October.
The unsolved killing came just months after he posted an online video blasting the Iranian government’s suppression of the film industry, raising suspicions that his...
As per Oscar tradition, the Academy paid tribute to a select group of 51 film and entertainment figures who had died over the previous year, including actor Matthew Perry, director William Friedkin, actor-performer Jane Birkin and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto in a short In Memoriam segment.
Mehrjui was named instead on the Academy’s In Memoriam page on its website, alongside 279 recently deceased figures related to the film world, including the 51 people feted at the ceremony.
The director was stabbed to death alongside his screenwriter wife Vahideh Moahmmadifar in their home outside Tehran last October.
The unsolved killing came just months after he posted an online video blasting the Iranian government’s suppression of the film industry, raising suspicions that his...
- 3/14/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The director Noora Niasari deeply understands the personal struggles of people who often go unnoticed by the mainstream flow of life. Her last short film, the 2020 thriller Tâm, about a Vietnamese woman trapped in a cataclysmic sexual encounter, is a haunting gut punch.
Noora and I are from different generations and cultures. Yet she lived in the same suburb of Melbourne that I grew up in, and we were both raised by isolated single mothers in predominantly female environments. So the moment I read Shayda — Noora’s first feature script...
Noora and I are from different generations and cultures. Yet she lived in the same suburb of Melbourne that I grew up in, and we were both raised by isolated single mothers in predominantly female environments. So the moment I read Shayda — Noora’s first feature script...
- 2/26/2024
- by Cate Blanchett
- Rollingstone.com
Netflix is bringing 1974 back to theaters thanks to rare archival prints, restorations, and select 35mm screenings of the curated “Milestone Movies” streaming collection.
The streaming platform debuts a slew of classic films across its trio of theaters in Los Angeles and New York City. The rarely screened archival prints for Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and John Cassavetes’ “A Woman Under the Influence” are among the selected titles, as well as the premiere of the Dcp restoration of iconic Blaxploitation film “Foxy Brown” starring Pam Grier.
The screening series marks the 50th anniversaries of the 1974 films, which were unveiled as part of Netflix’s inaugural (and Criterion Channel-esque) curation channel “Milestone Movies: The Anniversary Collection,” which was unveiled in January 2024. Fifteen films will screen at the Paris Theater in New York from March 22 through 28, as 12 films screen at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles from March 11 through...
The streaming platform debuts a slew of classic films across its trio of theaters in Los Angeles and New York City. The rarely screened archival prints for Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and John Cassavetes’ “A Woman Under the Influence” are among the selected titles, as well as the premiere of the Dcp restoration of iconic Blaxploitation film “Foxy Brown” starring Pam Grier.
The screening series marks the 50th anniversaries of the 1974 films, which were unveiled as part of Netflix’s inaugural (and Criterion Channel-esque) curation channel “Milestone Movies: The Anniversary Collection,” which was unveiled in January 2024. Fifteen films will screen at the Paris Theater in New York from March 22 through 28, as 12 films screen at the Egyptian Theatre in Los Angeles from March 11 through...
- 2/20/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
A cross-country journey in search of a mysterious treasure puts the nature of faith to the test in “The Great Yawn of History,” the feature debut of Iranian director Aliyar Rasti, which premieres Feb. 22 in the competitive Encounters section of the Berlin Film Festival.
The film tells the story of a man of wavering religious conviction who dreams of a box of gold hidden in a cave. Convinced he’s forbidden by Islamic law to claim the treasure himself, he turns to a non-believer to assist him, setting into motion an arduous journey of both physical and spiritual dimensions as the two men grapple with notions of faith in their pursuit of a miracle.
Written and directed by Rasti, “The Great Yawn of History” stars Mohammad Aghebati and Amirhossein Hosseini and is produced by Tehran-based Para-Doxa. Heretic is handling world sales.
A visual artist with no formal film schooling, Rasti...
The film tells the story of a man of wavering religious conviction who dreams of a box of gold hidden in a cave. Convinced he’s forbidden by Islamic law to claim the treasure himself, he turns to a non-believer to assist him, setting into motion an arduous journey of both physical and spiritual dimensions as the two men grapple with notions of faith in their pursuit of a miracle.
Written and directed by Rasti, “The Great Yawn of History” stars Mohammad Aghebati and Amirhossein Hosseini and is produced by Tehran-based Para-Doxa. Heretic is handling world sales.
A visual artist with no formal film schooling, Rasti...
- 2/19/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
By virtue of the shared experiences it speaks to, Suspended Time may be writer-director Olivier Assayas’s most universally relatable film to date. Sure, few people own homes in charming villages in rural France, but almost everyone on the planet went through some version of lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic. People variably learned recipes, thought up new projects, sought out online therapy, went on long, unusually silent walks, contemplated their pasts, grandstanded about the dangers of a virus, treated said grandstanding as excessive hysteria, and got frustrated with the people they were in insolation with.
Those are the events of Suspended Time in a nutshell—a window into the strange life we all lived, the memory of which we largely seem to have discarded like a spoiled sourdough starter. Missing from the above description, though, is the way Assayas augments the ethereal quality of life in isolation with a sophisticated...
Those are the events of Suspended Time in a nutshell—a window into the strange life we all lived, the memory of which we largely seem to have discarded like a spoiled sourdough starter. Missing from the above description, though, is the way Assayas augments the ethereal quality of life in isolation with a sophisticated...
- 2/17/2024
- by Pat Brown
- Slant Magazine
Juliette Binoche has impeccable taste. The French actress, who has been gracing the screen for over four decades, continues to work with directors that push the envelope regardless of budget, recognition, or box office. From Claire Denis to Olivier Assayas, Abbas Kiarostami to Leos Carax, the list goes on and on. Her eye for world cinema rarely falters, and her filmography ranges across a wide swath of genres. The most common aspect of all of these films: critical praise for Binoche’s performance, whatever it may be.
In her newest, Trần Anh Hùng’s The Taste of Things, Binoche’s first collaboration with the Vietnamese-born director, she plays Eugénie, a chef for a famous restaurant owner, Dodin. A sensual film, featuring lengthy cooking sequences that grasp one’s attention far more than many action set pieces in today’s age, the story follows Eugénie and Dodin’s relationship through food,...
In her newest, Trần Anh Hùng’s The Taste of Things, Binoche’s first collaboration with the Vietnamese-born director, she plays Eugénie, a chef for a famous restaurant owner, Dodin. A sensual film, featuring lengthy cooking sequences that grasp one’s attention far more than many action set pieces in today’s age, the story follows Eugénie and Dodin’s relationship through food,...
- 2/6/2024
- by Michael Frank
- The Film Stage
Starting with a packed house on the night of October 13 and concluding right after Thanksgiving, MoMA showcased “Iranian Cinema before the Revolution, 1925–1979,” the largest retrospective of Iranian cinema ever held inside or outside of Iran. With close to 70 films covering the pre-revolutionary period, there were works from Iran’s most famous filmmaker, Abbas Kiarostami; the most famous film of this era, the late Dariush Mehrjui’s The Cow; and repertory favorites like Ebrahim Golestan’s Brick and Mirror, Bahram Beyzaie’s Downpour and Forough Farrokhzad’s The House is Black. But, significantly, there were also films by lesser-known but just as vital […]
The post “The Grandest Orphan Cinema”: Ehsan Khoshbakht on MoMA’s “Iranian Cinema before the Revolution, 1925–1979” Series first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “The Grandest Orphan Cinema”: Ehsan Khoshbakht on MoMA’s “Iranian Cinema before the Revolution, 1925–1979” Series first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/31/2024
- by René Baharmast
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Starting with a packed house on the night of October 13 and concluding right after Thanksgiving, MoMA showcased “Iranian Cinema before the Revolution, 1925–1979,” the largest retrospective of Iranian cinema ever held inside or outside of Iran. With close to 70 films covering the pre-revolutionary period, there were works from Iran’s most famous filmmaker, Abbas Kiarostami; the most famous film of this era, the late Dariush Mehrjui’s The Cow; and repertory favorites like Ebrahim Golestan’s Brick and Mirror, Bahram Beyzaie’s Downpour and Forough Farrokhzad’s The House is Black. But, significantly, there were also films by lesser-known but just as vital […]
The post “The Grandest Orphan Cinema”: Ehsan Khoshbakht on MoMA’s “Iranian Cinema before the Revolution, 1925–1979” Series first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “The Grandest Orphan Cinema”: Ehsan Khoshbakht on MoMA’s “Iranian Cinema before the Revolution, 1925–1979” Series first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/31/2024
- by René Baharmast
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
On the 4th of July 2016 Iranian filmmaker, producer, author and poet Abbas Kiarostami died in Paris. While he did not receive the same kind of recognition in his home country Iran as he did in the rest of world, his body of work is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful in the history of cinema. Numerous authors have interpreted the various layers of meaning within his features, but perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of his works is the way he uses landscape. While many directors uses landscape, rural or urban, as the background for the story or the characters, Kiarostami has continued to explore means to use landscape as a means to not just tell a story, but to enhance it, which he perfected throughout his career. In the following, we will take a look at a few examples within his wide filmography emphasizing this very point.
1. Where is the Friend's Home?...
1. Where is the Friend's Home?...
- 1/21/2024
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Ning Hao’s The Movie Emperor will screen as the opening film of Macau’s Asia-Europe Young Cinema Film Festival, which is holding its inaugural edition from January 5-11. Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail, recently a hit in India, will screen as the closing film.
The event has two major sections – a programme of masterclasses and screenings aimed at young directors, film students and local audiences, and a Works-in-Progress (WiP) Lab, which will be attended by international sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The masterclasses will be held by leading international filmmakers including several from the Chinese-speaking world – Ning Hao, Li Dongmei, Johnnie To, Yon Fan and Lee Hong-chi – along with Japanese filmmakers Ryosuke Hamaguchi and Shinya Tsukamoto, Russia’s Aleksey German Jr, Italy’s Gabriel Menetti, India’s Anurag Kashyap, Lav Diaz from the Philippines and Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi.
China Film Directors Association is actively involved in...
The event has two major sections – a programme of masterclasses and screenings aimed at young directors, film students and local audiences, and a Works-in-Progress (WiP) Lab, which will be attended by international sales agents, distributors and festival programmers.
The masterclasses will be held by leading international filmmakers including several from the Chinese-speaking world – Ning Hao, Li Dongmei, Johnnie To, Yon Fan and Lee Hong-chi – along with Japanese filmmakers Ryosuke Hamaguchi and Shinya Tsukamoto, Russia’s Aleksey German Jr, Italy’s Gabriel Menetti, India’s Anurag Kashyap, Lav Diaz from the Philippines and Iranian filmmaker Amir Naderi.
China Film Directors Association is actively involved in...
- 1/4/2024
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
In Varun Chopra’s Oscar-contending documentary short Holy Cowboys, the director offers a peek into a side of India’s societal structure on how the cow, a sacred and holy animal to the majority Hindu population, is being protected from slaughter by a growing group of Hindu nationalists. Winner of the Grand Jury prize at the 2022 Doc NYC, Holy Cowboys introduces viewers to the world of cow vigilantism through the eyes of a Hindu teen and his friends from a small town, Vapi, in the state of Gujarat.
Chopra, a Sundance Ignite Fellow who is based in the U.S. and India, takes a hybrid approach to shed light on the growing Hindu nationalist influence on youth, and their justification to resort to violence on Muslims and other minorities to end the consumption of beef, all in the name of the cow. He also presents other prevalent issues, such as plastic pollution,...
Chopra, a Sundance Ignite Fellow who is based in the U.S. and India, takes a hybrid approach to shed light on the growing Hindu nationalist influence on youth, and their justification to resort to violence on Muslims and other minorities to end the consumption of beef, all in the name of the cow. He also presents other prevalent issues, such as plastic pollution,...
- 12/10/2023
- by Sunil Sadarangani
- Deadline Film + TV
In his debut film “Which Colour?” director Shahrukhkhan Chavada is juggling perspectives of various characters, thus painting a polyphonic portrait of a Gujarat-based ghettoised Muslim community. Thanks to his eye for detail, Chavada finds in the formally rigorous approach an angle to tell a politically loaded story without sensationalism. Rather, by following several characters stemming from two generations, “Which Colour?” captures the social and economic nuances that both divide and connect the film's community.
Which Colour is screening at Five Flavours
Told over the course of 24 hours in Kalupur, Ahmadebad, “Which Colour?” follows Raziya (Samina Shaikh), as she does her best at caring for the other inhabitants of her house. Among them is, initially comical and naïve, but ultimately tragic, husband Razzak (Imtiyaz Shaikh). He has been unemployed for over a month now, and rather than focusing on getting a new job, he fantasizes about a rickshaw which could grant him financial independence.
Which Colour is screening at Five Flavours
Told over the course of 24 hours in Kalupur, Ahmadebad, “Which Colour?” follows Raziya (Samina Shaikh), as she does her best at caring for the other inhabitants of her house. Among them is, initially comical and naïve, but ultimately tragic, husband Razzak (Imtiyaz Shaikh). He has been unemployed for over a month now, and rather than focusing on getting a new job, he fantasizes about a rickshaw which could grant him financial independence.
- 11/22/2023
- by Olek Młyński
- AsianMoviePulse
Hengameh Panahi, the celebrated French-Iranian producer who founded Celluloid Dreams and forged long-standing bonds with auteurs around the world, has died. She was 67.
Panahi, who worked with the likes of Jafar Panahi, Jacques Audiard, Hirokazu Kore-eda and Jia Zhangke, died on Nov. 5 after battling a long illness, according to a statement sent by a film publicist who worked with Panahi for many years.
Panahi was born in Iran and lived in Belgium from the age of 12 before moving to France in 1993. That’s where she founded the sales company Celluloid Dreams and played a major role in co-producing, co-financing and selling international rights to a number of politically minded films, such as Panahi’s Berlinale Golden Bear-winning “Taxi Tehran”; Audiard’s “A Prophet” and his Palme d’Or winning “Dheepan”; Ramin Mohseni’s ”From Afar”; Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” and “Chicken With Plums”; and Iranian master Abbas Kiarostami’s “Where...
Panahi, who worked with the likes of Jafar Panahi, Jacques Audiard, Hirokazu Kore-eda and Jia Zhangke, died on Nov. 5 after battling a long illness, according to a statement sent by a film publicist who worked with Panahi for many years.
Panahi was born in Iran and lived in Belgium from the age of 12 before moving to France in 1993. That’s where she founded the sales company Celluloid Dreams and played a major role in co-producing, co-financing and selling international rights to a number of politically minded films, such as Panahi’s Berlinale Golden Bear-winning “Taxi Tehran”; Audiard’s “A Prophet” and his Palme d’Or winning “Dheepan”; Ramin Mohseni’s ”From Afar”; Marjane Satrapi’s “Persepolis” and “Chicken With Plums”; and Iranian master Abbas Kiarostami’s “Where...
- 11/9/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
There's a wonderful little indie distributor based in NYC called Zeitgeist Films, founded in 1988. If you're a die-hard cinephile, you probably already recognize the name. They've supported amazing filmmakers and little films that deserve to be seen in US art house cinemas. From their website, they explain Zeitgeist as: "Distributed over 200 of the finest independent films from the U.S. and around the world including the early works of Todd Haynes, Christopher Nolan, François Ozon, Laura Poitras, Atom Egoyan and the Quay Brothers. Their catalog has also included films from the world's most outstanding filmmakers: Agnes Varda, Guy Maddin, Olivier Assayas, Jia Zhang-ke, Abbas Kiarostami, Derek Jarman, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Peter Greenaway, Philippe Garrel, Yvonne Rainer, Jan Svankmajer, Margarethe Von Trotta, Andrei Zyvagintsev and Raoul Peck." To celebrate their 35th anniversary, Metrograph is hosting screenings of some of their finest gems. "We're particularly looking forward to reuniting with some of...
- 11/6/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Distributing films by Todd Haynes, Guy Maddin, Abbas Kiarostami, Laura Poitras, Olivier Assayas, and even Jacques Demy, Zeitgeist Film has been one of the most vital caretakers of independent and international cinema in the last few decades. Founded in New York City in 1988 by Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo, they will now get a well-deserved celebration at NYC’s Metrograph beginning this Friday, November 3, with the series Zeitgeist Films at 35, and we’re pleased to exclusively debut the trailer.
Along with Olivier Assayas’ Irma Vep, Todd Haynes’ Poison, Derek Jarman’s The Garden, Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry, Atom Egoyan’s Speaking Parts, and Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg (released in a new restoration by Zeitgeist in 1996), the series features premieres of new 4K remasters of Guy Maddin’s Archangel and Marc Rothemund’s Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, plus an exclusive series closing night Member Preview of...
Along with Olivier Assayas’ Irma Vep, Todd Haynes’ Poison, Derek Jarman’s The Garden, Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry, Atom Egoyan’s Speaking Parts, and Jacques Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg (released in a new restoration by Zeitgeist in 1996), the series features premieres of new 4K remasters of Guy Maddin’s Archangel and Marc Rothemund’s Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, plus an exclusive series closing night Member Preview of...
- 10/31/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Martin Scorsese’s 50-year filmmaking career and longtime side gig as a film preservation advocate has led to him being recognized as the world’s biggest cinephile for decades. But his increasingly vocal passion for the medium — and yes, his viral comments about Marvel movies — have given him a new kind of relevance in recent years as an aspirational figure for young cinephiles on the Internet who are dismayed by the state of the industry. So it feels appropriate (if surreal) that the 80-year-old auteur now has a Letterboxd account.
As part of the lengthy promotional cycle for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Scorsese has officially joined the film-centric social media site that encourages users to log and review films that they have seen. And he’s been busy, logging 69 films and curating a list of classics that he recommends pairing with his own work.
“I love the idea of...
As part of the lengthy promotional cycle for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Scorsese has officially joined the film-centric social media site that encourages users to log and review films that they have seen. And he’s been busy, logging 69 films and curating a list of classics that he recommends pairing with his own work.
“I love the idea of...
- 10/26/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
For filmmakers, few honors can compare to premiering a movie in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. And for fans of international cinema around the world, seeing a Cannes hit opening in theaters after a long wait can be one of the most exciting moviegoing events of the year. This weekend promises to bring such a treat to New York moviegoers, as Kaouther Ben Hania’s Tunisian metafictional documentary “Four Daughters” makes its way to select theaters.
The film tells the story of Olfa Hamrouni, a Tunisian woman who lost contact with two of her daughters when they left to join Isis. Hania documents the story of the family’s dissolution by casting two professional actors to play the estranged daughters. The narrative device invokes classic metafictional documentaries such as Abbas Kiarostami’s “Close-Up” by simultaneously telling a story and prompting viewers to question the reliability of the film in front of them.
The film tells the story of Olfa Hamrouni, a Tunisian woman who lost contact with two of her daughters when they left to join Isis. Hania documents the story of the family’s dissolution by casting two professional actors to play the estranged daughters. The narrative device invokes classic metafictional documentaries such as Abbas Kiarostami’s “Close-Up” by simultaneously telling a story and prompting viewers to question the reliability of the film in front of them.
- 10/24/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
MK2 Films has acquired a collection of films and TV series directed by Bruno Dumont, the award-winning French director behind “Life of Jesus” and “Humanity.”
The acquisition, unveiled during Mipcom Cannes, covers the bulk of the director’s work, spanning eight films and TV series including “Li’l Quinquin,” which premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. MK2 Films will represent rights to some of these titles, in France and/or international markets, apart from a few titles like “Slack Bay” whose global rights are still handled by Memento International.
“Bruno Dumont is, of course, a major figure of contemporary cinema,” said Nathanaël Karmitz, MK2’s chairman of the executive board. Karmitz praised Dumont for the “originality of his unusual, unpredictable [films], veering from gravitas to some unnerving, comedic tangents.” He continued, “Iconoclastic and consistently courageous in its form, his work perfectly represents the free and ambitious cinema that we are proud to promote.
The acquisition, unveiled during Mipcom Cannes, covers the bulk of the director’s work, spanning eight films and TV series including “Li’l Quinquin,” which premiered at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. MK2 Films will represent rights to some of these titles, in France and/or international markets, apart from a few titles like “Slack Bay” whose global rights are still handled by Memento International.
“Bruno Dumont is, of course, a major figure of contemporary cinema,” said Nathanaël Karmitz, MK2’s chairman of the executive board. Karmitz praised Dumont for the “originality of his unusual, unpredictable [films], veering from gravitas to some unnerving, comedic tangents.” He continued, “Iconoclastic and consistently courageous in its form, his work perfectly represents the free and ambitious cinema that we are proud to promote.
- 10/16/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
When thinking of the best French movies of the 21st century, there are some titles that leap to mind immediately, even if the past 23 years haven’t appeared to be as creatively fecund as the heady heights of the New Wave period. Celine Sciamma, François Ozon, Bruno Dumont, and Julia Ducournau have all produced stunning, instantly canonical works. But what’s interesting is to consider how expansive the idea of “Frenchness” in cinema has been this century: on the list below, Austrian Michael Haneke, Iranian Abbas Kiarostami, and American Julian Schnabel appear, with the main criterion for inclusion being simply the use of the French language.
Their inclusion does call into question a bit the idea of national cinemas. And yet, even in this highly interconnected, global 21st century, France singularly remains one of the medium’s most essential guiding lights. From the pioneer era of the Lumiere brothers to...
Their inclusion does call into question a bit the idea of national cinemas. And yet, even in this highly interconnected, global 21st century, France singularly remains one of the medium’s most essential guiding lights. From the pioneer era of the Lumiere brothers to...
- 9/25/2023
- by Eric Kohn and David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Programme includes ‘top 10’ films selected by director Wang Bing and selection of Peter Greenaway films.
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has revealed the first 50 titles for this year’s edition, running Nov 8 to Nov 19.
As part of a previously announced Wang Bing retrospective, the director has been invited to programme his “top 10”. The films he has selected are all Chinese and all date from 1999 or later.
They are: Before the Flood (2005) directed by Yifan Li, Yu YanBing’ai (2007) by Yan Feng; Born in Beijing (2011) by Li Ma; Last Train Home (2009) by Lixin Fan; The Next Life (2011) by Jian Fan...
The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has revealed the first 50 titles for this year’s edition, running Nov 8 to Nov 19.
As part of a previously announced Wang Bing retrospective, the director has been invited to programme his “top 10”. The films he has selected are all Chinese and all date from 1999 or later.
They are: Before the Flood (2005) directed by Yifan Li, Yu YanBing’ai (2007) by Yan Feng; Born in Beijing (2011) by Li Ma; Last Train Home (2009) by Lixin Fan; The Next Life (2011) by Jian Fan...
- 9/20/2023
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Documentary festival IDFA, which runs Nov. 8 to 19 in Amsterdam, has revealed its first 50 titles, including the top 10 Chinese films selected by Chinese filmmaker Wang Bing, IDFA’s Guest of Honor.
The festival has also revealed the films playing in two of the three Focus programs: Fabrications, which probes the difference between reality and realism, and 16 Worlds on 16, an homage to 16mm film.
Wang’s selection will take the viewer “on a contemplative journey into contemporary Chinese cinema,” according to the festival. “The films and their politics are subtle in their film language, representing a wave of filmmaking rarely shown internationally.”
The selection (see below), which covers films produced since 1999, includes Lixin Fan’s 2009 film “Last Train Home,” which was supported by IDFA’s Bertha Fund. The film documents the millions of migrant factory workers that travel home for Spring Festival each year.
Fabrications explores the relationship of trust between documentary film and audiences,...
The festival has also revealed the films playing in two of the three Focus programs: Fabrications, which probes the difference between reality and realism, and 16 Worlds on 16, an homage to 16mm film.
Wang’s selection will take the viewer “on a contemplative journey into contemporary Chinese cinema,” according to the festival. “The films and their politics are subtle in their film language, representing a wave of filmmaking rarely shown internationally.”
The selection (see below), which covers films produced since 1999, includes Lixin Fan’s 2009 film “Last Train Home,” which was supported by IDFA’s Bertha Fund. The film documents the millions of migrant factory workers that travel home for Spring Festival each year.
Fabrications explores the relationship of trust between documentary film and audiences,...
- 9/19/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Acclaimed director Wang Bing, this year’s guest of honor at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, will be using his IDFA platform to highlight nonfiction cinema of his native China.
The festival, which runs from Nov. 8-19, announced the 10 films Bing has selected to be screened at IDFA – one of the perquisites of being named guest of honor. Among the documentaries he’s choosing to highlight are Old Men (1999), directed by Lina Yang; Wheat Harvest (2008), directed by Tong Xu, and IDFA Bertha Fund-supported Last Train Home (2009) by Lixin Fan, “documenting the millions of migrant factory workers that travel home for Spring Festival each year.” (Scroll to see Bing’s full top 10 list).
Director Wang Bing attends the Cannes Film Festival May 19, 2023.
The documentaries chosen by Bing “and their politics are subtle in their film language,” IDFA noted in a release, “representing a wave of filmmaking rarely shown internationally.
The festival, which runs from Nov. 8-19, announced the 10 films Bing has selected to be screened at IDFA – one of the perquisites of being named guest of honor. Among the documentaries he’s choosing to highlight are Old Men (1999), directed by Lina Yang; Wheat Harvest (2008), directed by Tong Xu, and IDFA Bertha Fund-supported Last Train Home (2009) by Lixin Fan, “documenting the millions of migrant factory workers that travel home for Spring Festival each year.” (Scroll to see Bing’s full top 10 list).
Director Wang Bing attends the Cannes Film Festival May 19, 2023.
The documentaries chosen by Bing “and their politics are subtle in their film language,” IDFA noted in a release, “representing a wave of filmmaking rarely shown internationally.
- 9/19/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Themes of aging have always undergirded Victor Erice’s work. His feature debut, 1973’s Spirit of the Beehive, is one of the finest of all coming-of-age films, capturing a few days in the life of young girl as she struggles to understand, through nascent eyes, the evils and contradictions of life in Francoist Spain. Ten years later came El Sur, Erice’s famously incomplete adaptation of Adelaida García Morales’s novella, another story about a child who grows gradually aware of her country’s—and family’s—troubled past. And 1992’s The Quince Tree Sun saw Erice turn his attention more explicitly to art as a means of physical and spiritual preservation: the act of ossifying a moment in time in an attempt to stave off the inevitable.
Now, after three decades and a smattering of shorts (including a multipart collaboration with Abbas Kiarostami), Close Your Eyes marks the 83-year-old...
Now, after three decades and a smattering of shorts (including a multipart collaboration with Abbas Kiarostami), Close Your Eyes marks the 83-year-old...
- 9/13/2023
- by Cole Kronman
- Slant Magazine
Yui Kiyohara with Anne-Katrin Titze on Tadashi Okuno and Abbas Kiarostami: “I did cast Mr. Okuno because I saw Like Someone In Love and he was fantastic.”
“It’s missing a key” is the first sentence spoken by one of the musicians whose compositions will accompany Yui Kiyohara’s beautifully memorable Remembering Every Night, shot by Yukiko Iioka, stars Kumi Hyodo, Minami Ohba, and Ai Mikami with Guama Uchida, Shintaro Yuya, Mizuho Nojima, and Tadashi Okuno (star of Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone In Love).
Sanae (Minami Ohba) with Mr. Takada (Tadashi Okuno)
Tama New Town is the setting, a housing complex built in 1971 as a Tokyo satellite city. This is where the film lets us stroll around and bike with its three female protagonists. Via these movements and the caring gaze the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Chizu (Kumi Hyodo) is 44 and recently lost her...
“It’s missing a key” is the first sentence spoken by one of the musicians whose compositions will accompany Yui Kiyohara’s beautifully memorable Remembering Every Night, shot by Yukiko Iioka, stars Kumi Hyodo, Minami Ohba, and Ai Mikami with Guama Uchida, Shintaro Yuya, Mizuho Nojima, and Tadashi Okuno (star of Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone In Love).
Sanae (Minami Ohba) with Mr. Takada (Tadashi Okuno)
Tama New Town is the setting, a housing complex built in 1971 as a Tokyo satellite city. This is where the film lets us stroll around and bike with its three female protagonists. Via these movements and the caring gaze the ordinary becomes extraordinary. Chizu (Kumi Hyodo) is 44 and recently lost her...
- 9/12/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
For Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World, writer-director Radu Jude may have captured more footage from the passenger seat of a car than Abbas Kiarostami’s Taste of Cherry. Cinematographer Marius Panduru, shooting on high-contrast 16mm black-and-white film, renders the traffic-jammed streets of Bucharest as a nightmare vision of modern life. Our guide through this hellscape is Angela (Ilinca Manolache), an overworked and under-slept Uber driver and production assistant. She’s always on the verge of nodding off while driving, and watching cars stream by through the window is a quietly anxious experience.
Angela is conducting at-home auditions with several working-class employees of an Austrian furniture company who were injured on the job. One of the workers will then be selected to appear in a safety advisory video and share their story—or a company-approved version of it—as a cautionary tale slash ass-covering gambit.
Angela is conducting at-home auditions with several working-class employees of an Austrian furniture company who were injured on the job. One of the workers will then be selected to appear in a safety advisory video and share their story—or a company-approved version of it—as a cautionary tale slash ass-covering gambit.
- 9/9/2023
- by Seth Katz
- Slant Magazine
Yui Kiyohara’s Remembering Every Night shot by Yukiko Iioka stars Kumi Hyodo, Minami Ohba, and Ai Mikami with Guama Uchida, Shintaro Yuya, Mizuho Nojima, and Tadashi Okuno (star of Abbas Kiarostami’s Like Someone In Love).
“It’s missing a key” is the first sentence spoken by one of the musicians whose compositions will accompany Kiyohara’s beautifully memorable Remembering Every Night. Tama New Town, a housing complex built in 1971 as a Tokyo satellite city, is where the film lets us stroll around and bike with its three female protagonists. Via these movements and the caring gaze the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
Chizu (Kumi Hyodo) is 44 and recently lost her job as a...
“It’s missing a key” is the first sentence spoken by one of the musicians whose compositions will accompany Kiyohara’s beautifully memorable Remembering Every Night. Tama New Town, a housing complex built in 1971 as a Tokyo satellite city, is where the film lets us stroll around and bike with its three female protagonists. Via these movements and the caring gaze the ordinary becomes extraordinary.
Chizu (Kumi Hyodo) is 44 and recently lost her job as a...
- 9/8/2023
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Kohn’s Corner is a weekly column about the challenges and opportunities of sustaining American film culture.
Cinema is a global industry, but Hollywood struggles to see beyond its own reflection. This past week, much was made about the international impact of “Barbie,” a mass-market takedown of the patriarchy that somehow has been able to screen in Saudi Arabia but not in Kuwait, and got banned in Algeria for “homosexuality and other Western deviances” a month after its release, presumably because censors decided to see “Oppenheimer” first.
Yet far less attention in the West has been paid to Iran, which did not screen “Barbie” or any other American movie this month, and shows no sign of doing that anytime soon. The Middle Eastern country banned the theatrical release of most foreign films years ago, which means that most Iranian audiences for Hollywood blockbusters come from the industry’s greatest foe: piracy sites.
Cinema is a global industry, but Hollywood struggles to see beyond its own reflection. This past week, much was made about the international impact of “Barbie,” a mass-market takedown of the patriarchy that somehow has been able to screen in Saudi Arabia but not in Kuwait, and got banned in Algeria for “homosexuality and other Western deviances” a month after its release, presumably because censors decided to see “Oppenheimer” first.
Yet far less attention in the West has been paid to Iran, which did not screen “Barbie” or any other American movie this month, and shows no sign of doing that anytime soon. The Middle Eastern country banned the theatrical release of most foreign films years ago, which means that most Iranian audiences for Hollywood blockbusters come from the industry’s greatest foe: piracy sites.
- 8/19/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The Golden Leopard Winner
In case of emergency call the ambulance, for it might bring you a different type of medical aid in the time of need neatly packed in bags, even if it comes with side-effects. One of such ambulance cars is “tunneling” its way through the opening scene of Ali Ahmadzadeh’s shockingly daring adrenaline- & drug infused Locarno contender “Critical Zone”, one of this year’s strongest international competition titles. A good deal of the film’s narrative is happening in a moving car which is the formative model adopted from some of the finest works of Abbas Kiarostami or Jafar Panahi, but almost everything else in it, visually- and content-wise writes a new chapter in the Iranian cinema.
The making of this movie heavily loaded with taboo-breaking content, and likewise its way to the world premiere was made possible only through the meticulous planning: development of different...
In case of emergency call the ambulance, for it might bring you a different type of medical aid in the time of need neatly packed in bags, even if it comes with side-effects. One of such ambulance cars is “tunneling” its way through the opening scene of Ali Ahmadzadeh’s shockingly daring adrenaline- & drug infused Locarno contender “Critical Zone”, one of this year’s strongest international competition titles. A good deal of the film’s narrative is happening in a moving car which is the formative model adopted from some of the finest works of Abbas Kiarostami or Jafar Panahi, but almost everything else in it, visually- and content-wise writes a new chapter in the Iranian cinema.
The making of this movie heavily loaded with taboo-breaking content, and likewise its way to the world premiere was made possible only through the meticulous planning: development of different...
- 8/12/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
[Editor’s note: The following interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike began on July 14, 2023.]
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Juliette Binoche has made her career out of playing characters who are independent, searching, unsatisfied, restless. From playing Czech protest photographer Tereza in her breakout movie, the Philip Kaufman erotic classic “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” to playing a composer’s wife left grieving and with his baggage in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Three Colors: Blue,” the Academy Award-winning French actress plays women pulling themselves through confusing situations, political intrigue, and perverse romantic entanglements. Often at once.
Her body of work eschews a pat introduction, but the Quad Cinema in New York has put together a syllabus of sorts with “Beautiful Binoche,” a series of films running from August 4-10 in the lead-up to next week’s release of her new film “Between Two Worlds”, about a famous author who goes undercover as a cleaning lady to investigate the exploitation of...
The following interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Juliette Binoche has made her career out of playing characters who are independent, searching, unsatisfied, restless. From playing Czech protest photographer Tereza in her breakout movie, the Philip Kaufman erotic classic “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” to playing a composer’s wife left grieving and with his baggage in Krzysztof Kieślowski’s “Three Colors: Blue,” the Academy Award-winning French actress plays women pulling themselves through confusing situations, political intrigue, and perverse romantic entanglements. Often at once.
Her body of work eschews a pat introduction, but the Quad Cinema in New York has put together a syllabus of sorts with “Beautiful Binoche,” a series of films running from August 4-10 in the lead-up to next week’s release of her new film “Between Two Worlds”, about a famous author who goes undercover as a cleaning lady to investigate the exploitation of...
- 8/2/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Casting
Casting for the beloved “Famous Five” stories of Enid Blyton, which are being reimagined for the BBC and Zdf by Nicolas Winding Refn, has been revealed.
Diaana Babnicova is playing the role of George, alongside Elliott Rose as Julian, Kit Rakusen as Dick, Flora Jacoby Richardson as Anne, playing George’s cousins who come to stay at Kirrin Cottage.
Making up the fifth member of the “Famous Five” is Kip, the Bearded Collie Cross playing Timmy the dog. The cast also includes Jack Gleeson (“Game of Thrones”), Ann Akinjirin (“Moon Knight”), James Lance (“Ted Lasso”) and Diana Quick (“Father Brown”).
The 3 x 90′ series is based on the 21 “Famous Five” novels and short stories Blyton wrote between 1942 and 1963. The series follows five daring young explorers as they encounter treacherous, action-packed adventures, remarkable mysteries, unparalleled danger and astounding secrets. It is created for television and executive produced by Winding Refn (byNWR...
Casting for the beloved “Famous Five” stories of Enid Blyton, which are being reimagined for the BBC and Zdf by Nicolas Winding Refn, has been revealed.
Diaana Babnicova is playing the role of George, alongside Elliott Rose as Julian, Kit Rakusen as Dick, Flora Jacoby Richardson as Anne, playing George’s cousins who come to stay at Kirrin Cottage.
Making up the fifth member of the “Famous Five” is Kip, the Bearded Collie Cross playing Timmy the dog. The cast also includes Jack Gleeson (“Game of Thrones”), Ann Akinjirin (“Moon Knight”), James Lance (“Ted Lasso”) and Diana Quick (“Father Brown”).
The 3 x 90′ series is based on the 21 “Famous Five” novels and short stories Blyton wrote between 1942 and 1963. The series follows five daring young explorers as they encounter treacherous, action-packed adventures, remarkable mysteries, unparalleled danger and astounding secrets. It is created for television and executive produced by Winding Refn (byNWR...
- 7/26/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Even the simplest of stories, with the most mundane and unexciting premises, can still feel like epic tales if told with the right attention and understanding of the character's struggle. Take Abbas Kiarostami's classic “Where is the Friend's House” , the first installment in the Koker Trilogy which brought the director international acclaim.
Ahmed takes his friend's, Mohammad's, notebook by mistake after they finish classes in their primary school. The error can have consequences of life-changing proportions for one of the boys. If Mohammad does not come to school on the next day with his homework finished, he will be expelled from it. Ahmed thus embarks on a mission to save his classmate and protect his future. The problem? He does not now where his colleague exactly lives, and has to rely on the help of other villagers. What follows is the most frustratingly-satisfying tale about a McGuffin search.
Ahmed takes his friend's, Mohammad's, notebook by mistake after they finish classes in their primary school. The error can have consequences of life-changing proportions for one of the boys. If Mohammad does not come to school on the next day with his homework finished, he will be expelled from it. Ahmed thus embarks on a mission to save his classmate and protect his future. The problem? He does not now where his colleague exactly lives, and has to rely on the help of other villagers. What follows is the most frustratingly-satisfying tale about a McGuffin search.
- 7/25/2023
- by Olek Młyński
- AsianMoviePulse
From the films of Krzysztof Kieślowski to Claire Denis, Oscar winner Juliette Binoche has starred in many of your favorite European arthouse classics, and she’s probably the reason we return to them again and again. This summer, New Yorkers — or any ambitious traveling cinephiles — will have the chance to see many of her all-time greatest performances on 35mm thanks to a new retrospective set for the Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village.
IndieWire exclusively announces “Beautiful Binoche,” which will take place August 4–10 at New York City’s longest-running, four-screen multiplex. In addition to some of the great Binoche titles from the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s, the Quad Cinema will also present Binoche’s latest film, “Between Two Worlds,” opening from Cohen Media Group on August 11.
The French actress has long made a career playing determined women pulling themselves through confusing situations — from perverse erotic entanglements to political intrigue and isolating grief.
IndieWire exclusively announces “Beautiful Binoche,” which will take place August 4–10 at New York City’s longest-running, four-screen multiplex. In addition to some of the great Binoche titles from the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s, the Quad Cinema will also present Binoche’s latest film, “Between Two Worlds,” opening from Cohen Media Group on August 11.
The French actress has long made a career playing determined women pulling themselves through confusing situations — from perverse erotic entanglements to political intrigue and isolating grief.
- 7/6/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Who needs summer blockbusters when there are so many gripping new and recent books related to the world of cinema? This column includes books highlighting creative heavyweights with new projects on the way, like Paul Thomas Anderson and Roman Polanski, and titans who have left us, like Abbas Kiarostami and Elizabeth Taylor. Other releases swim in the bloody waters of giallo, examine African American westerns, and offer reflections on horror cinema from queer and trans writers.
One thing is certain––unlike Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, Fast X, and The Flash––everything here is worth your time and money.
The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha by Ethan Warren (Wallflower Press)
While there have been fine books exploring the work of Paul Thomas Anderson (such as Adam Nayman’s Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks) Ethan Warren’s American Apocrypha stands as an important accounting of PTA’s energy and influence.
One thing is certain––unlike Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, Fast X, and The Flash––everything here is worth your time and money.
The Cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson: American Apocrypha by Ethan Warren (Wallflower Press)
While there have been fine books exploring the work of Paul Thomas Anderson (such as Adam Nayman’s Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks) Ethan Warren’s American Apocrypha stands as an important accounting of PTA’s energy and influence.
- 6/26/2023
- by Christopher Schobert
- The Film Stage
Cinema in Iran began to blossom in the 1950s and 1960s, kicking off what was to become one of the world's most celebrated national cinemas. What was coined the Iranian New Wave more or less includes films beginning in the 1960s all the way through the early 2010s, which encompasses the bulk of Iranian film history. Filmmaking shifted but did not stop after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when many artists went into exile and more extreme censorship was imposed. Today, Iranian cinema that reaches the global market has a particular character to it, characterized by directors including Asghar Farhadi and Jafar Panahi, who have received international acclaim for their grounded features depicting the nuances of Iranian society. As such, this list reflects films of this nature.
In chronological order, we examine 6 Iranian films from 6 different Iranian directors that trace the diversity of these movies through the years, examining stories that have...
In chronological order, we examine 6 Iranian films from 6 different Iranian directors that trace the diversity of these movies through the years, examining stories that have...
- 6/18/2023
- by Olivia Popp
- AsianMoviePulse
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