The first vignette in the Tehran-set Terrestrial Verses observes a man (Bahram Ark) in a hospital trying to register the name of his newborn child. Another shows a rideshare driver, Sadaf (Sadaf Asgari), trying to reclaim her impounded car. The film, written and directed by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami, is an assemblage of nine such sequences with no overarching plot or recurring characters. They are all, instead, united by a purposefully minimalist style as they traverse a broader subject matter: Each one unfolds in a lengthy static shot centered on an Iranian citizen arguing with an off-screen authority figure.
The level of conflict differs between each vignette, with some people in a better position to argue than others. But in every scenario, the focal characters are told that their desires are unreasonable or that their behaviors are aberrant, sometimes both. The man in the hospital, for one, submits a name for his child,...
The level of conflict differs between each vignette, with some people in a better position to argue than others. But in every scenario, the focal characters are told that their desires are unreasonable or that their behaviors are aberrant, sometimes both. The man in the hospital, for one, submits a name for his child,...
- 4/21/2024
- by Steven Scaife
- Slant Magazine
Iran continues to be a site of unrest among dissident filmmakers protesting leadership and government under the country’s current president, Ebrahim Raisi. In 2022, Iranian filmmakers such as Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof, and Mostafa Al-Ahmad were arrested over their responses to Iran’s censorship of events including a building collapse that killed at least 41, and later the death of Mahsa Amini, killed by Islamic police for allegedly not wearing her hijab.
The only Iranian film to premiere at Cannes 2023, the omnibus satire “Terrestrial Verses” also saw one of its directors, Ali Asgari, banned from leaving his country. You can understand why after you see this probing film about life under the eye of a controlling government.
IndieWire understands the travel ban on Asgari has since been lifted, though freedom of expression remains an issue in Iran for filmmakers querying the status quo. “Terrestrial Verses,” the film Asgari co-directed with Alireza Khatami,...
The only Iranian film to premiere at Cannes 2023, the omnibus satire “Terrestrial Verses” also saw one of its directors, Ali Asgari, banned from leaving his country. You can understand why after you see this probing film about life under the eye of a controlling government.
IndieWire understands the travel ban on Asgari has since been lifted, though freedom of expression remains an issue in Iran for filmmakers querying the status quo. “Terrestrial Verses,” the film Asgari co-directed with Alireza Khatami,...
- 3/28/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Salaud Morisset, the Paris- and Berlin-based sales and production outfit, has closed deals on “Excursion,” Una Gunjak’s feature debut which won the Jury Special Mention at the Locarno Film Festival.
Salaud Morisset, which also co-produced “Excursion,” has closed sales deals with Angel Films (Denmark), Filmin (Spain), Zero em Comportamento (Portugal), Access Cinema (Ireland), JUNO11 Distribution (Hungary), Hakka Distribution (Tunisia), Fivia (Slovenia), McF MegaCom (Montenegro & North Macedonia), No Blink Film (Bulgaria) and Silver Screen (Romania).
The banner will pursue sales on the film at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase this week and is already in advanced negotiations to secure deals for the U.K., Germany and Benelux.
Zagreb Film Festival will release the film in Croatia, and Obala Art Centar will distribute in Bosnia. Previously announced deals include France (Jhr Films) and Sweden (Buff Distribution), as well as a multi-territory, SVOD/Pay-tv deal with HBO Europe for Central and Eastern Europe.
Salaud Morisset, which also co-produced “Excursion,” has closed sales deals with Angel Films (Denmark), Filmin (Spain), Zero em Comportamento (Portugal), Access Cinema (Ireland), JUNO11 Distribution (Hungary), Hakka Distribution (Tunisia), Fivia (Slovenia), McF MegaCom (Montenegro & North Macedonia), No Blink Film (Bulgaria) and Silver Screen (Romania).
The banner will pursue sales on the film at the Unifrance Rendez-Vous showcase this week and is already in advanced negotiations to secure deals for the U.K., Germany and Benelux.
Zagreb Film Festival will release the film in Croatia, and Obala Art Centar will distribute in Bosnia. Previously announced deals include France (Jhr Films) and Sweden (Buff Distribution), as well as a multi-territory, SVOD/Pay-tv deal with HBO Europe for Central and Eastern Europe.
- 1/17/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Resistance can have many shapes and forms, but so does control and oppression. Oftentimes we go about our daily lives and do not notice the subtle ways with which people are being observed. Even though some of us may live in a culture supporting democratic values, there are aspects of our lives that are observed and closely controlled, and those may not be necessarily areas where we think this kind of control is needed. Standing in front of an official, trying to move into a different country (or perhaps just city) or talking to a perhaps future boss about your possible prospects in a position at his/her company could be such an episode where control and even observation become transparent. In a culture such as Iran, these two aspects are evidently omnipresent, but so are instances of resistance, which is a theme directors Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami explore...
- 11/16/2023
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
“Auto-bio Pamphlet,” a Marathi-language film that is both a love story and a rage against class divisions, will open the 18th edition of the Jogja-netpac Asian Film Festival later this month. The festival will close with the world premiere of spy thriller “13 Bombs in Jakarta.”
Jaff run Nov. 25 – Dec. 2 and include 205 films from 25 countries and territories across Asia-Pacific.
Directed by Angga Dwimas Sasongko, “13 Bombs in Jakarta” (aka “13 Bom di Jakarta”) tells of a group of terrorists who launch their attack with the threat of bombs scattered throughout the Indonesian capital. Sasongko is also the founder of local studio Visenema, which has four films at the festival.
“As the opening film for this year’s edition, we choose something light-hearted, which is ‘Autobio Pamphlet’ from India. Its coming-of-age story will be perfect to set the festival’s spirited and entertaining mood,” said Alexander Matius, Jaff program director. The film had...
Jaff run Nov. 25 – Dec. 2 and include 205 films from 25 countries and territories across Asia-Pacific.
Directed by Angga Dwimas Sasongko, “13 Bombs in Jakarta” (aka “13 Bom di Jakarta”) tells of a group of terrorists who launch their attack with the threat of bombs scattered throughout the Indonesian capital. Sasongko is also the founder of local studio Visenema, which has four films at the festival.
“As the opening film for this year’s edition, we choose something light-hearted, which is ‘Autobio Pamphlet’ from India. Its coming-of-age story will be perfect to set the festival’s spirited and entertaining mood,” said Alexander Matius, Jaff program director. The film had...
- 11/11/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Festival has programmed 75 films from 36 countries.
The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the full line-up for its 20th edition, which runs from November 24-December 2.
The festival is opening with Richard Linklater’s action comedy Hit Man, starring Glen Powell, and is screening 75 films in total from 36 countries.
Marrakech’s official competition, which comprises first and second feature films, includes Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s Cannes Competition title Banel & Adama, Lina Soualem’s Venice Giornate degli Autori documentary Bye Bye Tiberias and Moroccan director Kamal Lazraq’s feature debut Hounds, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.
Scroll down for full line-up
Johnny Barrington,...
The Marrakech International Film Festival has unveiled the full line-up for its 20th edition, which runs from November 24-December 2.
The festival is opening with Richard Linklater’s action comedy Hit Man, starring Glen Powell, and is screening 75 films in total from 36 countries.
Marrakech’s official competition, which comprises first and second feature films, includes Ramata-Toulaye Sy’s Cannes Competition title Banel & Adama, Lina Soualem’s Venice Giornate degli Autori documentary Bye Bye Tiberias and Moroccan director Kamal Lazraq’s feature debut Hounds, which premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes.
Scroll down for full line-up
Johnny Barrington,...
- 11/2/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Richard Linklater’s action comedy “Hit Man” is set to open the Marrakech International Film Festival, which has announced its lineup of more than 70 films mixing known titles and fresh fare.
The fest is forging ahead with its 20th edition, which will run Nov. 24- Dec.2 in the ancient Moroccan city despite the Israel-Hamas conflict that has caused cancellations of several other fests in the region, as well as the earthquake that hit the country in September.
“Hit Man,” for which organizers declined to specify whether talent will attend, will screen as part of Marrakech’s red carpet gala screenings. Italian director Matteo Garrone is expected to make the trek for the gala of his Venice prizewinning immigration drama “Io Capitano” and Michel Franco will be coming to present another Venice prizewinner, “Memory,” starring Jessica Chastain, who is presiding over the fest’s main jury.
Also expected on hand for...
The fest is forging ahead with its 20th edition, which will run Nov. 24- Dec.2 in the ancient Moroccan city despite the Israel-Hamas conflict that has caused cancellations of several other fests in the region, as well as the earthquake that hit the country in September.
“Hit Man,” for which organizers declined to specify whether talent will attend, will screen as part of Marrakech’s red carpet gala screenings. Italian director Matteo Garrone is expected to make the trek for the gala of his Venice prizewinning immigration drama “Io Capitano” and Michel Franco will be coming to present another Venice prizewinner, “Memory,” starring Jessica Chastain, who is presiding over the fest’s main jury.
Also expected on hand for...
- 11/2/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The 20th edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival has announced its selection, opening with Richard Linklater’s comedy Hit Man.
The event, running from November 24 to December 24, will unfold two months after the devastating earthquake in the nearby Atlas Mountains in September, which killed more than 2,000 people.
The management team has decided to push on with the event to support Marrakech, which suffered very little damage and relies heavily on tourism for its livelihood.
Hit Man will play as part of the festival’s six picture red carpet Gala selection which also includes Matteo Garrone’s Italian Oscar entry Me Captain and Michel Franco’s Memory.
Previously announced high-profile guests due to attend this year include Martin Scorsese, who will act as a mentor to emerging filmmakers attending the industry-focused Atlas Workshops, and Jessica Chastain as president of the jury.
She will be joined by Iranian actress and director Zar Amir,...
The event, running from November 24 to December 24, will unfold two months after the devastating earthquake in the nearby Atlas Mountains in September, which killed more than 2,000 people.
The management team has decided to push on with the event to support Marrakech, which suffered very little damage and relies heavily on tourism for its livelihood.
Hit Man will play as part of the festival’s six picture red carpet Gala selection which also includes Matteo Garrone’s Italian Oscar entry Me Captain and Michel Franco’s Memory.
Previously announced high-profile guests due to attend this year include Martin Scorsese, who will act as a mentor to emerging filmmakers attending the industry-focused Atlas Workshops, and Jessica Chastain as president of the jury.
She will be joined by Iranian actress and director Zar Amir,...
- 11/2/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari‘s “Terrestrial Verses,” the sole Iranian film which premiered in Cannes’ official selection, has been acquired by KimStim for North American distribution. The movie, represented in international markets by Films Boutique, will soon play at U.S. festivals, including Chicago, Mill Valley and AFI Fest.
A satire of the Iranian regime, “Terrestrial Verses” follows everyday people from all walks of life as they navigate the cultural, religious and institutional constraints imposed on them by various social authorities, from school teachers to bureaucrats.
“We were struck by the film’s intelligence, thought-provoking ideas and elegant commentary on the experiences of ordinary citizens in Iran,” said Ian Stimmler, KimStim’s co-president. “The film will surely provoke spirited conversations with its dark sense of humor and its depiction of the cultural and religious constraints placed on everyday people there, especially women,” Stimmler continued.
Asgari, who attended the Cannes...
A satire of the Iranian regime, “Terrestrial Verses” follows everyday people from all walks of life as they navigate the cultural, religious and institutional constraints imposed on them by various social authorities, from school teachers to bureaucrats.
“We were struck by the film’s intelligence, thought-provoking ideas and elegant commentary on the experiences of ordinary citizens in Iran,” said Ian Stimmler, KimStim’s co-president. “The film will surely provoke spirited conversations with its dark sense of humor and its depiction of the cultural and religious constraints placed on everyday people there, especially women,” Stimmler continued.
Asgari, who attended the Cannes...
- 10/13/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Iranian filmmaker Ali Asgari, whose latest film “Terrestrial Verses” (co-directed by Alireza Khatami) world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, has been banned by the Iranian authorities from leaving the country and directing movies until further notice.
The sole Iranian movie to play in Cannes Official Selection this year, “Terrestrial Verses” earned a warm critical response at the festival, where it played in Un Certain Regard, and was sold by Films Boutique around the world. But when Asgari returned to Iran after the premiere, he had his passport confiscated by the local authorities to prevent him from attending further international festivals. In an attempt to silence him, the Iranian regime also threatened to send him to prison as has happened to other outspoken Iranian directors. Just a couple weeks ago, Saeed Roustaee and his producer were sentenced to six months to prison for showing their film “Leila’s Brothers” at last...
The sole Iranian movie to play in Cannes Official Selection this year, “Terrestrial Verses” earned a warm critical response at the festival, where it played in Un Certain Regard, and was sold by Films Boutique around the world. But when Asgari returned to Iran after the premiere, he had his passport confiscated by the local authorities to prevent him from attending further international festivals. In an attempt to silence him, the Iranian regime also threatened to send him to prison as has happened to other outspoken Iranian directors. Just a couple weeks ago, Saeed Roustaee and his producer were sentenced to six months to prison for showing their film “Leila’s Brothers” at last...
- 9/1/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy and Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Alireza Khatami, the Iranian director who co-helmed “Terrestrial Verses” — which denounced the country’s authority and was the only film from Iran at Cannes this year — is directing “Things That You Kill,” a political drama about the patriarchy set in Turkey and featuring a starry cast.
Shooting recently wrapped in Turkey on Khatami’s new film, which stars Turkish A-listers Ekin Koç (“Burning Days”), Erkan Kolçakköstendil, Hazar Ergüçlü (“The Protector”) and Ercan Kesal.
The Canada-based Khatami’s first feature, “Oblivion Verses,” won the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti award for best screenplay in 2017. “Terrestrial Verses,” which Khatami co-directed with Tehran-based Ali Asgari, recently premiered in Un Certain Regard in Cannes. Shot in Tehran after the Mahsa Amini movement started, “Verses” consists of nine tableaus depicting the increasingly absurd and tragic plight that Iranians face in their everyday life with a scathingly ironic deadpan tone.
Khatami describes “Things That You Kill...
Shooting recently wrapped in Turkey on Khatami’s new film, which stars Turkish A-listers Ekin Koç (“Burning Days”), Erkan Kolçakköstendil, Hazar Ergüçlü (“The Protector”) and Ercan Kesal.
The Canada-based Khatami’s first feature, “Oblivion Verses,” won the Venice Film Festival’s Orizzonti award for best screenplay in 2017. “Terrestrial Verses,” which Khatami co-directed with Tehran-based Ali Asgari, recently premiered in Un Certain Regard in Cannes. Shot in Tehran after the Mahsa Amini movement started, “Verses” consists of nine tableaus depicting the increasingly absurd and tragic plight that Iranians face in their everyday life with a scathingly ironic deadpan tone.
Khatami describes “Things That You Kill...
- 8/23/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Berlin- and Paris-based Salaud Morisset, a leading short film production and distribution outfit, has acquired two feature films for world sales – one selected by Karlovy Vary Film Festival and the other by Locarno Film Festival – as the company accelerates into feature film sales and production.
Salaud Morisset has taken world sales rights on Cyril Aris’ feature documentary “Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano,” which premiered in the main competition at Karlovy Vary this week and received a Special Jury Mention, and Una Gunjak’s fiction feature “Excursion,” just announced as the opener of Locarno Film Festival’s Filmmakers of the Present section. Salaud Morisset, which is also a co-producer on “Excursion,” aims to continue fostering synergies between its production and sales operations as it commits to a full slate of feature projects.
“Dancing on the Edge of the Volcano”
Salaud Morisset will also continue handling selected shorts and represents...
Salaud Morisset has taken world sales rights on Cyril Aris’ feature documentary “Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano,” which premiered in the main competition at Karlovy Vary this week and received a Special Jury Mention, and Una Gunjak’s fiction feature “Excursion,” just announced as the opener of Locarno Film Festival’s Filmmakers of the Present section. Salaud Morisset, which is also a co-producer on “Excursion,” aims to continue fostering synergies between its production and sales operations as it commits to a full slate of feature projects.
“Dancing on the Edge of the Volcano”
Salaud Morisset will also continue handling selected shorts and represents...
- 7/9/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The 57th edition of Karlovy Vary International film festival has a number of focuses and one special titled “Another Birth. Iranian Cinema Here and Now”, but Behrooz Karamizade's debut feature “Empty Nets” was selected to compete for The Crystal Globe. This muliti-layered drama is set on the northern Caspian Sea coast, and stars the brilliant Sadaf Asgai as Narges (recently seen in Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami's Un Certain Regard contender “Terrestrial Verses”) and the charismatic Hamid Reza-Abbasi as Amir.
Karamizade's script revolves around a young man from a working class family whose wish to propose to his big love becomes sabotaged by a number of impediments. Narges comes from a wealthy, influential family with high expectations of a future son-in-law. He should be successfull, respected and cultured, none of which the simple and good-hearted Amir is. At the beginning, the young couple's encounters are unburdened by class differences,...
Karamizade's script revolves around a young man from a working class family whose wish to propose to his big love becomes sabotaged by a number of impediments. Narges comes from a wealthy, influential family with high expectations of a future son-in-law. He should be successfull, respected and cultured, none of which the simple and good-hearted Amir is. At the beginning, the young couple's encounters are unburdened by class differences,...
- 7/5/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
This year's edition of Cannes film festival offered a number of high quality titles from Asia, both in competiton(s) and side bar programmes. One of the most awaited films was Takeshi Kitano's “Kubi” screened in Premiere section, in director's presence. Back to the samurai genre, 20 years after the critically acclaimed “Zatoichi” and with a period piece based on his own historic novel published in 2019, Kitano struggled to bring his characters close to the audience, but stayed faithful to the title by making many heads roll. “Kubi” (which was also the title of his novel) means “neck”, a beloved target of the samurai sword. This is allegedly the last film by “Beat”, if we take his statement before the festival kicked off seriously.
A year after his drama “Broker” brought Palme D'Or for Best Actor to Song Kang-ho, and five after he was awarded Palme D'Or for “Shoplifters”, Hirokazu Koreeda...
A year after his drama “Broker” brought Palme D'Or for Best Actor to Song Kang-ho, and five after he was awarded Palme D'Or for “Shoplifters”, Hirokazu Koreeda...
- 6/18/2023
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
A locked-off camera can convey many things — watchfulness, stealthiness, clinical remove or elegant restraint — but seldom is it as evocatively accusatory as in Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari’s “Terrestrial Verses.” Here, its use over a series of stationary vignettes, bookended by dramatic images of urban collapse, becomes an increasingly inspired choice even as the themes start to repeat and the resonances with the ongoing Women Life Freedom movement in Iran become more apparent. Putting the viewer in the uncomfortable position of interviewer/interrogator in nine encounters between everyday Iranians and some manner of authority figure, this is punchy first-person filmmaking, from the point of view of the last person you want to be.
Some of the stories are mildly comedic in tone, especially early on. In the first of cinematographer Adib Sobhani’s crisp, boxed-in 4:3 compositions, we are introduced to a father (Bahram Ark) being chastised for not...
Some of the stories are mildly comedic in tone, especially early on. In the first of cinematographer Adib Sobhani’s crisp, boxed-in 4:3 compositions, we are introduced to a father (Bahram Ark) being chastised for not...
- 6/8/2023
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Text written on June 6, 2023 by Jean-Marc Thérouanne
Asia in the juries :
Franco-Afghan writer and director Atiq Rahimi was the only Asian member of the prestigious jury at the 76th Cannes Film Festival
Fench-Cambodian director Davy Chou was the only Asia-related member of the Un Certain Regard jury
Davy Chou
Shlomi Elkabetz was the only member of the short film jury and the Cinef with a connection to geographical Asia.
Asia in the selections:
Asia, from the Near to the Far East, was present with 31 features and 13 shorts in all the official and parallel sections of the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
In compétition :
– China: Youth (Spring) by Wang Bing
– Japan: Monster by Kore-eda Hirokazu,
Kim Dong-ho, Hirokazu Koreeda
– Turkey: About Dry Grasses by Nuri Bilge Ceylan,
and The Pot-au-feu by French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung and Wim Wenders' Perfect Days, set in Japan.
Out of compétition :
– Korea: Cobweb by Kim Jee-won,...
Asia in the juries :
Franco-Afghan writer and director Atiq Rahimi was the only Asian member of the prestigious jury at the 76th Cannes Film Festival
Fench-Cambodian director Davy Chou was the only Asia-related member of the Un Certain Regard jury
Davy Chou
Shlomi Elkabetz was the only member of the short film jury and the Cinef with a connection to geographical Asia.
Asia in the selections:
Asia, from the Near to the Far East, was present with 31 features and 13 shorts in all the official and parallel sections of the 76th Cannes Film Festival.
In compétition :
– China: Youth (Spring) by Wang Bing
– Japan: Monster by Kore-eda Hirokazu,
Kim Dong-ho, Hirokazu Koreeda
– Turkey: About Dry Grasses by Nuri Bilge Ceylan,
and The Pot-au-feu by French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung and Wim Wenders' Perfect Days, set in Japan.
Out of compétition :
– Korea: Cobweb by Kim Jee-won,...
- 6/7/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Iranian filmmaking’s reliance on formal restrictions and secrecy are given new variations in Terrestrial Verses, co-directed by Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami, who’ve both enjoyed previous festival success with their solo features. Chiming indirectly with the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests last year––the largest civil unrest in Iran for a generation––Asgari and Khatami take a panoramic view of its urban citizenry through nine vignettes, observing confrontations with state brass behaving at their most paranoid and arbitrary.
Terrestrial Verses immediately impresses with its sense of focus and minimalism, yet struggles to generate a more complex thesis as it develops, falling into repetition and overstatement. Abbas Kiarostami and Mania Akbari’s Ten (a film now mired in retrospective accusations over the former’s alleged misconduct) is a notable precursor to its method, consigning ten sequences to its car interior and letting insights emerge organically, at least when we were...
Terrestrial Verses immediately impresses with its sense of focus and minimalism, yet struggles to generate a more complex thesis as it develops, falling into repetition and overstatement. Abbas Kiarostami and Mania Akbari’s Ten (a film now mired in retrospective accusations over the former’s alleged misconduct) is a notable precursor to its method, consigning ten sequences to its car interior and letting insights emerge organically, at least when we were...
- 6/3/2023
- by David Katz
- The Film Stage
Persian helmers Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami have teamed again to make a movie about what they call “one step forward”. Built in the form of 12 short, completely separated stories that bare the names of their main protagonists, “Terrestrial Verses” shows different situations of oppression, some of them completely absurd and some uncomfortable, with most of them handled with a great dose of deadpan humor.
At the international premiere of their movie in the Uncertain Regard competition program of the festival, Alireza Kathami addressed the packed Debussy theatre with words about the current situation in Iran.
Asian Movie Pulse met the directors to ask them about their idea to make a film out of twelve tableaux, about the inspiration found in old Persian form of poetry, about the importance of humor to battle one's rights and taking that actual one step forward.
Terrestrial Verses is screening at Cannes Official poster...
At the international premiere of their movie in the Uncertain Regard competition program of the festival, Alireza Kathami addressed the packed Debussy theatre with words about the current situation in Iran.
Asian Movie Pulse met the directors to ask them about their idea to make a film out of twelve tableaux, about the inspiration found in old Persian form of poetry, about the importance of humor to battle one's rights and taking that actual one step forward.
Terrestrial Verses is screening at Cannes Official poster...
- 5/26/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
A woman with a lost dog, a small girl performing a TikTok dance in a chador, and a worn-out filmmaker trying to get his movie project off the ground are just three of the characters populating the omnibus of single-take vignettes in writer-directors Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari’s “Terrestrial Verses.” Combined, these nine stories give off a powerful cumulative effect as we see the petty bureaucracies and paper-pushing quotidian blocks to working-class life unfold and whittle these people down. Cultural, religious, and institutional constraints wear down everyday citizens in Tehran in stories that may lack a beginning, middle, or end but still arrive at a well-drawn if eerie and ambiguous conclusion that would feel dystopic if the events weren’t so ordinary.
The sole Iranian entry in the 2023 Cannes Official Selection, “Terrestrial Verses” opens with a panoramic, widescreen shot of the Tehran cityscape. At first gently and then overwhelmingly,...
The sole Iranian entry in the 2023 Cannes Official Selection, “Terrestrial Verses” opens with a panoramic, widescreen shot of the Tehran cityscape. At first gently and then overwhelmingly,...
- 5/25/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari‘s “Terrestrial Verses,” the sole Iranian film premiering in Cannes’ Official Selection, has been acquired for distribution in key European territories.
Represented by Films Boutique, “Terrestrial Verses” has been acquired for France (Arp Selection), Benelux (September Films) and Germany/Austria (Neue Visionen). All three banners are leading distributors in their respective territories. Those deals were closed following the film’s well-received world premiere.
“Terrestrial Verses” marks the first collaboration between Khatami and Asgari, who are both acclaimed directors.
Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.
The film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad. When describing the film, Gabor Greiner,...
Represented by Films Boutique, “Terrestrial Verses” has been acquired for France (Arp Selection), Benelux (September Films) and Germany/Austria (Neue Visionen). All three banners are leading distributors in their respective territories. Those deals were closed following the film’s well-received world premiere.
“Terrestrial Verses” marks the first collaboration between Khatami and Asgari, who are both acclaimed directors.
Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.
The film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad. When describing the film, Gabor Greiner,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
In “Terrestrial Verses,” the first collaboration between co-directors Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari that was met with applause throughout the entirety of its premiere screening in the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, observes life under Iranian theocracy through the mundane experiences of 12 ordinary people across various ages that are bookended by a prologue and epilogue. As we watch them navigate complex situations related to social repression, the swift 77-minute runtime never misses a beat.
Continue reading ‘Terrestrial Verses’ Review: Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami’s Collection of Vignettes Is A Thoughtful Examination Of Injustices Faced In Iran [Cannes] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Terrestrial Verses’ Review: Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami’s Collection of Vignettes Is A Thoughtful Examination Of Injustices Faced In Iran [Cannes] at The Playlist.
- 5/24/2023
- by Jihane Bousfiha
- The Playlist
A daunting task faces the protagonists in Terrestrial Verses (Ayeh haye zamini): Each of them is trying to reason with a government bureaucrat or other self-important authority figure. They’re all residents of Tehran, and there’s something specific to Iran in the oppressive regulations and catch-22s that hinder them, but there’s universal resonance, too, in the escalating lunacy and bleak implications.
In 10 of the feature’s 11 subtly interlocking segments, a single character faces an offscreen interlocutor. The fixed camera holds each one in an unwavering embrace as they try to make sense of arbitrary rules and demands. Inspired by the intricate rhymes of ghazal, a classic form of Persian poetry, writer-directors Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami have constructed a thoroughly modern work of bracing concision, elegance and blistering deadpan humor, one that pulses with sorrow and outrage over the absurdity of authoritarian dictates that aim to crush souls.
In 10 of the feature’s 11 subtly interlocking segments, a single character faces an offscreen interlocutor. The fixed camera holds each one in an unwavering embrace as they try to make sense of arbitrary rules and demands. Inspired by the intricate rhymes of ghazal, a classic form of Persian poetry, writer-directors Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami have constructed a thoroughly modern work of bracing concision, elegance and blistering deadpan humor, one that pulses with sorrow and outrage over the absurdity of authoritarian dictates that aim to crush souls.
- 5/23/2023
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This year at Cannes Iran is being repped by just one film, the timely underground drama “Terrestrial Verses,” co-directed by Canada-based Alireza Khatami and Iran-based Ali Asgari, premiering in Un Certain Regard. Shot after the Mahsa Amini movement started, “Verses” consists of 12 tableaus depicting the increasingly absurd and tragic plight that Iranians face in their everyday life with a scathingly ironic deadpan tone.
Variety spoke to the directors about how they teamed up and decided to capture the zeitgeist in turbulent Tehran.
How did the project germinate?
Alireza Khatami
Well, I was in Iran trying to shoot a film and Ali was by my side every day helping me. And then my film was shut down. In Iran you have to get shooting permission in order to shoot, and I was shut down. And at night we were going on this long walk through the alleys and reading classic Iranian poetry.
Variety spoke to the directors about how they teamed up and decided to capture the zeitgeist in turbulent Tehran.
How did the project germinate?
Alireza Khatami
Well, I was in Iran trying to shoot a film and Ali was by my side every day helping me. And then my film was shut down. In Iran you have to get shooting permission in order to shoot, and I was shut down. And at night we were going on this long walk through the alleys and reading classic Iranian poetry.
- 5/21/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and the momentous burst of rebellion against the Iranian regime prompted by the death of Mahsa Amini are reverberating profoundly at the Cannes Film Festival.
At the festival’s opening ceremony on Tuesday night, legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve paid tribute to the war’s victims by reciting a poem from Ukrainian poet Lessia Oukraïnka, solemnly declaring: “I no longer have either happiness or freedom, only one hope remains to me: to return one day to my beautiful Ukraine.” One year ago, Cannes got off to an emotional start with remarks from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
On the industry side, official Russian delegations and companies with ties to the government are again banned from participating in the Cannes Marché du Film. And Iran’s Farabi Film Foundation, the top national film entity which has been attending the market for years, has not been allowed to book a stand,...
At the festival’s opening ceremony on Tuesday night, legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve paid tribute to the war’s victims by reciting a poem from Ukrainian poet Lessia Oukraïnka, solemnly declaring: “I no longer have either happiness or freedom, only one hope remains to me: to return one day to my beautiful Ukraine.” One year ago, Cannes got off to an emotional start with remarks from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
On the industry side, official Russian delegations and companies with ties to the government are again banned from participating in the Cannes Marché du Film. And Iran’s Farabi Film Foundation, the top national film entity which has been attending the market for years, has not been allowed to book a stand,...
- 5/18/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli and Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Films Boutique, the Berlin-based company behind “Pacifiction” and “The Burdened,” has come on board three international movies slated for the Cannes Film Festival. These include a pair of films set for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, “Terrestrial Verses” and “The Buriti Flower,” as well as “Tiger Stripes” which will bow at Critics’ Week.
“Terrestrial Verses,” directed by Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari, is the sole Iranian film premiering in the Official Selection. The movie marks the first collaboration between these two critically acclaimed directors.
Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.
While the plot remains under wrap, the film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad.
“Terrestrial Verses,” directed by Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari, is the sole Iranian film premiering in the Official Selection. The movie marks the first collaboration between these two critically acclaimed directors.
Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.
While the plot remains under wrap, the film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad.
- 4/26/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Discover the list of feature films selected in Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, Midnight Screenings, Cannes Premiere and Special Screenings.
In Competition
Jeanne Du Barry by MAÏWENN – Opening Film Out of Competition
Club Zero by Jessica Hausner
The Zone Of Interest by Jonathan Glazer
Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismaki
Les Filles D’Olfa by Kaouther Ben Hania
(Four Daughters)
Asteroid City by Wes Anderson
Anatomie D’Une Chute by Justine Triet
Monster by Kore-eda Hirokazu
Il Sol Dell’ Avvenire by Nanni Moretti
L’ÉTÉ Dernier by Catherine Breillat
Kuru Otlar Ustune by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
(About Dry Grasses)
LA Chimera by Alice Rohrwacher
LA Passion De Dodin Bouffant by Tran Anh Hun
Rapito by Marco Bellocchio
May December by Todd Haynes
Jeunesse by Wang Bing
The Old Oak by Ken Loach
Banel E Adama by Ramata-Toulaye Sy | 1st film
Perfect Days by Wim Wenders
Firebrand by Karim AÏNOUZ
Un...
In Competition
Jeanne Du Barry by MAÏWENN – Opening Film Out of Competition
Club Zero by Jessica Hausner
The Zone Of Interest by Jonathan Glazer
Fallen Leaves by Aki Kaurismaki
Les Filles D’Olfa by Kaouther Ben Hania
(Four Daughters)
Asteroid City by Wes Anderson
Anatomie D’Une Chute by Justine Triet
Monster by Kore-eda Hirokazu
Il Sol Dell’ Avvenire by Nanni Moretti
L’ÉTÉ Dernier by Catherine Breillat
Kuru Otlar Ustune by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
(About Dry Grasses)
LA Chimera by Alice Rohrwacher
LA Passion De Dodin Bouffant by Tran Anh Hun
Rapito by Marco Bellocchio
May December by Todd Haynes
Jeunesse by Wang Bing
The Old Oak by Ken Loach
Banel E Adama by Ramata-Toulaye Sy | 1st film
Perfect Days by Wim Wenders
Firebrand by Karim AÏNOUZ
Un...
- 4/13/2023
- by Movies Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Get your tux out of the mothballs and brush up on your French phrasebook: After feverish speculation about what might premiere at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, the lineup has finally been announced.
Thierry Frémaux’s annual press conference, which you can watch below, has wrapped and we now know what will debut on the Croisette when Cannes takes place May 16-27. We already knew there’d be a spot for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” that Harrison Ford and James Mangold would be bringing fedora couture with “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” (filling this year’s blockbuster spot reserved by “Top Gun: Maverick” last year), and that, controversially, the Johnny Depp-starring film “Jeanne du Barry” by Maïwenn would open the festival.
Among the titles now confirmed to appear at Cannes are Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” Todd Haynes’ “May/December,...
Thierry Frémaux’s annual press conference, which you can watch below, has wrapped and we now know what will debut on the Croisette when Cannes takes place May 16-27. We already knew there’d be a spot for Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” that Harrison Ford and James Mangold would be bringing fedora couture with “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” (filling this year’s blockbuster spot reserved by “Top Gun: Maverick” last year), and that, controversially, the Johnny Depp-starring film “Jeanne du Barry” by Maïwenn would open the festival.
Among the titles now confirmed to appear at Cannes are Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest,” Todd Haynes’ “May/December,...
- 4/13/2023
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
It’s Christmas morning for cinephiles. As per tradition, the Cannes Film Festival unveiled its 2023 selections in a press conference early this morning––at least for those of us stateside. Now in its 76th edition, this year’s event will take place May 16-27.
With Killers of the Flower Moon and Indiana Jones’ fifth and supposedly final outing previously confirmed, both out of competition, new highlights in competition include Todd Haynes‘ May December, Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, Alice Rohrwacher’s La chimera, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses, and Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves. Additional selections include Víctor Erice’s long-awaiting return to filmmaking Cerrar los ojos, Steve McQueen’s documentary Occupied City, Takeshi Kitano’s Kubi, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Pictures of Ghosts, plus two films from both Wang Bing and Wim Wenders.
While more announcements will be made in the coming weeks, and there...
With Killers of the Flower Moon and Indiana Jones’ fifth and supposedly final outing previously confirmed, both out of competition, new highlights in competition include Todd Haynes‘ May December, Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest, Alice Rohrwacher’s La chimera, Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s About Dry Grasses, and Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves. Additional selections include Víctor Erice’s long-awaiting return to filmmaking Cerrar los ojos, Steve McQueen’s documentary Occupied City, Takeshi Kitano’s Kubi, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Pictures of Ghosts, plus two films from both Wang Bing and Wim Wenders.
While more announcements will be made in the coming weeks, and there...
- 4/13/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The selection includes films by Wes Anderson, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Wim Wenders, Ken Loach, Todd Haynes and Steve McQueen.
The Official Selection of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival has been announced.
Scroll down for the line-up
The selection includes films by Wes Anderson, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Wim Wenders, Ken Loach, Todd Haynes and Steve McQueen.
As previously announced, ’s Jeanne du Barry, starring the director opposite Johnny Depp, will open the festival on May 16.
The festival’s longtime director Thierry Frémaux revealed the Official Selection at a press conference at the Ugc Normandie theatre in Paris today alongside incoming festival president Iris Knobloch.
The Official Selection of the 2023 Cannes Film Festival has been announced.
Scroll down for the line-up
The selection includes films by Wes Anderson, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Wim Wenders, Ken Loach, Todd Haynes and Steve McQueen.
As previously announced, ’s Jeanne du Barry, starring the director opposite Johnny Depp, will open the festival on May 16.
The festival’s longtime director Thierry Frémaux revealed the Official Selection at a press conference at the Ugc Normandie theatre in Paris today alongside incoming festival president Iris Knobloch.
- 4/13/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
The press conference kicked off in central Paris at 11.10am local time (10.10am BST).
The Cannes Film Festival (May 16-27) is announcing the line-up for its 76th edition.
The festival’s longtime director Thierry Frémaux is revealing the Official Selection at a press conference at the Ugc Normandie theatre in Paris alongside incoming festival president Iris Knobloch.
Two-time Palme d’Or-winning Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund will preside over the jury that will vote on the festival’s top prizes in the international competition.
As previously announced, Maiwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, starring the director opposite Johnny Depp, will open the...
The Cannes Film Festival (May 16-27) is announcing the line-up for its 76th edition.
The festival’s longtime director Thierry Frémaux is revealing the Official Selection at a press conference at the Ugc Normandie theatre in Paris alongside incoming festival president Iris Knobloch.
Two-time Palme d’Or-winning Swedish filmmaker Ruben Östlund will preside over the jury that will vote on the festival’s top prizes in the international competition.
As previously announced, Maiwenn’s Jeanne du Barry, starring the director opposite Johnny Depp, will open the...
- 4/13/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
French sales house to market premiere ‘Bright Women’ at Rendez-Vous.
MPM Premium has boarded French drama Bright Women (Brillantes) and has unveiled more sales for Until Tomorrow, Umami and Ghosts ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.
MPM will market premiere Bright Women for buyers at Rendez-Vous, where it will kick off global sales for the film ahead of its debut in French theatres on January 18 via Alba Films.
The first feature from Sylvie Gautier, Bright Women follows a housekeeper and mother who is asked to lead a movement of unionised workers and finds herself in a moral dilemma.
MPM Premium has boarded French drama Bright Women (Brillantes) and has unveiled more sales for Until Tomorrow, Umami and Ghosts ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.
MPM will market premiere Bright Women for buyers at Rendez-Vous, where it will kick off global sales for the film ahead of its debut in French theatres on January 18 via Alba Films.
The first feature from Sylvie Gautier, Bright Women follows a housekeeper and mother who is asked to lead a movement of unionised workers and finds herself in a moral dilemma.
- 1/9/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
French sales house to market premiere ‘Bright Women’ at Rendez-Vous.
MPM Premium has boarded French drama Bright Women (Brillantes) and has unveiled more sales for Until Tomorrow, Umami and Ghosts ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.
MPM will market premiere Bright Women for buyers at Rendez-Vous, where it will kick off global sales for the film ahead of its debut in French theatres on January 18 via Alba Films.
The first feature from Sylvie Gautier, Bright Women follows a housekeeper and mother who is asked to lead a movement of unionised workers and finds herself in a moral dilemma.
MPM Premium has boarded French drama Bright Women (Brillantes) and has unveiled more sales for Until Tomorrow, Umami and Ghosts ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.
MPM will market premiere Bright Women for buyers at Rendez-Vous, where it will kick off global sales for the film ahead of its debut in French theatres on January 18 via Alba Films.
The first feature from Sylvie Gautier, Bright Women follows a housekeeper and mother who is asked to lead a movement of unionised workers and finds herself in a moral dilemma.
- 1/9/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Considering the gradual rise of cinema in the Arabic countries, either indoors or through diaspora, this year we expanded the selection of the Best West Asian films to include both West and Central Asian countries, in a list we feel highlights the diversity of the cinema of those countries, as much as the quality of their productions. Iran has the lion’s share as usual, considering it is the largest industry of the region, but movies from Israel, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Iraq, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Kurdistan also found their place in the list. Also of note is the fact that a number of these productions move towards the mainstream, in a rather pleasant diversity from the “misery porn” we usually get to watch from these countries, while documentaries and shorts are also included
Without further ado, here are the best West Asian films of 2022, in random order. Some...
Without further ado, here are the best West Asian films of 2022, in random order. Some...
- 1/5/2023
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
Festival runs November 9-20.
The Stockholm International Film Festival will present 130 films from 50 countries, opening on November 9 with Sweden’s international Oscar submission, Boy From Heaven by Tarik Saleh.
Political thriller Boy From Heaven premiered in competition at Cannes where it was awarded best screenplay.
Actor Fares Fares will receive the Stockholm Achievement Award on opening night. His credits include Easy Money, Safe House, Westworld and Chernobyl.
The Stockholm Visionary Award will go to Sam Mendes who will present the Nordic premiere of Empire Of Light.
Other notable selections include Luca Guadagnino’s Bones And All; Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King...
The Stockholm International Film Festival will present 130 films from 50 countries, opening on November 9 with Sweden’s international Oscar submission, Boy From Heaven by Tarik Saleh.
Political thriller Boy From Heaven premiered in competition at Cannes where it was awarded best screenplay.
Actor Fares Fares will receive the Stockholm Achievement Award on opening night. His credits include Easy Money, Safe House, Westworld and Chernobyl.
The Stockholm Visionary Award will go to Sam Mendes who will present the Nordic premiere of Empire Of Light.
Other notable selections include Luca Guadagnino’s Bones And All; Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King...
- 10/13/2022
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
The 27th edition of the Busan International Film Festival startet on 5th of October and will show a new selection of the best from the Asian cinema till 15th of October. One thing is sure from the beginning, it will be a good year for cinema from Iran here as well. Some other international festivals have already come forward, like the Berlinale with “Ta Farda” by Ali Asgari, “Leila’s Brothers” by Saeed Roustaee and “Holy Spider” by Ali Abbasi in Cannes, “No Bears” by Jafar Panahi and “Beyond the Wall” by Vahid Jalilvand in Venice. These films can now also be seen in Busan, as well as “Life & Life” by Ali Qavitan and “Scent of Wind” by Hadi Mohaghegh who opened the festival.
“Scent of Wind” by Hadi Mohaghegh – Dignity in Modesty
The director’s fourth feature film tells a very simple story in itself, but the...
“Scent of Wind” by Hadi Mohaghegh – Dignity in Modesty
The director’s fourth feature film tells a very simple story in itself, but the...
- 10/9/2022
- by Teresa Vena
- AsianMoviePulse
Colombian director Laura Mora’s drama The Kings Of The World has clinched the Golden Eye for best feature film at the Zurich Film Festival.
The award follows hot on the heels of the film’s triumph at the San Sebastian Film Festival exactly a week ago, where it world premiered and then won the Golden Shell for best film.
The drama follows five street kids from Medellin who set off on a dangerous trip into the Colombian hinterland, after one of them is granted the right to a piece of land taken from his family by paramilitaries, during the country’s 52-year conflict which displaced more than five million people.
The Kings Of The World was produced by producer and director Cristina Gallego, whose credits include Birds Of Passage and the Oscar-nominated The Embrace Of The Serpent.
The film also previously screened to professionals as part of the TIFF...
The award follows hot on the heels of the film’s triumph at the San Sebastian Film Festival exactly a week ago, where it world premiered and then won the Golden Shell for best film.
The drama follows five street kids from Medellin who set off on a dangerous trip into the Colombian hinterland, after one of them is granted the right to a piece of land taken from his family by paramilitaries, during the country’s 52-year conflict which displaced more than five million people.
The Kings Of The World was produced by producer and director Cristina Gallego, whose credits include Birds Of Passage and the Oscar-nominated The Embrace Of The Serpent.
The film also previously screened to professionals as part of the TIFF...
- 10/1/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Laura Mora’s “The Kings of the World” was named Best Film at the Zurich Film Festival Saturday.
The jury, led by Asghar Farhadi and featuring Clio Barnard, Daniel Dreifuss, Petra Volpe and Piodor Gustafsson, was taken with the coming-of-age drama about young friends living on the streets of Medellín, one that has triumphed at San Sebastian as well. Film Factory Entertainment handles sales.
“I am so happy the jury voted for it. I am convinced this film will stand the test of time,” artistic director Christian Jungen told Variety.
“It shows that film can be an art form, but it also provides social criticism on the situation in Colombia. Where poor, regular people can’t easily access their rights.”
Mora got the idea for the story while casting her feature debut “Killing Jesus,” she told Variety back in August.
“More than 90 boys we interviewed all shared a terrible feeling of exclusion,...
The jury, led by Asghar Farhadi and featuring Clio Barnard, Daniel Dreifuss, Petra Volpe and Piodor Gustafsson, was taken with the coming-of-age drama about young friends living on the streets of Medellín, one that has triumphed at San Sebastian as well. Film Factory Entertainment handles sales.
“I am so happy the jury voted for it. I am convinced this film will stand the test of time,” artistic director Christian Jungen told Variety.
“It shows that film can be an art form, but it also provides social criticism on the situation in Colombia. Where poor, regular people can’t easily access their rights.”
Mora got the idea for the story while casting her feature debut “Killing Jesus,” she told Variety back in August.
“More than 90 boys we interviewed all shared a terrible feeling of exclusion,...
- 10/1/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
International competition titles include ‘Broker’ and ‘Decision To Leave’ from South Korea.
Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff) has revealed the line-up of international competition titles for its 39th edition, which includes several award-winners from this year’s Cannes.
Ten features will compete in the international competition of Jff, which is set to host its 39th edition from July 21-31.
These include Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Broker and Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave from South Korea, which respectively picked up best actor for Song Kang-ho and best director for Park. Also selected is Abi Abbasi’s Holy Spider, which saw Zar Amir-Ebrahimi pick up best actress,...
Jerusalem Film Festival (Jff) has revealed the line-up of international competition titles for its 39th edition, which includes several award-winners from this year’s Cannes.
Ten features will compete in the international competition of Jff, which is set to host its 39th edition from July 21-31.
These include Hirokazu Kore-eda’s Broker and Park Chan-wook’s Decision To Leave from South Korea, which respectively picked up best actor for Song Kang-ho and best director for Park. Also selected is Abi Abbasi’s Holy Spider, which saw Zar Amir-Ebrahimi pick up best actress,...
- 7/7/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The Paris-based company is planning a special physical market screening in Tokyo on June 1 for Japanese buyers.
Paris-based sales company MPM Premium has signed a fresh raft of deals on French-Japanese culinary comedy Umami, following its physical market premiere in Cannes.
The film stars Gérard Depardieu as a chef on a mission to create a dish encapsulating the taste of umami, the so-called fifth taste after salty, sweet, sour and bitter that is common in Japanese cuisine.
It has now sold to Switzerland (Praesens), Baltics (Otaku) and airlines (Encore). Previously announced sales include to Germany and Austria (Neue Visionen), Israel...
Paris-based sales company MPM Premium has signed a fresh raft of deals on French-Japanese culinary comedy Umami, following its physical market premiere in Cannes.
The film stars Gérard Depardieu as a chef on a mission to create a dish encapsulating the taste of umami, the so-called fifth taste after salty, sweet, sour and bitter that is common in Japanese cuisine.
It has now sold to Switzerland (Praesens), Baltics (Otaku) and airlines (Encore). Previously announced sales include to Germany and Austria (Neue Visionen), Israel...
- 5/25/2022
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Ali Asgari started studying film directing when he moved to Italy, with experience already gathered in the field as an assistant producer and assistant director in Iran. He made his first short film “Tonight Is Not a Good Night For Dying” (2011) as a freshman, and stayed faithfull to the short format ever since. “Until Tomorrow“, his sophomore feature length drama that has just screened in Berlinale’s Panorama section, was also supposed to be a short drama, but the topic was of such importance for the Iranian director that he felt the urge to tell the story in more detail.
In the script co-written with Alireza Khatami, Asgari shows one afternoon in the life of a single mother Fereshteh (played by the fantastic Sadaf Asgari) who, after her parents announce their sudden arrival to Tehran, is frantically looking for a sleep-over for her out-of-the-wedlock baby daughter just for one night.
In the script co-written with Alireza Khatami, Asgari shows one afternoon in the life of a single mother Fereshteh (played by the fantastic Sadaf Asgari) who, after her parents announce their sudden arrival to Tehran, is frantically looking for a sleep-over for her out-of-the-wedlock baby daughter just for one night.
- 2/23/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Fereshteh (Sadaf Asgari) needs help ‘only’ until the next day, but this will prove dificult since she is asking for a dangerous kind of favour. She is in a position no young woman in Iran would like to be in: a single mom with a baby out of wedlock that nobody but one person knows about. Asgari plots his story around the consequences of a love affair that, in certain societies, weigh heavy on women who are expected to do everything ‘by the book’: wait with sex until they get married and only then start a family.
Until Tomorrow screened at Berlin International Film Festival
In the opening couple of minutes, there is nothing strange about a young mother taking care of her baby. Fereshteh looks tired but happy, and also, she seems to be doing fine job-wise as a freelance graphic designer. So, when a phonecall from her...
Until Tomorrow screened at Berlin International Film Festival
In the opening couple of minutes, there is nothing strange about a young mother taking care of her baby. Fereshteh looks tired but happy, and also, she seems to be doing fine job-wise as a freelance graphic designer. So, when a phonecall from her...
- 2/21/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Earlier, Sundance announced that its 2022 edition will be hybrid. Most titles will be available online while their in-person festivities start up again in Park City. Their main slate has just gone live as well. Though the festival has a tendency to update their lineup as the festivities grow closer, their competition categories have at least been set in stone.
Naturally, we compiled all of the Asian and Asian diaspora-directed ones we could find so far. Like last year, most Asian titles tend to be in the documentaries. In the World Cinema Documentary Competition, at least 4 entries span from different corners of the continent: India (“All That Breathes”), Myanmar (“Midwives”), Lebanon (“Sirens”), and Israel (“Tantura”). 4 entries revolving around or by Asian diaspora filmmakers make their mark in the US Documentary Competition as well. “Free Chol Soo Lee”, “Jihad Rehab”, “Tiktok.Boom” and “The Exiles” cover fex-Al-Queda extremists, Tiananmen Square exiles, a wrongly-convicted Korean immigrant,...
Naturally, we compiled all of the Asian and Asian diaspora-directed ones we could find so far. Like last year, most Asian titles tend to be in the documentaries. In the World Cinema Documentary Competition, at least 4 entries span from different corners of the continent: India (“All That Breathes”), Myanmar (“Midwives”), Lebanon (“Sirens”), and Israel (“Tantura”). 4 entries revolving around or by Asian diaspora filmmakers make their mark in the US Documentary Competition as well. “Free Chol Soo Lee”, “Jihad Rehab”, “Tiktok.Boom” and “The Exiles” cover fex-Al-Queda extremists, Tiananmen Square exiles, a wrongly-convicted Korean immigrant,...
- 12/16/2021
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
PoetBerlinale have announced the first 62 titles selected for the 72nd edition of their festival, set to take place physically from February 10 — 20.FORUMAfterwater (Dane Komljen)Poet (Darezhan Omirbayev)The Middle AgesEurope (Philip Scheffner)A Flower in the Mouth (Éric Baudelaire)Memoryland (Kim Quy Bui)My Two Voices (Lina Rodriguez)Nuclear Family (Erin Wilkerson, Travis Wilkerson)Super Natural (Jorge Jácome)The United States of America (James Benning)Forum EXPANDEDDragon Tooth (Rafael Castanheira Parrode)Home When You Return (Carl Elsaesser)Jail Bird in a Peacock Chair (James Gregory Atkinson)Sol in the Dark (Mawena Yehouessi)vs (Lydia Nsiah)PANORAMATalking About the Weather (Annika Pinske)The Apartment with Two Women (Kim Se-in)Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power (Nina Menkes)Swing Ride (Chiara Bellosi)Dreaming WallsKlondike (Maryna Er Gorbach)A Love Song (Max Walker-Silverman)Myanmar Diaries (The Myanmar Film Collective)Into My Name (Nicolò Bassetti)Nelly & Nadine (Magnus Gertten)We, Students! (Rafiki Fariala)Until Tomorrow (Ali Asgari...
- 12/15/2021
- MUBI
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAbove: Lina Wertmüller in Behind the White Glasses (2015).Italian filmmaker Lina Wertmüller, the first woman to be nominated for a directing Oscar (for 1975's Seven Beauties), died on December 9. After working as an assistant director for Federico Fellini on 8 1/2, Wertmüller went on to become a prolific and distinctive filmmaker in her own right, combining politics and sex and humor in films like The Seduction of Mimi and Swept Away. In an interview with Criterion, she stated: "I consider myself a director, not a female director. I think there’s no difference. The difference is between good movies and bad movies. We should not make other distinctions." The prolific critic and theorist bell hooks has died today. In addition to her many writings on the feminist movement and cultural politics, hooks was also an important media theorist.
- 12/15/2021
- MUBI
The 2022 Berlin International Film Festival has revealed its first titles, including seven films that have been invited to the Berlinale Special program. You can see the full list of confirmed films below.
Those seven include Peter Flinth’s Against The Ice, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole, Heida Reed and Charles Dance, and Laurent Larivière’s About Joan, starring Isabelle Huppert, which both play as Berlinale Special Galas.
The Panorama program has unveiled 13 titles, with Generation confirming eight features, and further films set for Forum and Forum Expanded.
The Panorama strand includes Myanmar Diaries, a doc/feature hybrid from the Myanmar Film Collective that highlights violence suffered by Burmese citizens.
“The pandemic has created distances – not only between people but also the way we see the world. Amongst the 2022 selection are films shot during the pandemic, reflecting on how it feels to be disconnected from others. It is with this first...
Those seven include Peter Flinth’s Against The Ice, starring Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Joe Cole, Heida Reed and Charles Dance, and Laurent Larivière’s About Joan, starring Isabelle Huppert, which both play as Berlinale Special Galas.
The Panorama program has unveiled 13 titles, with Generation confirming eight features, and further films set for Forum and Forum Expanded.
The Panorama strand includes Myanmar Diaries, a doc/feature hybrid from the Myanmar Film Collective that highlights violence suffered by Burmese citizens.
“The pandemic has created distances – not only between people but also the way we see the world. Amongst the 2022 selection are films shot during the pandemic, reflecting on how it feels to be disconnected from others. It is with this first...
- 12/15/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Massoud Bakhshi’s second feature, “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness,” has its world premiere in Sundance’s World Cinema Dramatic Competition, to be screened without the director.
The pic’s production company, Jba Production, and sales outfit, Pyramide International, issued a joint statement on Jan. 14 explaining that the director won’t be attending due to the U.S.-Iran crisis, adding that Bakhshi’s “position is delicate, given the current tensions between the two countries.”
In an exclusive interview with Variety, Jba Production’s Jacques Bidou and Marianne Dumoulin, chronicled the complex task of producing Bakhshi’s second feature. They also produced his 2012 Cannes-player, “A Respectable Family,” about corruption in his country, which is still banned in Iran.
Bidou and Dumoulin have been working together for 27 years and as joint producers at Jba Production for the past 20 years. They have produced 44 feature films, shot in 22 countries, and have enjoyed a...
The pic’s production company, Jba Production, and sales outfit, Pyramide International, issued a joint statement on Jan. 14 explaining that the director won’t be attending due to the U.S.-Iran crisis, adding that Bakhshi’s “position is delicate, given the current tensions between the two countries.”
In an exclusive interview with Variety, Jba Production’s Jacques Bidou and Marianne Dumoulin, chronicled the complex task of producing Bakhshi’s second feature. They also produced his 2012 Cannes-player, “A Respectable Family,” about corruption in his country, which is still banned in Iran.
Bidou and Dumoulin have been working together for 27 years and as joint producers at Jba Production for the past 20 years. They have produced 44 feature films, shot in 22 countries, and have enjoyed a...
- 1/20/2020
- by Martin Dale
- Variety Film + TV
Director will not attend festival due to flare-up in tensions between Us and Iran.
Iranian drama Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness will premiere in Sundance as planned even if director Massoud Bakhshi will not attend due to the flare-up in tensions between the Us and Iran, its French producers and sales agent have confirmed.
“Massoud Bakhshi is proud the film was selected by Sundance and is happy for it to be screened in public there,” Paris-based Jba Production company and sales company Pyramide International said in a statement. “He has never considered asking for it to be withdrawn, on the contrary,...
Iranian drama Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness will premiere in Sundance as planned even if director Massoud Bakhshi will not attend due to the flare-up in tensions between the Us and Iran, its French producers and sales agent have confirmed.
“Massoud Bakhshi is proud the film was selected by Sundance and is happy for it to be screened in public there,” Paris-based Jba Production company and sales company Pyramide International said in a statement. “He has never considered asking for it to be withdrawn, on the contrary,...
- 1/14/2020
- by 1100388¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Five first feature projects will be pitched in front of industry professionals at Focus CoPro, a new event hosted by Cannes’ Short Film Corner that will take place May 17 at the Cannes Film Market.
The pitching session, which is run in collaboration with Nisi Masa, was established to fill a gap in the market, according to Short Film Corner head Camille Hébert-Bénazet.
“This is something that the festival is missing: Filmmakers who pitch their films,” she said. “This is one of the reasons we are doing this.”
Though the Short Film Corner in the past has been “very focused on beginners,” Hébert-Bénazet said the new pitching session will engage with “directors and producers at another level of creation and production.”
“We really have to be in each part of the creation process,” she said.
The pitches will be heard Thursday morning by a gathering of producers, film funds, institutions, distributors,...
The pitching session, which is run in collaboration with Nisi Masa, was established to fill a gap in the market, according to Short Film Corner head Camille Hébert-Bénazet.
“This is something that the festival is missing: Filmmakers who pitch their films,” she said. “This is one of the reasons we are doing this.”
Though the Short Film Corner in the past has been “very focused on beginners,” Hébert-Bénazet said the new pitching session will engage with “directors and producers at another level of creation and production.”
“We really have to be in each part of the creation process,” she said.
The pitches will be heard Thursday morning by a gathering of producers, film funds, institutions, distributors,...
- 5/17/2018
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
The young Iranina helmer Ali Asgari depicts the conflict of young generation with traditions veiled as coming-of-age doubling as a mild social thriller
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/5/2017
- Screen Anarchy
Of the 86 feature films (34%) by women directors that screened in Toronto, I saw three in particular which have kept me thinking about how the feminine, or even how woman herself is defined. Speaking generally of “those men” in the power positions throughout the world, I am becoming increasingly convinced that “those men” set an example in their over zealous coveting wealth and resources, and included in their materialistic extremes, is a push to redefine women “as they were” in the days, not so long ago, when they did not have much to say about their status.
The women depicted in the movies in Toronto take daring leaps to change the circumstances of their lives. Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, Audience Winner Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, the first runner up for the Audience Award about the Olympic ice skater I, Tonya, Battle of the Sexes about Billie Jean King...
The women depicted in the movies in Toronto take daring leaps to change the circumstances of their lives. Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, Audience Winner Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, the first runner up for the Audience Award about the Olympic ice skater I, Tonya, Battle of the Sexes about Billie Jean King...
- 9/18/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.