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Karlovy Vary IFF :: Cannes Winners, Serbian Miniseries ‘Absolute 100’ Join KVIFF Lineup
The 59th edition of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (KVIFF) will feature key Cannes Film Festival winners in its Horizons section and a selection of action and horror movies..

Cinema Will Always Speak :: Workshop Edition :: Jafar Panahi to lead a filmmaking workshop in Italy
The acclaimed Iranian filmmaker and latest Palme d'Or winner will attend Le giornate del cinema of Monte San Savino to share his expertise. He will lead a hands-on filmmaking workshop this summer..

Director of The Seed of the Sacred Fig Condemns Pedram's Execution
Now his photo has been published. I am staring at his face. The past will not leave me.. I had seen him several times in the carpentry department of ward 4 (in the notorious Evin prison). He always had a smile on his face..

Variety (EXCLUSIVE) :: Mohammad Rasoulof on Jafar Panahi’s Cannes Palme d’Or
Jafar Panahi’s Cannes Palme d’Or is a ‘Powerful Blow to the Machinery of Repression in the Islamic Republic,’ Says ‘Seed of the Sacred Fig’ Director Mohammad Rasoulof..

CANNES 2025 Awards :: Jafar Panahi wins the Palme d’Or for It Was Just an Accident
Jafar Panahi wins the Palme d’Or for It Was Just an Accident. The Grand Prix has gone to Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, and other accolades to The Secret Agent, Mascha Schilinski..

Cannes 2025 :: ‘Alpha’ review: Julia Ducournau's ‘Titane’ follow-up is set against a mysterious French plague
Tahar Rahim and Golshifteh Farahani star in this surprisingly emotional family drama. Julie Ducornau is full of surprises. With her first two features, Raw and Titane, she established herself as one of..

Cannes 2025 :: ‘Once Upon A Time In Gaza’ :: Movie Review
Satirical, resonant follow-up to ‘Gaza Mon Amour’. Latest film from the Nasser brothers looks at everyday life in Gaza City in the 2010s. Gaza-born film-making brothers Arab and Tarzan Nasser are prominent exponents of the Gazan imagination..

Cannes 2025 :: Directors’ Fortnight :: Yes :: Movie Review
Nadav Lapid valiantly attempts to take Israel’s temperature after 7 October but can only say so much from his soapbox. 'Yes' is easily one of the line-up’s best, and has premiered in the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight..

Cannes 2025 :: ‘Sentimental Value’ :: Movie Review
Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgard bring incredible tenderness to the story. This is Joachim Trier’s third picture to screen in Cannes Competition, after 2021’s The Worst Person In The World’s breakout lead Reinsve won Best Actress...

Cannes 2025 :: ‘Woman And Child’ :: Movie Review
Iran’s Saeed Roustaee Delivers A Fiery Feminist Portrait Of A Woman Who Refuses To Be Pushed Aside. ‘Woman and Child’ arrives in Cannes at the end of a very satisfying festival, and it could well be an awards contender. The standout is Parinaz..

Cannes 2025 :: Jafar Panahi Intends to Keep Up the Fight :: “Even My Closest Friends Had Given up Hope”
The dissident Iranian director, no longer under a travel ban from Tehran, returned to Cannes for the first time in two decades to present the competition film 'It Was Just an Accident'..

Cannes 2025 :: ‘The Little Sister’ Review: An odyssey of sexual self-discovery
The youngest of three daughters in a French Algerian family living in the suburbs of Paris, Fatima (Nadia Melliti) is a devout Muslim and dutiful daughter. She is also, she realises with growing..

Cannes 2025 :: 'Renoir' Review: Moving, emotional, and ultimately cathartic
Renoir is a quiet and stirring coming-of-age story that reminds us of our own childhood and the impactful time that can be. It tells the story of a family where everything is about to change..

ICA, London :: In Focus: Fatemeh Motamed-Arya :: Films & Special Programme :: 14 May - 1 June 2025
In Focus: Fatemeh Motamed-Arya is a special programme of eight films spotlighting the extraordinary career of multi-award-winning Iranian actress, Fatemeh (Simin) Motamed-Arya..

Cannes 2025 :: Cannes Jury President Juliette Binoche Condemns Killing of Palestinian Journalist
At the festival’s opening ceremony just a few hours later, Binoche, clad in a hooded white gown, took the stage and spoke passionately about the killing of Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassouna in an Israeli air strike last month..

Cannes 2025 :: "Sound of Falling" (In die Sonne schauen) :: Movie Review
Cannes 2025 Is Only A Day Old But Already Has Its First Raved About Movie… Let The Bidding Wars Begin For Mascha Schilinski’s ‘Sound Of Falling.’ Some Cannes Film Festivals take days to get going in terms of critical hits. Not this year..

"The Seed of the Sacred Fig" :: One of the main winners of the 2025 German Film Awards (Lolas)
"The Seed of the Sacred Fig", directed by Mohammad Rasoulof, has been awarded the Silver Lola, the German equivalent of an Oscar for second best movie, at the German Film Awards held in Berlin Friday night..

Variety (EXCLUSIVE) :: Cannes-Bound Iranian Film ‘Woman and Child’ Sparks Controversy
Even before Saeed Roustayee’s “Woman and Child” premieres at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, the Iranian director’s new work is sparking heated controversy that reflects deep soul searching..

"There’s Still Tomorrow" :: Movie review:
The award-winning Italian film about domestic abuse features a powerful performance by Paola Cortellesi. At times, “There’s Still Tomorrow,” with its striking black-and-white cinematography, resembles many romance films from the 1940s..

Cannes 2025 :: "The Daughters of Old Shiraz" to be screened at Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes!
A story from the heart of the back alleys of Shiraz, now in the heart of Cannes, a place to be seen worldwide. "The Daughters of Old Shiraz" is not just a film; it is a picture of the power of women..

PRODUCTION | France | Italy | Belgium :: Asghar Farhadi preparing his new French film 'Parallel Tales'
Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Adam Bessa will star in the cast of the Iranian director’s next movie, steered by Memento and set to be sold by Charades..

Cannes 2025 :: Simultaneous presence of official and underground Iranian films at Cannes
The 78th Cannes Film Festival has become a special period for Iranian cinema, as two films representing its official and underground currents, have been selected in the festival's main competition section..

2025 Cannes Film Festival :: Lynne Ramsay & Saeed Roustayi Added to Palme d’Or Competition
The competition section films vying for the Palme d’Or will finally have moved from the initial selection of nineteen to twenty-one with Thierry Frémaux inviting Lynne Ramsay (Die, My Love)..

The Two Popes :: Superbly acted and a lot of fun to watch
Can two Catholic men share the Papacy without driving each other crazy? Led by outstanding performances from its well-matched leads, The Two Popes draws absorbing drama from a pivotal moment in modern organized religion.."

‘My Favourite Cake’ Directors Given Suspended Jail Sentence in Iran
Iranian directorial duo Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha have been given a 14-month suspended jail sentence by an Iranian court on charges that include alleged production of obscene content pertaining to their film “My Favourite Cake.”..

CANNES 2025 :: Cannes welcomes 19 contenders for the Palme d’Or
The festival presents a blend of safe bets and new faces in the competition, with three former winners, nine filmmakers having previously taken part and seven new entries. It all started with a record number of 2,909 features from 156 countries.."

A Castle With Red Walls :: In Memory of a forever banned filmmaker
A documentary about an Iranian filmmaker, whose more than 100 films have been banned in Iran both before and after the 1979 Islamic revolution. He died on October 2019 and didn't manage to see any one of his banned films screened publicly..

Staying :: Mani Haghighgi's new documentary released after 30 years
"I was outside Iran during the missile attack on Tehran, in the final days of the war, and I considered this a great loss in my life experience. I thought I would talk to a number of prominent Iranian painters who had decided to stay in.."

CPH:DOX 2025 :: Review: 'Facing War' :: NATO chief Stoltenberg navigates his final year
NATO chief Stoltenberg navigates his final year, balancing Ukraine support promises with rising European war fears. His diplomatic skills face tests in maintaining alliance unity, especially with leaders like Erdogan and Orban..

"Blue" :: Eleonora Puglia's directorial debut :: starring Rocco Siffredi
Eleonora Puglia's directorial debut Blue follows Luce, a young student who faces difficult choices while navigating the deceptive world of the internet, particularly erotic websites and social media. The film addresses the dangers of the digital realm..

‘6 A.M.’ Review: A Time-Ticking Thriller in Which the Protagonist’s Freedoms Prove Illusory
Iran's beloved satirist Mehran Modiri switches with mixed results. He writes, directs and performs in the intense but increasingly contrived social issues movie ‘6 A.M.’ in which a small incident escalates into a big tragedy..

The Oscars 2025 :: Can ‘The Girl with the Needle’ win an Oscar?
Denmark is in the running this year for best international film at the Oscars. But the acclaimed film — which highlights a real-life child killer and delves into abortion — might be too political for the Academy...

The Oscars 2025 :: 97th Academy Awards :: In the Shadow of the Cypress :: Q&A with the directors
"In the Shadow of the Cypress" has ridden a challenging road to being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short. Made in Iran out of the pockets of directors Shirin Sohani..

BERLINALE 2025 Awards :: Dag Johan Haugerud’s Dreams (Sex Love) bags the Berlinale Golden Bear
The 75th Berlinale has been brought to a close by the traditional awards ceremony held at the Berlinale Palast, which saw the triumph of Dag Johan Haugerud’s Dreams (Sex Love)..

IFFR 2025 :: Igor Bezinovic’s ‘Fiume o morte!’ Wins Tiger Award
Igor Bezinovic’s hybrid documentary “Fiume o morte!” was awarded the Tiger Award, the top prize of the International Film Festival Rotterdam on Friday evening. “We live in a very intense period and I hope that the good guys will win”..

IFFR 2025 :: Sunshine Express :: Tiger Competition
Nominated for the prestigious Tiger Award at the 2025 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), Amirali Navaee's Sunshine Express is a sumptuous allegory, examining how totalitarian systems sustain themselves through collective complicity...

IFFR 2025 Review: The Crowd :: Sahand Kabiri
The Crowd shows the young filmmaker Sahand Kabiri’s sense of rhythm (and that’s not just the ambient techno needle drops) as well as his brazen willingness to fly in the face of the rules and regulations of Iranian censorship..

Roberts: Film and TV Awards :: Full of Love :: The Danish film of the year
Stine Stengade took home the evening's first award for Full of Love for her outstanding performance in a supporting role, but that was only the beginning for Christina Rosendahl's film, which received six additional awards..

GOLDEN GLOBES 2025 :: European (co-)productions sweep the Golden Globes
Emilia Pérez triumphs with four statuettes and The Brutalist follows with three, with Flow shining bright as the surprise winner of the animated picture category..

‘Nostalgia’ :: Mario Martone’s Neapolitan Thriller :: An Unsentimental Look at Returning Home
This cautionary tale about reconnecting with family and first love is best when it's at its cruelest. “Our past is a labyrinth.. But there are these little voices that still call you from time to..

EUROPEAN FILM AWARDS 2024 :: Emilia Pérez sweeps the European Film Awards
The film by Jacques Audiard has dominated proceedings with five wins; other winners include No Other Land, Flow, Armand and Souleymane's Story..

Vahid Vakilifar :: Director of Rhinos Conquered The Middle East (2024)
The director, whose films have appeared at festivals like Rotterdam, Tribeca, San Sebastian, Karlovy Vary, and Antalya, embraces a style distinct from the traditional approach of Iranian cinema..

K9 :: Sailing Against the Tide :: Vahid Vakilifar, An Independent Filmmaker
Vahid Vakilifar's fourth film, K9, is an intoxicating visionary sci-fi that believes in the power of light despite the darkness consuming the world. Even in the bloodiest images there is at least a glimmer of hope..

Movie Review :: Daddio (2024)
Dialogue can lie, but faces tell the truth. Stories are told through faces. It takes enormous trust on the part of a director to allow this to happen, to let the faces do most of the heavy lifting. A two-character film with wall-to-wall dialogue. Dakota Johnson's and Sean Penn's faces fill..

‘Emilia Pérez,’ ‘Seed of the Sacred Fig,’ ‘The Room Next Door’ Lead European Film Award Nominations
The 37th European Film Awards, which take place annually in the lakeside Swiss city of Lucerne, have unveiled their nominations for 2024. Unsurprisingly, the list is led by French..

VALENCIA 2024 :: Review: A Bathroom of One's Own
“I have never known why people like the smell of napalm in the morning. Nor why it is strange that I like the smell of the bathroom. You know, that dense, sometimes fruity aroma, but for me the bathroom is the only place where I can..”

New York 2024 Review :: NO OTHER LAND Chronicles Living Under Occupation
A co-production between Palestine and Norway, the film was selected for the Panorama section at the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, where it had its world premiere, winning..

"My Favorite Cake" :: film directors accused of "Spreading Corruption" in a new case
In addition to "Propaganda Against the Regime", they have also been accused of two new charges, including "spreading corruption through the production of vulgar films and spreading..

‘All We Imagine as Light’ and ‘April’ Lead Nominations for Asia Pacific Screen Awards
Two films by women directors, Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light” and Dea Kulumbegashvili’s “April” lead the nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards..

Trump Campaign staff Calls "The Apprentice" Malicious Defamation
US presidential candidate Donald Trump's legal team are reaching out for Ali Abbasi, "The Apprentice" Danish-Iranian film director. The story of Trump is also the story of the development of the perception of reality in our..

Azar Nafisi's READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN is now a film!
The autobiographical story of a fearless teacher who secretly gathers seven of her female students to read forbidden Western classics in revolutionary Iran. It is directed by Eran Riklis, written by Marjorie David..

Could ‘The Seed of the Sacred Fig’ Cause the Academy to Rethink How Countries Select International Oscar Candidates?
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s politically-charged thriller is becoming..

TOKYO 2024 :: EXCLUSIVE: Trailer for Roya Sadat’s historical drama film Sima’s Song
The movie, premiering at Tokyo, tells a tale of friendship and ideological clashes as two women navigate the complexities of Afghanistan's shifting political landscape..

TOKYO 2023 :: Film Review :: Maria by Mahdi Asghari Azghadi :: A captivating thriller noir
“Maria” is a captivating thriller noir that remains interesting from beginning to end, while making a very intriguing comment about the impact of cinema..

Tokyo film festival reveals 2024 Line-up with strong Asian presence
The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) today revealed the lineup for its 37th edition, which includes world premieres of features from China, Japan and Hong Kong among its competition strands..

WARSAW 2024 :: The 40th Warsaw Film Festival :: Main programme
This year’s edition of the Warsaw Film Festival, unfolding between 11 and 20 October, will present 84 feature films, amongst which 26 world premieres, 18 international premieres, 6 European premieres, 5 Eastern European..

TIFF 2023 :: Farhad Delaram :: Director of Achilles
Writer-director Farhad Delaram made this film as the bloody crackdown on protesters began in his home country. His feature debut is a testament to the magnitude of collective cracks that - when amassed - can tear down walls..

VENICE 2024 Awards LIVE: The awards of the 81st Venice Film Festival
The list of winners is being unveiled at the festival's closing ceremony. “Cinema is in great shape.” These were the words of Isabelle Huppert, the chair of the jury, which has handed the Golden Lion to director Pedro Almodóvar..

VENICE 2024 Orizzonti Extra :: Nader Saeivar :: Director of The Witness
“The new generation wants to win using forgiveness and beauty”. VENICE 2024: The Iranian director explains how he intended to commemorate the women’s movement and its non-violent forms of protest..

VENICE 2024 International Film Critics’ Week • Milad Tangshir • Director of Anywhere Anytime
“I wouldn’t just remake a timeless masterpiece – I’m not crazy”. The director explains how a regular bicycle can, for some people, mean the difference between survival or simply not..

VENICE 2024 :: International Film Critics’ Week :: Awards
Vietnam's Don’t Cry, Butterfly wins the Grand Prize at Venice’s International Film Critics’ Week. US title Homegrown scooped the prize for Best Technical Contribution, while Jethro Massey’s Paul & Paulette Take a Bath snagged the Audience Award..

VENICE 2024 Out of Competition • Thomas Vinterberg • Director of Families Like Ours
The acclaimed director talks about his choice of subject, his creative process and whether there’s a Danish film wave still out there. “You could say that we inspired COVID, rather than..”

Venice 2024 :: ‘The Witness’ :: Director Talks Iran Situation, Working With Jafar Panahi (EXCLUSIVE)
“The Witness,” premiering at the Venice Film Festival, has sold to Benelux, France and No.mad Entertainment. Directed by Nader Saeivar, and co-written by Saeivar and Jafar..

VENICE 2024 Out of Competition • Amos Gitai • Director of Why War
What fuels the human need to destroy and kill? Why do people go to war with each other? The Israeli director offers a kaleidoscopic film essay on war, fuelled by a historic exchange of letters between Einstein and Freud..

TIFF 2024 :: Offers a stellar lineup of highly anticipated films
Another September, another Toronto International Film Festival. This year feels particularly special, like there’s something in the pre-festival air. Perhaps it’s because of the stellar lineup, with other festival heavy hitters..

TIFF 2024 :: Seven Days :: Haft Rooz :: WORLD PREMIERE
Written by Mohammad Rasoulof — also at the Toronto Film Festival with The Seed of the Sacred Fig — directed by Ali Samadi Ahadi and shot by Mathias Neumann, Seven Days perfectly captures the personal costs of the struggle for..

Alain Delon, a universal icon :: A legend of French cinema and a key figure in the global film industry
“With the passing away of Alain Delon, France has lost one of its universal icons”. The French Presidency paid tribute to the star in a statement released on the very day of..

Oscars: Germany Submits Mohammad Rasoulof’s ‘The Seed Of The Sacred Fig’ For International Feature Film Race
Germany has selected Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s drama The Seed of the Sacred Fig as its submission for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy..

LOCARNO 2024 Awards :: Toxic wins the Golden Leopard at Locarno
The festival has elevated two courageous Lithuanian directors, Saulė Bliuvaitė and Laurynas Bareiša, to the highest podium, along with the equally radical Kurdish-Austrian director Kurdwin Ayub..

LOCARNO 2024 Piazza Grande • Mohammad Rasoulof • Director of The Seed of the Sacred Fig
The Iranian director fills us in on the background to his Cannes-awarded film as well as on the current political situation in Iran. 'The regime is a minefield. All it wants at the moment is to..'

LOCARNO 2024 :: Semaine de la Critique :: Review: A Sisters’ Tale
Iranian director Leila Amini films her sister, an aspiring singer, across seven years, in a country where public singing by women is banned. The restrictions on women’s rights in Iran, and the waves of unrest against them..

VENICE 2024 :: FIRST LOOK :: Families Like Ours
“Countries disappear, love remains.” The country which perishes is Denmark in a not-too-distant future. A grandiose and intimate family drama about a nation forced to say goodbye to the homeland..

VENICE 2024 :: Venice selects 21 films to compete for the Golden Lion
Great returns, some confirmations and a few surprises, both in competition and out, in the varied line-up of this year’s Venice Film Festival. Alberto Barbera has promised many more surprises during his press conference..

‘The Things You Kill’
Best Friend Forever Acquires Alireza Khatami’s Thriller
Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired international rights of Alireza Khatami’s “The Things You Kill.” A timely, gripping narrative that elevates..

Universal Language :: A Whimsical Fusion of Tehran and Winnipeg
By converting his drab hometown into an exotic land filled with nostalgia, Matthew Rankin seems to be seeking out the universal language of cinema itself. He quits his meaningless job in a Québecois government office and sets out..

EDINBURGH 2024 :: “A SHRINE” Selected for 77th Edinburgh IFF
The festival will feature the world premiere of “A SHRINE” directed by Abdolreza Kahani. This film, a collaborative production between Canada, Iran, and France, is set to compete for the highly esteemed Sean Connery Prize..

KARLOVY VARY 2024 Proxima :: Review: Nothing in Its Place
How far are people willing to go for their political beliefs, and how much can the ideology of a group influence the behavior of an individual? Nothing in Its Place holds up a mirror to more than one revolution..

KARLOVY VARY 2024 :: Noaz Deshe :: Director of Xoftex :: Interview
"I wanted to document the progression of the mental state of stateless people in a refugee camp." The director tells us more about his new film, in which he portrays refugees filming satirical sketches and preparing for a zombie..

KARLOVY VARY 2024 Competition :: Review: Xoftex
Xoftex is the name of a Greek refugee camp for Syrian and Palestinian asylum seekers. To pass the time, camp inhabitants such as Nasser make satirical short films and prepare to make a zombie film. Noaz Deshe explains how he..

Shanghai IFF 2023 :: A Review of 'Cause of Death: Unknown'
The first film by Ali Zarnegar receives an overall acceptable score. The writer and director's extensive experience, including his frequent involvement in short cinema, writing.., has had a positive impact on the film's quality..

Bahar Lellahi :: 40-year-old Iranian Female filmmaker Murdered in Prison
Bahar Lellahi, an Iranian director and screenwriter from the Northern city of Amol and a resident of Tehran, was killed at the Islamic Republic's detention center and was secretly buried in a cemetery near the city of Karaj..

Dead of Night :: A standout feature by Farhad Vilkiji
“Dead of Night”, a standout feature by Farhad Vilkiji, marking his directorial debut, delves into the struggles of an Iranian intellectual navigating political and personal challenges, promising a poignant exploration of human resilience..

BERLINALE 2024 Encounters :: Interview :: Matías Piñeiro
Matías Piñeiro’s experimental, hour-long film 'You Burn Me', an interesting work based on texts by Cesare Pavese and Sappho about the relationship between two women, was included in this year’s Berlinale Encounters program..

Super Size Me :: A terrific cheeky stunt :: small wonder Morgan Spurlock never matched it
'Super Size Me' director Morgan Spurlock dies aged 53. 'Super Size Me' was his masterpiece – a documentary which really did have an effect and challenged the way we think about food..

Cannes 2024 review :: 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' - A powerful rebellion in the name of art & freedom
Mohammad Rasoulof examines Iran's contemporary tensions through the internalization of turmoil by a family of four. It's a suspenseful and bold call to arms for those..

Sean Baker’s ‘Anora’ Wins Palme d’Or at 2024 Cannes Film Festival
Sean Baker’s Anora has won the Palme d’Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, which wrapped Saturday night (May 25). It marks Baker’s second time in Competition, following 2021’s Red Rocket..

Cannes 2024 :: ‘Grand Tour’ :: Review :: In Search of Lost Time
Closer in spirit to an essay film like "Sans Soleil" than to a conventional love story, this lushly abstract travelogue is as gorgeous as it is impenetrable. Miguel Gomes’ Beguiling Colonial Romance Travels from Saigon to Shanghai in..

Cannes 2024 :: ‘All We Imagine as Light’ :: A Sensual Triumph
India’s First Cannes Competition Title in 30 Years Is a Sensual Triumph. Payal Kapadia captures the way two women in Mumbai move through the world with bracing intimacy. It is both dreamlike and like waking up from a dream..

Cannes 2024 :: Mohammad Rasoulof Speaking to IndieWire
Rasoulof Made It to Cannes for ‘Seed of the Sacred Fig,’ but His Perilous Journey Out of Iran Isn’t Over. "I consider making works of art as my right, and there’s no reason why I wouldn’t fight for this right."..

Cannes 2024 :: Donald Trump Origin Tale ‘The Apprentice’ Gets 11-Minute Ovation At Its Cannes World Premiere
The Trumps were on the red carpet this evening at the Cannes Film Festival — sort of — as Ali Abbasi’s The Apprentice world premiered in competition. There was lots of hugs..

Cannes Film Festival 2024 ::
Francis Ford Coppola Finally Talks Megalopolis
The Oscar-winning legend has been the subject of deafening rumors about his self-financed new epic. For the first time in public, he finally got to tell his story...

UPDATE :: I exist to narrate :: Mohammad Rasoulof writes about his forced departure from Iran
By publishing a post on his personal Instagram page, he announced his forced departure from Iran. His writing, which you can read here, is a testament to the many artists who were driven..

The Phoenix (Simorgh) is finally online!
The Phoenix (Simorgh) is a short film Written & Directed by Nora Niasari. It follows Mr Farid, an exiled Iranian actor, who teaches drama to reluctant asylum seeker teenagers inside an Australian Detention Centre..

Films Boutique boards Mohammad Rasoulof’s Cannes Competition title
Berlin-based Films Boutique has secured world sales rights to Mohammad Rasoulof’s 'The Seed Of The Sacred Fig' ahead of its premiere in Competition at Cannes, and has closed a distribution deal in France..

Nika's Last Breath :: BBC World Service Documentaries
Secret document says Iran security forces molested and killed teen protester. An Iranian teenager was sexually assaulted and killed by three men working for Iran's security forces, a leaked document understood to have been..

Cannes Film Festival 2024 :: Michel Hazanavicius & Mohammad Rasoulof Movies in Competition Lineup
Cannes Film Festival has added some international titles to Competition Lineup: Hazanavicius‘ 'The Most Precious of Cargoes' and Rasoulof‘s 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig'..

'Biological Terror?!' :: Speculations about Alidoosti's unknown disease
According to some sources, Taraneh told her colleagues that she passed out during her interrogation by IRGC intelligence agents and then, realized that she was injected with an unknown ampoule, after which she felt dizzy..

Taraneh Alidoosti's mother: Pray for her! Her disease is severe!
The celebrated Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti's mother has announced that her daughter is suffering from an illness of "unknown origin". Earlier, there were reports that Taraneh Alidoosti was ill and hospitalized..

‘The Apprentice’ :: A dive into the underbelly of the American empire
The drama charts a young Donald Trump’s ascent to power through a Faustian deal with the influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer Roy Cohn. A first look at the forthcoming film from Ali Abbasi, set to premiere at Cannes..

STOCKFISH 2024 :: Review: Tove’s Room
A new biopic about Danish poet Tove Ditlevsen and her tortured marriage to the sadistic news editor Victor Andreasen. We’re in Copenhagen in 1969, and the entire action of this tense, neurotic – yet very intriguing – kammerspiel takes place..

American Fiction :: Movie Review
Jeffrey Wright gives a knockout performance in this edgy, Oscar-nominated comedy. Cord Jefferson marries broad humour with affecting familial dysfunction and biting observations on race. This season’s edgiest comedy arrives with richly deserved Oscar nominations for..

CPH:DOX 2024 :: Review: Silent Trees
Zwiefka – whose last film, Vika! has enjoyed a healthy festival run and is still travelling the world – now trains her lens on a completely different topic: the story of a Kurdish refugee girl stranded in the no man’s land between Belarus and Poland...

CPH:DOX 2024 :: Review: Immortals
Immortals is a dystopian film that turns into an ode to fragility, and it shows the contrasting feelings of those who allowed themselves the luxury of hoping that David might kill Goliath. Maja Tschumi’s film is built around the hopes and broken dreams, but most of all the..

Exiled Iranian Filmmakers Call Out AMPAS Over Omission
Exiled Iranian Filmmakers (IIFMA) has written to AMPAS (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) to protest the omission of murdered Iranian director Dariush Mehrjui from the In Memoriam segment of the Academy Award..

Oscar 2024 :: How to Watch Every 2024 Oscar-Nominated Movie
It’s time to fire up your Letterboxd, roller-skate out of the real world, and head off to movie land. The 2024 Oscar nominations have been officially announced, giving you a perfect watchlist for catching up on all the films you..

Berlin: Indie Juries Pick :: ‘Sex’, ‘Dying’ and ‘Cake’
Matthias Glasner's German family epic 'Sterben' (Dying), Iranian feature 'My Favourite Cake,' and Dag Johan Haugerud's Norwegian drama 'Sex' picked up multiple awards from the independent juries at the 74th Berlinale..

BERLINALE 2024 Awards :: Mati Diop’s Dahomey bags the Golden Bear
The 74th Berlinale (15-25 February) was brought to a close tonight by the traditional awards ceremony at the Berlinale Palast, which saw the triumph of Mati Diop’s Dahomey, the winner of this year’s Golden Bear..

BERLINALE 2024 :: Competition Review: Architecton
Several thousand years of architectural history are woven together in Kossakovsky's visionary blockbuster, which almost without dialogue - but with images as sharp as flint and a soundtrack as massive as a pillow - is a total cinematic..

BERLINALE 2024 :: Review: Afterwar
An immersive and uncategorisable film, shot over a period of 15 years, was made in close collaboration with its four Kosovar protagonists. A dark chapter in modern European history draws to a close. Haunted by memories of the past and caught in an uncertain state of limbo..

BERLINALE 2024 Competition :: Review: My Favourite Cake
All eyes were on writer-directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha – or, rather, their absence – at the world premiere of their new film, My Favourite Cake, which has just made its debut in the Competition section of..

NAVALNY (2022) :: Navalny’s Plight in a Russian Prison Highlighted
The fact that this documentary movie involves one of the most brazen incidents of state sponsored assassination in memory means this is a unique document of a very singular man. After almost being poisoned to death in 2020..

CPH:DOX 2024 :: The line-up of the 2024 CPH:DOX competitions
CPH:DOX unveils the films nominated across all six award categories. The selection features 66 films in competition, among which 47 are world premieres, 17 international premieres and 2 European premieres..

BERLINALE 2024 :: ‘My Favourite Cake’ Directors Deliver Powerful Message From Iran
‘My Favourite Cake’ Directors Deliver Powerful Message From Iran After Authorities Banned Travel to Berlinale: ‘Like Parents Forbidden From Looking at Their Newborn Child’..

Farshad Hashemi :: Director of 'Me, Maryam, the Children and 26 Others' :: Interview
“I can’t predict the future, but I know this is just the beginning”. The winner of Göteborg’s Ingmar Bergman International Debut Award plays with fact and fiction in his debut film..

BERLINALE 2024 :: EXCLUSIVE :: Trailer for Berlinale Panorama entry 'My Stolen Planet'
The German-Iranian co-production is a diary-style narrative by Farahnaz Sharifi, from her childhood to the 2022 Women, Life, Freedom uprising..

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Bizarrely Intriguing
'The Oath' ('Ghasam')

By Deborah Young
hollywoodreporter.com, 4/29/2019

A woman organizes a busload of relatives to testify against her sister’s presumed murderer in Mohsen Tanabandeh’s drama.

One of those curious tales that suddenly sheds light on the darker corners of Iranian society, Mohsen Tanabandeh’s The Oath (screening at the Fajr Film Festival) plunges the viewer into the drama of a feudal judicial system.

It starts with the premise of an eye for an eye (the hanging of a murderer) and then introduces the age-old custom of the victim’s family accepting a pay-off in blood money that would let the killer get off scot-free.

Alternatively, if the family lets up pressure on the judge, the murderer may never stand trial at all. Though the story never really takes a definite moral stand one way or the other, it has enough drama and vivid characters to find festival favor.

This is the second feature by writer-director Tanabandeh, who made his directing debut with the 2015 comedy Guinness but is better known as an actor whose credits include his award-winning role as the son Azim in Afghanistan’s Oscar submission, Rona, Azim’s Mother.

One could argue that The Oath is hardly less surreal than the men who have to ride turkeys in Guinness. But here the stakes are much higher, particularly for the stalwart heroine Razieh (Mahnaz Afshar), and there is little in the way of comic relief.

Almost the entire film takes place in the close confines of a large bus which Razieh has rented at her own expense. She has rustled up the passengers from her close family – cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces -- to swear in court that Razieh’s brother-in-law killed his young wife in a moment of jealousy, as was witnessed by two employees on the couple’s farm. What looks like an open-and-shut case is anything but, and if Razieh doesn’t get her crew to court by 9 a.m. the next morning, her sister's killer will go free. Cajoling and threatening the family, she keeps them aboard the bus and blocks various attempts at mutiny and backing down.

More quaintness: women can’t take the oath unless they are the victim’s next-of-kin, so a good number of femmes on the bus are just along for the ride; however, some men seem to be able to take the oath twice. Local audiences probably know the rules, but more clarity would have been appreciated for non-Iranian viewers. Another complication is the on-going feud between family members over unrelated issues, like a brother who accidentally ran over someone else’s dog.

As the bus, driven by a surly relative, winds its way through hairpin turns on misty country roads, the mysterious atmosphere thickens to perceptible danger. Razieh’s furious husband Khosro (Saeed Aghakani) is following them by car at a distance; he is lobbying for the life of his brother, the accused farm owner. Razieh shouts him down at a rest stop.

The story tends to run away from Tanabandeh at a certain point, becoming increasingly complicated and emotionally overwrought without offering the expected dramatic returns. The turning point comes with a police re-enactment of the crime which stuns everyone; then all concludes abruptly in an unexpected climax which stops short of being exciting.

In the main role, Afshar shows an avenger’s unwavering determination, for whom hanging her brother-in-law amounts to a religious duty. But such one-track motivation ends up making her less credible and sympathetic.

Visually the single-set film often lacks excitement, and though the mountainous landscape outside the bus eventually gives way to desert, there are no rewarding glimpses of their destination, the fabled pilgrimage city of Mashhad.

Cast: Mahnaz Afshar, Saeed Aghakhani, Hassan Pourshirazi, Mehran Ahmadi
Director-screenwriter: Mohsen Tanabandeh
Producers: Elham Ghafouri, Jalil Shabani
Director of photography: Touraj Astani
Production designer: Babak Panahi
Costume designer: Farahnaz Naderi
Editor: Khashayar Movahedian
Composer: Yahya Sepehr Shakib
Sales: Persia Film Distribution
Venue: Fajr Film Festival's Iranian Film Market
In Persian
85 minutes

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