ALI SAMADI AHADI The German-Iranian filmmaker reflects on the impact his taut political documentary, The Green Wave, has made on the Middle East.
In June 2009 hundreds of thousands of Iranians took to the streets to dispute the result of the countrys presidential election, which many believed had been rigged by the incumbent, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
What followed was a violent crackdown, evidence of which leaked out through social networking sites.
German-Iranian Ali Samadi Ahadis film, The Green Wave, which had its UK premiere at last months Human Rights Watch International Film Festival, brings together fractured pieces of footage filmed on mobile phones and testimony from bloggers in the country to document the brutality.
A mixture of news reports, animation and interviews, the film uses the emergence of social networks which were pivotal in the propagation of the unrest to mitigate the difficulties inherent in making a documentary in a context where journalists were expelled or imprisoned and information was under the control of the government. LWLies spoke with Ahadi recently about the films impact both at home and abroad.
LWLies: The Green Wave takes a very close-up view of events in Iran, which you were at the time quite distant from. How did you come to make the film?
Ahadi: When the elections took place in Iran, like other Iranians outside of Iran I was watching what was going on in the country. I was shocked and paralysed because of this brutality and the violence which we were facing.
After three months of being too shocked to be able to do anything, I wanted to do something. Not only to react but also to take action.
And because I am a filmmaker, I decided to make a film. We asked Associated Press to help us with their footage. This is a big part of our material.
And then we collected images which were shared on the internet, and we used images that we collected inside Iran and smuggled out of the country.
But all of these images were not able to tell the whole story, because they had mostly not a beginning, not an end, like broken puzzles.
We had to find a way to bring them together, because they had no protagonists, so we had to find a way to weave them to each other and that was the reason why I decided to use blogs and Twitter messages to bring all these things together.
I never think in genres and I never think in the way of tools. I find that if I get the subject, I try to understand how this subject can be told through me.
I try to collect all my tools and play around with them until I find a way of how I can tell the story.
A natural criticism of this style of documentary making is surely that you are bringing together a lot of very subjective evidence and trying to make it into an honest narrative.
It is a very subjective way of talking about the issue. We dont have to lie to our audience and say we know the truth, and we have the whole truth and we are objective. I dont believe that.
I believe in complete subjectivity. We dont need to hide ourselves because it is subjective. It is very important to make it clear that it is our point of view, we have this opinion.
I think even journalistic pieces mine is not journalistic are subjective, and we know that. We know that it is not true when journalists say we are objective.
It is the same with the blogs and images we use. I read more than 1,500 pages of blogs and chose only 15 of them.
You cant believe how often people talked about the same situation from different sides of the same place and the same momentum from different perspectives.
The same is with images. There is a moment in the film, where a Basij [militiaman] is on the roof of a building, shooting into a crowd of people, and we have it from more than 10 cell phone cameras from 10 different perspectives.
[President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad would say these are not in Iran and these are from somewhere else, but to be honest, we know that these things took place.
Maybe there are images which are not true, but this is not important. Im not saying that we are showing the whole truth, I am saying that what is important is that we are able to say these things are true or not true, and no one will harm you.
In Iran if you would say that Ahmadinejad is a liar, they would arrest you or kill you. This is important, and not the evidence of this image or this blog. What is important is that you have the freedom to talk about it. And this is something that is much more important.
This is the bigger point. We tried our best to keep the evidence high, to double check the images, to double check the blogs. But even if there is a failure there, I think the much more important point is being able to talk with freedom.
I think even if you are a journalist, the only controlling system which really works every time is your own inner voice. My teacher when I was a student said to me you can do anything, but never forget the conversation with your inner voice.
Which is very true you can make out of this footage 100 different films. Against and pro-Ahmadinejad. Where is the controlling mechanism? It is only you.
This was one striking feature of the revolutions that have taken place in the Middle East in the past few months that they are not really political in the sense that they arent calling for one regime to be replaced by another, they are really just asking for representation.
In the film this comes out people were not really going out to vote because they wanted [opposition leader] Mir-Hossein Mousavi to win they were going out because they want to be heard.
I think we are going through a moment in the Near and Middle East the ideological regimes are coming to an end. People are sick and tired of either the religious ideology or socialism and communism.
They dont care about that. Young people in Egypt, or in Iran, or in Yemen, or in Bahrain, are able to go to the internet and Google you and look how you live, and they ask themselves, Why is this person able to live in that way and I am not?
We are both human beings, but why can he talk freely and I cant? They are not looking for ideologies, they are looking for human rights, which makes the big difference between these movements and the movements 20, 30, 40 years ago?
Has the moment for change passed in Iran? Is the regime there not better able to control this message the second time around.
It has not passed. I think Iranian society made a big development in the last 18 months, or 20 months after the election. They started asking, Where is my vote?, for a recount of the ballots, for re-election. Now they clearly talk about system change.
This is a big development. And this is not a minority that is talking about change, this is the majority. It needs really a blitz to explode the whole thing. It is like a desert.
When the first rain falls down, the earth is really hard and the rain cant penetrate the soil, but with time, when the rain continues, the soil becomes soft and the water can penetrate.
The existence of so many recorded perspectives on every event has changed as you have said the monopoly that governments can have on information. Has it changed the way that documentary filmmakers record these events?
I think so. When we started to make this film, I had no idea what it would look like, because I dont know of any films that have been made in that way. I thought it is bungee jumping without a bungee, pure risk.
I think really that these instruments make our business, filmmaking, much more democratic, much more open. We are not dependent on broadcasters. We are not dependent on the permission of countries like Iran to be able to make images.
And we are not dependent that much on money. If you see what we made with really horrible, small, bad quality images. We screen it on 70 square metres in theatres, and it works. I think it really changed, fundamentally, filmmaking.
Especially in countries which are under pressure. I think that there is now more democracy in filmmaking, because you can get a direct connection to your audience. It will change our language, I think. The language of filmmaking.
William Shimell talks about Certified Copy, a film by Abbas Kiarostami
By Bijan Tehrani, Cinema Without Border03/23/2011 10:24:00
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Cerified Copy, the latest Abbas Kiarostami film will be on US screens soon and to learn more about this film, we interviewed William Shimell, the actor of the film.
William Shimell made his screen acting debut alongside Juliette Binoche in Abbas Kiarostamis Copie Conforme (Certified Copy), in competition at Cannes Festival 2010. Born in 1952, he is one of Britain's most accomplished operatic baritones and has earned himself an international reputation in the world's leading opera houses.
William is well known for his interpretations of Mozarts Don Giovanni, which he first sang in Britain for Welsh National Opera and ENO, and has since sung in opera houses throughout the world. He has recorded the role for EMI with Riccardo Muti.
His reputation has been further enhanced by his worldwide performances of Marcello in La Bohme, as Nick Shadow in The Rake's Progress, as Sharpless in Madame Butterfly, as Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, as Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte and as Dourlinski in Cherubini's Lodoska at La Scala, which was recorded live for Sony.
In 2005 William took the title role in Handels Hercules in a Luc Bondy production which was filmed for broadcast and DVD release. He is also much in demand on the concert platform, appearing at a range of venues including the Orange Festival in France, and recording performances with the likes of Sir Georg Solti and Riccardo Chailly.
Certified Copy is the story of a meeting between one man and one woman, in a small Italian village in Southern Tuscany. The man is a British author who has just finished giving a lecture at a conference. The woman, from France, owns an art gallery. This is a common story that could happen to anyone, anywhere.
Bijan Tehrani: How were you first introduced to Certified Copy? William Shimell: I was working with Abbas Kiarostami in the south of France at the opera Festival, where he was directing 2 years ago. Abbas asked me if I had ever been in a film and I said no and then he asked me if I would be interested in being in a film, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I though that maybe he is asking me to do a line or two or maybe just be on the background and sing but that was not what he had in mind at all.
BT: Did you read the script before getting involved with Certified Copy? WS: I read the script before going to the shoot yes, but not before I accepted and signed the contract, basically I wanted to work with Abas and it would not have mattered what he proposed. I enjoyed the experience of working with him in France so much that I was very interested in working with him again whether it is with a film or any other project. The first version of the script I saw had been translated from Farsi into French and then from French into English; so after going through two translations in two languages it was almost incomprehensible, I think that the person who translated it from French to English did not do a very good job. Abbas and his assistant Massoumeh Lahidji did actually work very hard on the script to get it to what we eventually worked with.
BT: How did you communicate with Abbas and was there any difficulty with the language barrier? WS: No, his assistant Massoumeh Lahidji is an astonishing translator and Abas English is not that bad. He can certainly make himself understood and one of the reasons why I enjoyed working with him is that I had a very good grip on what he was saying. When you work in Opera there is no real barrier in the language at all.
BT: When was the first time that you were exposed to Abbas work and when did you begin watching his films? WS: To be honest I had never heard of him and I usually dont go to the cinema, I have two young children and the only time that I go to the cinema is when I take my children to see films that young children like to see. Otherwise I am not a film buff. When I was told that Abbas would be directing the opera I did a little homework just to see what I was going to be going up against. As a result I saw some of his films; I find them quite difficult I must say.
BT: How difficult was it to work in Certified Copy? WS: It was horrifically difficult for me because I really did not know what I was doing; sometimes opera companies make video operas for their own purposes or for DVD, but I am an opera singer and not really an actor so I did not know what I was doing really, it was hard. As far as the character that I was playing and story in the film I concentrated on each scene as I came to it and it wasnt until the film was put together that I really had an idea of what the result would be.
BT: How much freedom did Abbas give you in terms of his direction? WS: He is used to working with none actors and he has a very light hand when he directs and he tries not intimidate. Especially with someone like me who is put I this situation and being in front of the camera, so I was never really aware that I was being directed; but Abbas still had a way of getting what he wanted.
BT: Describe working with Juliette Binoche? WS: Well it was an enormous privilege to work with such a talented person and she was extraordinarily helpful and encouraging throughout the whole process really and I dont know how I could have done it without her or everyone elses help. One of the thing that surprised me was how open and eager everyone was to help out and work with someone who was inexperienced.
BT: Did you do any study or research of the character that you were playing prior to the shoot? WS: Well I read and learnt the script, but Im an opera singer and I am used to searching out the character from the words and the orchestra score from the music that is usually where the character is hidden in opera. I didnt have that in this film so I had to focus more on what the character said and use what few tools I had in my experiences in opera; the dialogue has to be from within you and form your own experience and from your own personality.
BT: Did you have a chance to change the dialogue to your liking? WS: We worked to try to make the dialogue sound as natural to an Englishman as I could, because I was the only English person working on the project.
BT: How much do you think that the location meant to Certified Copy? WS: When people see the film they we see that the star is Juliette and the co-star is the Italian countryside. The atmosphere of Italian countryside and the colors of the buildings, of the sky and the Tuscan countryside paint such a vivid picture. They really help shape the emotional structure in the film. What this film did do is give me a great deal of respect for film actors and I enjoyed making the film and it was a huge pleasure and privilege.
BT: Do you plan to be in another film in the future? WS: I would love another try and I had such a fascinating try and when you get to my age it is not often that you get the opportunity to try something different and I would love to learn some more.
2/24/2011
From Rushid
Berlin film review: "Nader and Simin, a Separation"
Posted Thursday, February 24, 2011 12:54:05 PM
BERLIN -- Just when it seemed impossible for Iranian filmmakers to express themselves meaningfully outside the bounds of censorship, Asghar Farhadis Nader and Simin, A Separation comes along to prove the contrary.
Apparently simple on a narrative level yet morally, psychologically and socially complex, it succeeds in bringing Iranian society into focus for in a way few other films have done.
Like About Elly (2009), which won Asghar Farhadi the best director award at Berlin two years ago and which went on to find release in many territories, it has the potential to engage Western audiences with the right handling.
Politics are ostensibly out of the picture, though the whole premise is based on a middle-class couples divorce because the wife Simin (Iranian star Leila Hatami) wants to move abroad to find a better future for their 11-year-old daughter Termeh (Sarina Farhadi). But that may not be the real reason for the separation.
Nader (Peyman Moaadi, seen in About Elly) is a decent man but a stubborn one, and he neglects his wife. Too proud to ask her to stay with him, he lets her move back to her mothers place while he and Termeh are left to look after his aged father with Alzheimers disease. He hastily hires a poor woman named Razieh (Sareh Bayat) as a daytime caretaker, who signs on without telling him shes pregnant (or does she?).
A few days later he fires her and shoves her out the door; she falls on the stairs (perhaps) and has a miscarriage. The rest of the film is a crescendo of tension as Raziehs hot-headed, debt-ridden husband Hodjat (Shahab Hosseini) takes Nader to court for manslaughter.
We are honored to invite you to participate in the:
Iranian documentary Film Festival - Malmö | Sweden | Saturday 19 February 2011
If you are interested in contributing to the festival with your film please send your film to us. The deadline for receiving films is 15th February 2011. We have special sections for productions from amateurs, pupils and students.
"Cinema Without Borders is establishing an Open Page for Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof as an on-going, action-oriented commentary about the jailing of the filmmakers in Iran. The Page will remain open until Mr. Panahi and Rasoulof are freed, and free to make movies of their choice.
Film critic Vera Mijojlic is our first contributor. Cinema Without Borders invites readers, filmmakers, critics, supporters, and friends of international cinema to submit their comments and keep this Page active until Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof are freed".
First the physical jail for the body, then post-incarceration ban on the mind, heart and soul; wow. Iranian filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof are dangerous men alright. We got that. Compared to their predicament, Solzhenitsyns gulag years do not even compare. After all Mr. Solzhenytsin was able to continue with his subversive creative activities. The two Iranian filmmakers are apparently bigger threat to their homeland of more than 70 million people. Over there they seem to be trembling with fear at the sight of them. No small feat for a country of considerable military and spiritual might. So maybe we should investigate this affair a little bit deeper and find out who else might be so afraid that no other path was open to Mr. Panahi and Mr. Rasoulof but the one-way to jail, both here on Earth and within the more eternal realms of the future as well.
Both were found guilty of treason, disloyalty to their country, bent on telling stories for which they must have known would land them in trouble. To add insult to injury neither filmmaker wanted to flee to a nice country like say France and seek artistic asylum for their tortured souls. Instead they opted to stay put in Iran where they called to task its very solemn government. They made their government look bad, and expected clemency! What insolence on the part of Mr. Panahi and Mr. Rasoulof. They should have known that one doesnt fool around with people who dont have any sense of humor. Iranian leaders are somber, serious men, busy with policing a massive populace of restive compatriots. They have already made a mistake in letting a whiff of democracy blow through their heretofore closely controlled elections which led to a thing called hope in the person of an opposition candidate whom the two filmmakers may, for all we know, have supported or, insolent as they are, encouraged with their movies. Ah, the magic of moviemaking!
Democracy, as we have all learned during the past decade, can be a real nuisance. It is understandable that Mr. Panahi and Mr. Rasoulof saw no big advantage in fleeing to the West ruled by the leaders of the free world whose claim to fame rests in the ruins of their own populace through ingenious economic instead of crude police measures. Sensitive as artists tend to be, Mr. Panahi and Mr. Rasoulof probably saw no advantage in washing ashore west of their homeland as poor refugees hoping to make a beer commercial to sustain themselves.
No, they chose to stay in their country and defy its rulers.
And rulers like rulers eventually had enough. The united voice of these two filmmakers was one opposition voice too many. The more I think about it, the more I understand why Mr. Panahi and Mr. Rasoulof had to go to jail for all our sakes. Times are tough, and we have enough on our hands to deal with in their part of the world. Who has the time to continue messing with this case where no Western politician stands to gain anything?
Indeed, who? Who is left to keep Mr. Panahi and Mr. Rasoulof in our collective consciousness?
One is immediately thinking of the media. Yes, of course, the media! Surely, the media will do that. There are infinitely more news outlets today than ever before. But there is also a vast amount of news to digest. And as a consequence, whether we like it or not, we have grown numb, deaf, and indifferent because we have seen it all already, every single detail of human existence many times over. We have been given front row seats in the theater where punishing light was shed on every pitiful world leader, rebel, criminal, sociopath or genius alike. Everyone finally got their 15 minutes of fame, and quickly found out that without upping the ante forever, every single day, with another piece of news, whether real or engineered.if we stop broadcasting .....well, we then fall into the abyss of obscurity and non-existence. Our 15-minute lifetime span is up. Next!
And where do Mr. Panahi and Mr. Rasoulof feature in all this? This may sound harsh to you (after all, the men are in jail), but their time in our news cycle has been up for about a week now. Meanwhile fresh stories from around the world keep pouring in, the New Year according to the Gregorian calendar has just started, and one can always count on North Korea to provide the most entertaining and media-friendly content. Plus, too many calls for justice and petitions from human and animal rights groups and concerned citizens over the past media-heavy decade have had the same age-old effect on us as the shepherd who cried wolf too many times had on the villagers . when it finally mattered, no one came.
What is one to do when the wish for information abundance comes true, as it has in our lifetime? Who knew that once we got the knowledge about everything under the sun wed grow weak, complacent, drained of attention and filled mostly with curiosity about the shiny objects of media desires, like indigenous people once were of glass beads, and rendered just as powerless and as easily manipulated?
For all I know Mr. Panahi and Mr. Rasoulof might have been jailed to serve another purpose, as chips in a future political bargain that we are not yet privy to between the West and the East. I have never met either one and who knows, both might be an unpleasant sort. Artists tend to be difficult people. But I asked myself, what if someone I knew, someone talented and in the prime of his or her creative life, someone whose future films I want to see, someone who can give me something to look forward to beyond the trashy headlines, what if someone like that got jailed? Id be mad as hell!!!!
Perhaps, lets face it, youd be too if it was your friend?
Do we wait for someone else to raise hell? And who, may I ask, is that someone else, precisely?
The quickly congealing media silence is cementing Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof further and further away. If they are being robbed of their future films, then I am robbed of experiencing them. If they do not get another chance at freedom, then I am poorer for one too. They did not murder anyone, or commit a crime for which they should be kept away from us. They made movies, problematic for the rulers of their country perhaps, but thats the rulers problem, not theirs. We are free to critique their craft of film making, but we overstep our boundaries when we silence people for their thoughts, and in this case even future thoughts. Thoughts and stories and movies that are yet to come.
It is all too easy to blame everything on politicians and autocratic governments. Where are we in all this? To whom exactly do we transfer our responsibility when we grow tired of a news story? Ultimately, what is the meaning of speaking up in the global entertainment circus?
The question we are faced with is not just the jailing of two filmmakers, but also the media death of the story. The encroaching silence that comes with diminishing media coverage, leading to indifference and ultimately forgetting.
In John Schlesingers Marathon Man Laurence Olivier famously kept asking Dustin Hoffman, Is it safe?
I guess it never really is, as Mr. Panahi and Mr. Rasoulof have already found out. There is no such thing as safety, so get over it. I am not afraid of whatever it is that I am supposed to be afraid of in a world so thoroughly infused with fear. Are you?
JAFAR PANAHI, b. 1960, is one of the leading directors of the Iranian New Wave. He won praise and international acclaim with his films The White Balloon, Crimson Gold and Offside among others. He was in and out of jail in 2010 until December, when he was convicted of propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran and of undermining its national security. He was sent to jail for 6 years, and banned from making films, writing screenplays, giving interviews or leaving the country for the next 20 years after that. If his sentence stands, he will be 76 years old when he gets another chance at making movies.
MOHAMMAD RASOULOF, b. 1972, gained international recognition with his first feature-length docudrama "Gogooman" (2002). His other films include multiple award-winner "Iron Island", as well as The White Meadows, and "Head Wind", a documentary about the restrictions currently imposed in Iran on using satellites and internet. He was also in and out of jail throughout 2010 and in December sentenced and sent to jail under the same terms as Jafar Panahi.
To comment, add your name to the Cinema Without Borders Open Page for Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof, Please email us at info@cinemawithoutborders.com and for post your comments in the same article in CWB BLOGS.
9/19/2010
From Bami
IFF Iranian Film Festival honors Fakhri Khorvash
Veteran Iranian actress Fakhri Khorvash will be honored for her lifetime achievements during the Iranian Film Festival, which will be held in San Francisco on September 18 and 19.The ceremony has been arranged to honor her 50-year career in Iranian stage and screen.
Fakhri Khorvash, a star of Iranian intellectual theater for a few decades, has also been acting in movies since 1958. She has worked with several well-known Iranian filmmakers such as Bahman Farmanara and Dariush Mehrjui.
Fakhri Khorvash appeared for the first time in 1958 Sadegh Bahramis Bohloul and her last part in a movie was in Bahman Farmanaras A Little Kiss (yek booseh khuchulu) in 2005.
Iranian Film Festival will screen Shazde Ehtejab (1974) as part of honoring ceremony for Fakhri Khorvash. Shazde Ehtejab that is based on book with the same title by Hooshang Golshiri, is directed by Bahman Farmanara.
Cinema Without Borders will soon publish its exclusive interview with Fakhri Khorvash.
"Enemies Of the People", which won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury prize at Sundance 2010, and a dozen other international Festival awards, still awaits permission for a national theatrical release from the Ministry Of Culture and Arts of Cambodia.
Cambodian reporter Thet Sambath and British documentarian Rob Lemkin collaborated on the exceptional "Enemies Of The People."
Sambath, whose family were killed in the "killing fields" of the Khmer Rouge, spent a decade patiently wooing a friendship with Khmer Rouge second in command, Nuon Chea AKA "Brother Number Two." Years into his freelance assignment, Thet Sambath met Brit filmmaker Rob Lemkin, who was on a research trip to Cambodia during the 2006 Khmer Rouge Trials. Dedicated Sambeth repeatedly visited Nuon Chea and other interviewees gaining their trust. These weekend trips to the countryside nearly destroyed his family life.
Smiling patiently as he listens to harrowing truths, Sambath never reveals that his family members were Kymer rouge victims, lest he lose the participant's stories. I think only the killers can tell us the truth, why they killed the people and who ordered them to kill, explains his narration, which reveals a Buddhist compassion as well as a tenacious digging for the truth. Peasant soldiers were forced to kill or face execution themselves. An uneasy interviewee smiles at the camera as he demonstrates the throat cutting style he was taught and used on hundreds of bound victims.
No amount of archival footage can match the power of this astounding documentary. What began as a investigation, seeking the justice that revealing the truth can bring, becomes over time, a lesson in forgiveness as Sambeth finds himself oddly concerned for the ailing Nuon Chea, once he's arrested to face War Crime trials.
Ten years of visits wears down Chea's defenses. The now frail 83-year-old tyrant, known as the ideological leader of the genocidal regime, at first denies knowledge of the local level assassinations. Eventually he acknowledges that the rural mass murders were policy handed down from the top. Sambath reveals that all his family was killed and Nuon Chea apologizes. This is the unique time that a high level Kymer Rouge accepted responsibility for the extensive war crimes. (Pol Pot died in 1998.)
Interviews with victim's relatives, peasants who point out where the bodies lay in the now tranquil countryside, and low-level participants in the army massacres add some additional color, but it is the final resolution with Chea that gives the film it's dramatic force.
Durin 2009 the ECCC tried Comrade Duch, charged with the deaths of over 20,000 prisoners. He will serve an additional 19 years in prison for his 'Crimes Against Humanity". Nuon Chea (Brother Number 2) and three other senior Khmer leaders, charged with genocide, are awaiting trial.
Originally reviewed at SBFF, 2010. Opens August 26- Laemmle Music Hall.
Hassan Khademi , the Iranian director of Rapping in Tehran, is a graduate with MA of Arts from University of Tehran and has conducted several research projects about Iranian underground music.
Hassan khademi's short film, Rapping in Tehran, has participated in several international film festivals such as International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animated Film, Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival and Peace on Earth Film Festival-Chicago.
Cinema Without Borders: How did you come up with the idea of Rapping in Tehran? Hassan Khademi: I am a social researcher and I have conducted research in the field of Iranian youths and also young subcultures in Iran and Ive written some papers about them. During my research, I found that Persian rap is the most popular music style among young Iranians. I should say that Persian rap is something more than a music genre; it is a social phenomenon.
CWB: How challenging was it to shoot this film? Did you face any problems and limitations? HK: Since underground music is illegal in Iran and underground singers, mostly Persian rappers, sometimes may face legal repercussions, these groups are not easily accessible and it is actually very difficult to find them. It took me 5 months until I could convince them to take part in my film.
CWB: Did you know all the bands and performers beforehand, or you did you get to know them over the shooting period? HK: Before the shooting period, I had studied about all the important Persian rappers and I had listened to most of their works. During creation of the film I got to meet with them and made friendships which still last to this day.
CWB: How did you manage gain the trust of the artists performing in Rapping in Tehran? HK: It was such a difficult job! The artists were particular in how they were filmed because they all feared of getting identified by the police, which would be troublesome for them. We tried to accommodate all of their requests to ensure their safety and peace of mind.
CWB: Did you have a visual style in mind when you started Rapping in Tehran, or would you say that your vision came through in post-production? HK: I had a screenplay before shooting. But, like most documentary films, the events which happened during shooting changed the story of the film. For example, my film ends with the unwanted exile of some of the pioneering Persian rappers while, at the beginning, I hadnt prospected this event. I can say my film was produced during the editing process.
CWB: Were there any of the artists that did now allow you to have them in Rapping in Tehran and were there any scenes that you liked that you had to remove from the final-cut? HK: In this film, I went to the most talented Persian rappers, and the most important ones were ready to cooperate with me. A couple of them said they would only participate if I agreed to exclude other rappers because of their competition; a condition that I didnt accept. In terms of film scenes, I should say I loved some of them but I had to omit them because they didnt correlate with the main story or they would create trouble for the rappers.
CWB: How did the artists react after seeing Rapping in Tehran? HK: The musicians who have watched the film are very pleased. They are happy to be portrayed in a positive light and they enjoy how they are represented.
CWB: What is the current state of Iranian underground music and how do you see its future? HK: Underground music is the most popular music genre amongst Iranian youths. My recent survey, which I conducted for a government organization in Iran, has confirmed my research results and also verified my understanding about underground Persian rap during the shooting period. It is difficult to foresee the future of this genre, but it is obvious for me that Persian rap in Iran is not the cause, but it is the effect. It doesnt matter if the effect is Persian rap or anything else, as long as the cause is still there.
CWB: Are you working on any new projects? HK: Yes. I am in the research period of a film about Iranian clergies.
CWB: How can interested individuals watch Rapping in Tehran? HK: Although my film cannot get permission to be shown in Iran, I have shown it in private gatherings with students, teachers and other Iranian eliteseven to some cultural policy makers of the Iranian government. (An Interview with Cinema Without Borders)
4/23/2010
From Ali
"No one Knows About Persian Cats, showed me a new way of looking at art"
No one Knows About Persian Cats is the story of two young musicians that have recently been released from prison and decide to form a band. Together they search the underworld of contemporary Tehran for other players. Forbidden by the authorities to play in Iran, they plan to escape from their clandestine existence, and dream of performing in Europe. But with no money and no passports, it wont be easy...
Bahman Ghobadi, director of No One Knows About Persian Cats, was born on February 1st, 1969, in Baneh, a city near the Iran-Iraq border, in the province of Kurdistan, Iran. After receiving his high school diploma from Sanandaj, he moved to Tehran in 1992 to further his studies. Ghobadi began his artistic career in the field of industrial photography. Although he earned a B.A. in Film Directing from the Iranian Broadcasting College, he never properly graduated, believing that he learned more by making short films than by formal study. His direct experience with film helped him to expand his individualistic voice and his vision of the world he inhabited. He initially used 8mm film, shooting short documentaries as a starting point. From the mid-1990s on, Ghobadis short films began to receive foreign and domestic awards. LIFE IN FOG ("the most famous documentary ever made in the history of Iranian cinema") in particular was the recipient of a number of international prizes and opened new opportunities in Ghobadis career. With the making of his debut feature, A TIME FOR DRUNKEN HORSES in 1999, Ghobadi became fully recognized as an international director. The first full-length Kurdish feature film in the history of Iranian cinema, it firmly established Ghobadi as the leading Kurdish director from Iran.
Bijan Tehrani: How did you first encounter the story of No One Knows About Persian Cats? Bahman Ghobadi: Three years ago I wanted to shoot a project called Thirty Seconds about Us. I didnt get the permission for making that film and therefore I was very disappointed and I was looking for a solution for making a project that would help me overcome the disappointment that I had. I am a filmmaker and I had no other way but to make a film and just before saying goodbye to my crew and letting go because my project had failed, I decided that I would go to an underground music studio and record my songs and music and I would try to do some artistic work that way. When I went to record my music, there I met these Iranian underground musicians and I was amazed while learning about their goals; they opened up a new window for me. It showed me a new way of looking at art and a new way of being an artist, they gave me the courage and the bravery to know that I dont have to wait in order to get permission to make a film, I dont have to wait to go and get a budget; I could make a project about ideas such as underground Iranian music without a budget or permission. This way of filmmaking would allow me to go after ideas and subjects that we were not even allowed to get close to or even make a film about them. It became bigger than music, because there are so many problems and issues that are forbidden to talk about. I wanted to try an urban movie, making a movie in the city and about the city life.
BT: No One Knows About Persian Cats shows a new picture of Iran, we see a face of Iran that we have not seen before in any Iranian films. BG: Thats quite true. At the Cannes Film Festival, everyone called this a new wave in Iranian cinema when they saw this film. I was hearing a lot of comments like that in the places that the film was showing, Iranians were coming to me after the film and telling me that they never knew that anything like this existed in Iran. As I mentioned, this whole thing was a gift given to me by underground Iranian musicians that actually let me find a new way of telling a story which was different than the other movies that I had worked on. Also, in this film I showed a whole new face of the capitol of Iran, this was also because of the subject of the film which allowed me to show this face of the city.
BT: I wanted to know, among the characters in the film, if they are real characters or fictional ones. BG: Every character, every group, every location; everything in the film is realnothing is fiction in this film. Before we started this film, we had conducted interviews with the characters that you see in the film. We used all of the comments and all of the real stories of the characters and musicians in order to build this screenplay. Every scene of the film that you see with a band is a result of conversations with the real members of that band, their experiences and all of the things that have happened to them. Every single event in the film, everything that happens to every character is based on real stories.
BT: Something that is amazing to me is how brave the characters in the film are; that despite the circumstances in their country, they openly come out to participate in this type of film. Were they not scared of the consequences that could possibly follow? BG: I just got a little bit of my bravery from these guys: they are really, really brave. The film is limited to the bands who participated, but there are thousands of bands in Tehran only playing music. But my film is an hour and a half and there was no chance of showing all of the bands. Even if I had filmed all of them, it would have been a messy project. When the bands that I shot got in front of the camera, they are just playing music; they are not saying anything that would cause trouble for them. They are protesting through their music in a very calm and polite manner, in a peaceful manner. When we were about to finish the film, the two main characters, Negar and Ashkan, told us that they were about to leave Iran in twenty days, and we based our story on the real struggles of this young girl and young boy who had been in jail because of their music. After they leave the jail, they put a band together and leave the country; their goal was to leave Iran and go to a place where they have more freedom to play and record music without restriction, they would then come back to Iran and educate on their experiences. I was thinking that they might get in trouble, but they are now in London and they are working on their first album.
BT: One of the characters in No One Knows About Persian Cats which I found quite impressive is Hich-Kass, Nobody. How did you first meet this character? BG: I know Soroush personally and he is a very interesting and nice person, and he had a great influence over my work and this film. He introduced me to a man that had worked on his music videos and he helped me with the video clips in the film. He had a great effect over the structure in my film. He really loves Iran and even though he is currently under close observation and restriction, he still works under these hard conditions and teaches rap music to the underground musicians of our time. He is really a rebel, but at the same time he is a very honest person, like all of the other musicians in the film.
BT: You have a very unique style with this film as opposed to your other films; its an entirely new way of making films for you. How did you come up with the new style? BG: Actually, this came from the music of the artists; I was listening to their music everyday and night. I wanted to make a film that was completely new for Iranian cinema and use unique locations and characters that are based on truth. Unfortunately, I couldnt do more than what I had done, because we only had seventeen days to do the whole thing. I think everything else came from the music, trying to go and discover Iran and seeing the different layers of life in Iranall of this came through the music. If this film is very energetic, that energy comes from the music of the bands that are in the film. First we were going to just have the camera in the studio and have the bands play for the camera and that would be the start of the film, but as I was listening to the music, I could see the visual interpretations of the music in my head. I decided that the viewer would want to see the visuals of this music that would give a face to the whole film.
BT: Right now, you are living outside Iran. Some say that an artist that is cutting his roots and living elsewhere cant match the quality of his previous work. Do you agree with that? BG: I have not left my country forever; I left my country to do a few projects, especially due to all of the censorship that is preventing the freedom of the artist. But soon I will go back to Iran, as I am not ready to leave that front. I want to go back and make my films there.
BT: Will you please tell us about your future projects? BG: I am working on a movie that will be filmed in either the U.S. or in Germany. I am also working on a dark-comedy that will be shot mostly in English in Iraq. I hoped that I can make both of these projects happen and I will make the first one in 2010. I hope that these films will pass new messages and ideas to my audience. BT: Thank you for your time and good luck.
4/22/2010
From Ali
An interview with Lone Scherfig director of An Education
An Education happens in the post-war, pre-Beatles London suburbs. A bright schoolgirl is torn between studying for a place at Oxford and the more exciting alternative offered to her by a charismatic older man.
Lone Scherfig director of An Education , was born in Copenhagen and studied film at the University of Copenhagen and the National Film School of Denmark. She has written and directed short films, radio dramas and television series. Lone has collected 22 awards and 11 nominations for her work. Italian for Beginners (the fifth Danish Dogma Film) received a FIPRESCI award and a Silver Bear Jury Prize at the Berlin International Film Festival, and the Robert Award for Best Original Screenplay from the Danish Film Academy. Her features include The Birthday Trip and On Our Own. Her first English language film Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself received the FIPRESCI prize and a host of international film awards. Lone conceived the characters which formed the basis for Andrea Arnolds Cannes Jury Prize winning film Red Road. Lone is a recipient of Denmark's prestigious Carl Dreyer Honorary Award. Just Like Home, her last feature before An Education, screened at the Toronto Film Festival in 2007.
Bijan Tehrani: What initially motivated you to make An Education? Lone Scherfig: When I read the script, I was seduced by David just like everybody else. I wanted to make close-ups of this male character and be in this world for a while. I wanted to look through the eyes of this girl that I could understand and identify with.
BT: One thing that is very impressive about the film is the visual style. How did you come up with the visual style of your film? LS: We wanted to do something that had the innocence that Jamie has. When you see things for the first time through her, it should be something that is not pretentious, but we are in her mind and the film works to get an impression of this girls view of the world. I think it is hard to make period films entertaining and I dont want the audience to sit and focus on costumes and production design. They should interpret the story and then, after the film, they can absorb the time and space.
BT: How has this film been received by younger audiences? LS: I dont know, but when we tested the film, they liked it: They understand it and they related with the characters. This is about a character that gets an education for her sake, and decides how she wants to live, so I feel that this is an important message to send to young people. We see many issues that effect youth. We have underage sex, drugs, and racism; on the other hand I think that the film has very strong values and I would not mind my daughter watching the film.
BT: There is a touch of Tony Richardson filmmaking present in this film. Did you intentionally draw influence from this director? LS: No, my cinematic background is Scandinavian. I love more southern European films and the directors that I feel closer to are French and Italian. I looked at the films that were made during the 60s just to get a better understanding of the period and to interpret the language.
BT: An Education is a very international film in terms of the cast and crew. As a Scandinavian, what do you think that you bring to the film in terms of your own background? LS: I did a lot of research to make up for my lack of knowledge on British culture. I know that there are things that you take for granted as an Englishman that I dont, so it makes it easier to understand for people that are not British. You do not need to be British to understand this film. Peter and I are the only outsiders.
BT: How did you go about casting the film? LS: The casting director found many, many girls and Carey was one of them. I liked her from the beginning and it is wonderful to see how her career is taking off at a wonderful speed.
BT: How did you actually work with Carey Mulligan? LS: We just talked everyday and I let her try things out and expand her range and help each other. We rehearsed a little bit, but not that much; you dont want to over-rehearse a comedy because it flattens it. We never had any conflict and I would love to work with her again.
BT: And how was it like working with Alfred Molina? LS: He was wonderful! He was just a pleasure and he would always make everyone around him happy. He got the character straight away and he understood the actor completely. He grew up in England and he said that he had met men like his character when he was a child.
BT: What was it like working with the Director of Photography on this film? LS: John and I love the same things and the same films, and he is a great person. John has a great crew that he works with, which is important in creating a nice atmosphere on the shots, even if we shot the film in six-and-a-half weeks, we still had time to try things out. (Link to the interview)
11/25/2009
From Basim
Israeli Samuel Maoz wins Golden Lion in Venice VENICE, Italy (AFP) Posted 14 September, 2009 | by Fiona
"Lebanon" by Israeli Samuel Maoz, the story of the first Lebanon war told from inside an Israeli tank, won the Golden Lion at the Venice film festival Saturday.
"I know it may be naive, but I like to believe that the film I made will open people's minds and that they will ask themselves who it is that we are," Maoz said.
Synopsis
June, 1982 - The First Lebanon War. A lone tank and a paratroopers platoon are dispatched to search a hostile town - a simple mission that turns into a nightmare. The four members of a tank crew find themselves in a violent situation that they cannot contain. Motivated by fear and the basic instinct of survival, they desperately try not to lose themselves in the chaos of war.
Cast
Reymond Amsalem ... Assna Ashraf Barhom Oshri Cohen ... Herzel Yoav Donat ... Shmulik Michael Moshonov ... Yigal Zohar Shtrauss ... Gamil Dudu Tassa Itay Tiran ... Asi
"A Single Man," a first film for former Gucci designer Ford, 48, offers a moving snapshot of life as a homosexual more than four decades ago.
Her directorial debut dissects Iranian society at the time of the 1953 CIA-backed coup that overturned the nationalist government of Mohammed Mossadegh and installed the shah in power.
Against that backdrop, four women -- a prostitute, an activist, a cosmopolitan woman and a traditional young girl -- fight for individual freedom and independence, winding up together at an idyllic orchard in the countryside.
"This has been a labour of love for six years," Neshat said. "This film speaks to the world and to my country," she said, ending her remarks by making a "V for victory" sign.(Venice Film Festival 2009 Winners)
10/29/2009
From Bami
A Prophet wins inaugural London Film Festival best film award
The Times BFI 53rd London Film Festivals inaugural Star Of London award for best film went to Jacques Audiards A Prophet at the awards ceremony last night
Jury chair Anjelica Huston said of Frances foreign-language Academy Award submisison: A masterpiece, Un Prophete has the ambition, purity of vision and clarity of purpose to make it an instant classic. With seamless and imaginative story-telling, superb performances and universal themes, Jacques Audiard has made a perfect film.
The jury gave a special mention to John Hillcoats The Road.
In another first-time presentation, the Best British Newcomer award celebrating a film-maker who had demonstrated real creative flair and imagination with their first feature went to The Scouting Book For Boys screenwriter Jack Thorne.
The jury gave a special mention to J Blakeson, the writer and director of The Disappearance Of Alice Creed, which premiered recently in Toronto.
The longstanding Sutherland Award presented to the maker of the most original and imaginative first feature went to Scandar Copti and Yaron Shanis Ajami, Israels foreign-language Oscar submission.
The London Film Festival Grierson Award for best documentary was presented to Yoav Shamir for Defamation.
John Hurt and Malian filmmaker Souleymane Ciss earned BFI Fellowships for their significant achievements in the fields of acting and directing.
Hurt stars in two films that screened in the festival, 44 Inch Chest and The Limits Of Control. Cisss Tell Me Who You Are received its UK premiere at the festival
2/16/2009
From Alirus
Nahid Persson and Farah Diba to compete at Sundance
Nahid Persson Sarvestanis film The Queen and I (Drottningen och jag) is the first ever Swedish documentary to compete at the Sundance Festival.
The Queen and I is selected for competition Photo: Real Reel
It was recently announced that Nahid Persson's new documentary The Queen and I, about Farah Diba, has been selected to compete in January's Sundance Film festival. This marks the first time ever that a Swedish documentary is in competition at Sundance.
Representatives for the festival ploughed their way through 1,623 documentaries from around the world, selecting 16 for the World Cinema section and 15 for the American section.
"It's fantastic, Sundance is so big. I recently presented the film at IDFA in Amsterdam and was totally bowled over by the reception. The film screened six times to completely full houses," says Nahid Persson. "And since the Sundance announcement I've had emails from several major companies wanting to distribute the film. That's very cool indeed!"
Two years ago Nahid Persson travelled to Iran to finish off her film Four Wives One Man, which went on cinema release last year. As soon as she landed at Teheran Airport she was arrested and subjected to intense interrogation, culminating in her being forced to sign a declaration that she would make no more films about Iran. And it was during these interrogations that she got the idea for her latest film.
Going back thirty years, Nahid took part in the revolution which ousted the Shah and brought down the monarchy in Iran. Yet she has always been fascinated by the Shah's wife, Farah Diba. And it is to this seemingly unlikely subject that she has turned so many years after the revolution and the betrayal she felt at being forced into exile, a fate she shares in common with the former queen. During the two years of filming her former adversary there were many moments of disagreement, but also of surprise and revelation. The film unfolds a meeting between two women who have much more in common than either of them might have imagined.
Distributed by Folkets Bio, The Queen and I opens in Sweden on 13 February 2009. The Sundance Film Festival runs from 15-25 January 2009.
12/18/2007
From Ali
Inside Iraq: The Untold Stories
"If you get all your news from the Fox network or CBN (Christian Broadcasting Network), this film will be a revelation." -- Laramie Movie Scope
"It's startling stuff...the access he was able to get and footage he was able to shoot is incredible." -- Desertnews.com
Citizen journalist Mike Shiley made a press pass at Kinkos, rented a bulletproof vest and cashed in airline miles to fly to Iraq. Armed with only his camera and a local guide, Shiley traveled the country for two months, interviewing locals and following stories that would never air on the network news. The result is a startlingly human, non-politicized picture of Iraq, an account of all that Shiley recorded: The people he met, and the small but telling moments in the life of a nation at a crossroads.
"If you're into passionate, liberated and meaningful cinema, do check out 'Chokher Bali'" -- Ekhanshu Khera, Planet Bollywood
Bollywood dazzler Aishwarya Rai stars in this sensuous adaptation of Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore's novel about a woman yearning for a forbidden intimacy. Rai plays Binodini, a beautiful widow caught in a culture where widows are ostracized from society. Her appearance in the household of an upstanding Bengali doctor (Prasenjit Chatterjee) and his demure wife shakes their domestic tranquility as Binodini and Mahendra's relationship soon cross into the realm of taboo and scandal.
Actors: Aishwarya Rai (Binodini), Pasenjit Chatterjee (Mahendra)
Directed By: Rituparno Ghosh
Produced By: Shrikant Mohta, Mahendra Soni
Written By: Rituparno Ghosh, Rabindranath Tagore
Based On: novel by Nobel prize winning author, Rabindranath Tagore
11/27/2007
From Bamshad
Iran's Night Bus goes to Europe Sat, 27 Oct 2007 22:57:34
A scene from Iranian movie, Night Bus.
The Iranian prize-winning film, Night Bus, will be screened at both Spanish and Swiss international film festivals, it has been announced.
Night Bus, directed by Kiomars Pourahmad, will be shown at Spain's Valladolid International Film Festival held from October 27th - November 3rd.
It will also appear at the 13th International Film and Television Festival Cinema, Tout Ecran, in Switzerland, from October 29th- November 4th.
The movie was formerly screened at the Bussan, Oslo and Finland festivals as well as the Chicago Film Center.
The film takes place during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s, when an 18-year-old Iranian recruit is charged with transporting a busload of blindfolded Iraqi prisoners of war to a camp, traveling over a land-mined desert road.
The movie has won awards at the Fajr International Film Festival and also Iran's Cinema Celebration Festival, which is held annually to celebrate Iran's National Cinema Day.
9/1/2007
From Arman
Iranian Cinema Looks Inward
The 25th Fajr International Film Festival 1-11 February 2007
by Michelle Langford
Michelle Langford is a lecturer in Film Studies at the University of New South Wales. She has published on Iranian and German cinema and is the author of Allegorical Images: Tableau, Time and Gesture in the Cinema of Werner Schroeter (Intellect, 2006).
In the year 2000, Hamid Dabashi provided an overview of the state of Iranian cinema. That year, according to Dabashi, heralded the rise of a young generation of filmmakers spearheaded by Samira Makhmalbaf, Bahman Ghobadi, and Hasan Yektapanah who were all recognised with prizes at Cannes. (1) Clearly inspired by this younger generation, Dabashi wrote with great optimism of the death of ideology in Iranian political culture represented by the great swell of support from Irans youth for reformist President Khatami, who had been elected in 1997. (2) For Dabashi, this new generation represented the advent of a new global outlook in Iranian cinema, less constrained by internal policy and ideology.
Mainline
Seven years and much political water has passed under the bridge since Dabashi wrote those remarks. With the ascendance of conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the Presidency in 2005, the tide of reforms have been washed away for the time being and ideology is very much alive and kicking, particularly with Ahmadinejads vow to return to revolutionary values. Where then, does this leave Irans film industry? Indeed, over the last few years questions have been raised over the effect this conservative leadership might have on the censorship and regulation of Iranian cinema, which had begun to enjoy more freedoms under Khatami. My initial impression of the 25th Fajr International Film Festival was certainly not one of optimism. Indeed this view appeared to be shared by many of the international guests and an air of general disappointment hung around the breakfast lounge of the Laleh hotel each morning as we gathered for equal servings of breakfast and gossip. What was overwhelmingly clear is that aside from a few stunning exceptions, Iranian cinema seems to have taken a conservative turn. This does not in itself necessarily produce poor or un-entertaining films, but what it does reveal is a cinema looking inward, not with a self-critical gaze, but one that produces a mirror to reflect the prevailing ideology.
Like a Tale
War films, commonly referred to as sacred defence films were in abundance. These films deal not only with the 8 year Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), but also with the effects of the war on the home front and its ongoing aftermath. Among these, we find films set at or near the front line during the war such as Otobous e Shab (The Night Bus, Kiumard Purahmad), in which an Iranian soldier is entrusted with escorting Iraqi POWs across the front line. Similarly, in Mesl e yek Gheseh (Like a Tale, Khosro Sinaee) a wounded Iraqi officer and two soldiers seek refuge at a small shrine a few kilometres inside the Iranian border. While the older Iraqi officer is depicted as a harsh and violent man, veteran filmmaker Sinaee treats one of the younger Iraqi soldiers sympathetically, showing his developing friendship with the shrine-keepers grandson, while the soundtrack serves as a constant reminder of the ongoing war beyond this small haven. Mohammad Hossein Latifis Rooz e Sevom (The Third Day) is a classic hero-centred war film set in the besieged city of Khorramshar during the Iran-Iraq war. It tells the story of a group of Iranian militia attempting to protect the city from the invading Iraqi forces. The central protagonist and hero, Reza (a Nicholas Cage look-alike) must fight, not only to save the city, but his sister, who is admired by one of the Iraqi officers and is initially portrayed rather sympathetically. By the end of the film, however, in a jealous rage, he turns into a homicidal maniac, confirming that those Iraqis couldnt be trusted after all! As Reza dies, he reaches into his pocket, drawing out a photo of Ayatollah Khomeini (conveniently turned outward for the benefit of the spectator), his life has not been in vain and he enters the ranks of the martyrs. Ultimately, the film may be read as a national allegory, where defence of the home is equated with defence of the homeland. Both Dasthaye Khali (Empty Hands, Abolqasem Talebi) and the somewhat surreal Padash e Sokout (The Compensation of Silence, Maziar Miri) address issues faced in the aftermath of war and martyrdom. In these films, the war re-surfaces as a national wound, which still pervades the consciousness of the nation.
Perhaps the most cinematically complex and moving of these sacred defence films was Anke Darya Miravad (He Who Sails, Arash Moayerian). This film, which crosses into the territory of spiritual cinema, is constructed through a complex pattern of flashbacks weaving together past and present. A war veteran returns to Abadan to work on a project to bring sweet water to the region, which had been devastated by Saddam Husseins chemical weapons. As he embarks on his journey in the present he is flooded with memories of a sacred journey he took during the war. This theme of cleansing the land in the present is mirrored by the theme of spiritual cleansing and purity in the past, effectively bringing the notion of the sacred defence into the present and clearly reflecting the current political climate.
Spiritual films comprised the second largest category at this years festival. Surprisingly, a number of these focused on inter-faith themes, particularly focusing on friendships between Muslims and Christians, albeit it with varying results. Robin (directed by Parviz Sheik-Tadi) was a favourite among many of the international guests and was awarded a Crystal Simorgh by the inter-faith jury. Aftab Bar Hame Yeksan Mitabad (The Sun Shines on Everybody Equally, Abbas Rafei) and Masaeb e Doushizeh (Passion of The Maiden, Seyed Masud Atabi) both depicted their central female Christian characters (both named Jeanette) through morally ambiguous actions (kidnapping, culpable driving), but ultimately reach simplistic conclusions of spiritual renewal and fail to place Muslim/Christian relationships into a broader global context, perpetuating instead the very inward-looking, idealised perspective shared by the majority of films at the festival.
In contrast, Paberahne dar Behesht (Barefoot in Heaven), the first feature by Bahram Tavakoli, is cinematically sophisticated, winning best film in the Spiritual section and the prize for best cinematographer (Hamid Khouzee Abyane) in the main competition. It is an enigmatic meditation on the nature of faith, life and death. Set in a sanatorium for incurable (and possibly also mentally ill) patients, a young clergy, Yahya, tends to the spiritual, and at times physical needs of the patients in their dying days. Beyond the physical setting of the film, however, the impressionistic and at times experimental cinematography with its subdued grey/blue colour range and subtle lighting techniques lends the film a highly metaphorical quality. The space is never entirely grounded in either time or place and the illnesses suffered by the patients are never explained. This allows them to take on metaphorical and symbolic significance. In the films closing moments a close-up shows Yahya stepping out of his shoes, placing his bare feet onto the cold, tiled floor, depicting perhaps his own spiritual departure for heaven. Unfortunately this film suffered from having extremely poor subtitling, with numerous spelling and grammatical errors that made some dialogue simply incomprehensible. Despite this, the film was one of the most creatively satisfying of the festival.
God is Near
If Barefoot in Heaven presented a highly metaphysical meditation on spirituality, then Khoda Nazdik Ast (God is Near) by another first-time director, Ali Vazirian, delves into the question of love, both physical and spiritual. In the spirit of a Sufi Ghazal (an ancient Persian lyric love poem), the film carefully charts the territory between earthly and divine love as it explores the burgeoning love between a simple young motorcycle taxi driver (Reza) and a beautiful young teacher (Leila). Everyday objects are invested with metaphorical significance. For example, in order to protect Leilas modesty (unmarried men and women are forbidden from touching in Iran), Reza ties a wooden crate to his back, so she may have something to hold onto. Later, in a chivalrous gesture, he lays the crate on the ground over a deep puddle so she may cross. Still later, another shot of the crate lying discarded amongst some flowerpots symbolizes his lost love. Similarly, water and rain take on symbolic importance, ranging from embodied aspirated love, through to sadness and loss (rain) and finally to spiritual purification. However, following Leilas arranged marriage to another man, Reza plunges into a deep depression, from which he emerges as more spiritually pure and devout. He has thrown off all worldly, material desires to bring himself nearer to God. Stylistically, the film is highly accomplished, although at times rather clichd; it is vaguely reminiscent of the work of Majid Majidi, although without his social commentary and sophisticated treatment of spirituality.
The simple, gentle story of God is Near is reminiscent of the many childrens films that Iran became famous for in the 1980s-1990s. This years festival presented two very different examples of this ever-present genre. Sebil e Mardane (The Manly Moustache), directed by a specialist in childrens films Javad Ardakani (Choori, 2001), is a witty fable about righteousness, loyalty and honesty based around the central trope of an old Iranian proverb: the hair from the moustache of a righteous man shall bring prosperity within ten days. It is a typical Iranian child-centred narrative where a little girl shows great ingenuity and perseverance to get what she wants, in this case a bicycle for her mentally challenged uncle Champion. Unlike the films of Jafar Panahi and Abbas Kiarostami, the simple, educative purpose of the film to teach children the value of loyalty and honesty contains very little in the way of social commentary.
In contrast to this fairly benign tale, Ghoflsaz (The Locksmith, Gholamreza Ramezani) deals with the very serious problem of domestic violence, particularly violence toward children and the complicity of other adults in this abuse. Set primarily in a poor neighbourhood of Tehran, the story concerns a widower (Qasem) whose son (Mohammad) reports him for physically abusing him and his little sister (Marziyeh). Facing financial hardship, Mohammads grandmother pressures him to go to the police and have his father released, urging him to say that he had lied about the abuse. Upon the fathers return little Marziyeh is beaten once more. This scene is powerfully depicted through its absence. Ramazani cuts to a black screen to depict the abuse; only the sounds of violence may be heard, making us acutely aware of not seeing what takes place behind closed doors. While certainly a consequence of censorship, this screening of violence helps to put forward the central aim of the film: to bring awareness to this serious but largely hidden social problem. This metaphor is extended later in the film, as Mohammad visits his uncle hanging curtains in a wealthy Tehran home. While we hear the mother of the house abusing her daughter for bringing shame upon the family with her immodest attire, Mohammad is told: this is why houses have curtains: so that the secrets remain inside. This glimpse into the presence of abuse in a wealthy home suggests that this may be a problem that transgresses class boundaries. Interestingly, this was also one of several films that showed off Tehrans glossy new subway system, which ironically links some of Tehrans wealthiest suburbs in the north with its poorest in the south.
In a slight departure and development from the child-centred film, Puran Derakhshandes Bachehaye Abadi (Eternal Kids) focuses on a developing relationship between a young downs syndrome man (Ali) and a woman (Negar) who is engaged to Alis elder brother (Mohammad). One of the few films by a female director screened at this years festival, the film is a successful and touching comic drama, which shows a very tender, loving and physically close relationship between Ali and Negar. This struck me as a rather ingenious way of getting around the restrictions that prevent male and female characters touching in Iranian cinema.
Climates
The festival also premiered a number of genre films. The outrageously madcap slapstick all-star comedy Ghaedeye Bazi (Rule of the Game, Ahmad Reza Motamedi) pastiches a whole range of American, European and Iranian films. The films primary narrative, uncannily reminiscent of Luis Buñuels Viridiana (1961), revolves around a band of peasants competing with their wealthy relatives for the family inheritance. The film even contains a comic pastiche of the scene in Jean-Luc Godards Pierrot le fou (1965) in which Jean Paul Belmondo straps dynamite to his head in a gesture of self-destruction, only in Rule of the Game the character straps exploding sausages to his head! Although I found the film vaguely entertaining, I suspect this kind of humour may be too culturally specific to travel successfully. In addition to a number of gangster/crime films Sang, Kaghaz, Gheychi (Stone, Paper, Scissors, Saeed Soheili) and Makhmaseh (The Heat, Mohammad Ali Sajadi), the strange genre-bending film Eghlima (Climates, Mohammad Mehdi Asgarpour) is certainly worth a mention, if not a second viewing. Climates begins as a domestic melodrama, develops into a psychological thriller before becoming a ghost story, finally ending as an all-out slasher film complete with an evil blonde-wigged woman. While this is certainly quite an original film by Iranian standards, the plot, and genre twists just dont deliver and the film just keeps getting sillier and sillier.
Unfortunately I missed the most controversial film of the festival. The first feature film by documentary filmmaker Masud Dehnamaki, Ekhrajiha (The Expelled aka The Outcasts or Dismissed) takes a comic approach to the sacred defence genre. Dehnamaki refused to accept the festivals audience award, because he believed that the efforts of his film crew were not recognized, (3) and hinted that the authorities wanted to suppress it for being subversive. (4) Dehnamaki has been a rather shape-shifting character in the Iranian political and cultural spheres. An ex-militia leader linked with fundamentalist movements and former journalist, he turned to filmmaking with documentaries on prostitution and football violence. The film sports an all-star cast and is predicted to be one of this years most popular films at the Iranian box office.
The kinds of poetic, metaphorical and allegorical films that we have come to expect of Iranian cinema were few and far between this year. This may have been largely due to the absence of films by the likes of Abbas Kiarostami, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Majid Majidi, Bahram Beizai, and Bahman Ghobadi. One film that attempted to fill this void was Adam, the first film by Abdolreza Kahani. It tells the mystical story of Ashabad, a village where no one has died for 20 years and women give birth 3-4 times a week. One of the inhabitants of the village, the mysterious Adam, is credited for this longevity. Everything begins to change, however when a mysterious woman arrives in her Jeep. Perhaps she is an angel of death, for her arrival coincides with the first death in Ashabad for more than 20 years. She also has a profound effect on Adam. Unfortunately, the allegorical meaning of this film is lost to me. In contrast, Baz ham Sib Dari? (Have you more apples?) by another first time director, Bayram Fazli, worked very well as a surreal political allegory. Set, as the opening titles explain, in a distant land in a time far removed from the present, ironically, however the opening image immediately contradicts this statement, showing a band of robed men riding motorcycles through the desert. The film shows the effects of a cruel and cunning dictator upon three villages. The inhabitants have learnt how to survive despite constraints on their civil liberties. In one, the population pretend to be asleep, in another they continually fight, and in the third, they survive only by begging. Change may only come by breaking these habits and rising up against the tyrant. While it is tempting simply to read this film in terms of the present political climate, I feel that it also functions as a more general critique of Iranian society throughout history.
Minaye Shahr e Khamoush (Mina from the Silent City, Amir Shahab Razavian) was one of my favourite films of the festival, particularly for the many-layered and intricately woven journey undertaken by its central protagonist, and for the brief glimpses of the many contradictions of daily life in contemporary Iran. Beginning briefly in Hamburg, Bahman Parsa, a heart surgeon, returns to Iran for the first time since the revolution. While in Iran, he travels to his hometown of Bam, a city still suffering from the devastating earthquake of 2003. Amongst the ruins, past and present unfold contiguously, the ruins and deserted family home coming to symbolise the dispersal of the Parsa family (and by implication the nation: Parsa being the original name for Persepolis, capital of the Persian empire) during the revolution it is suggested that Bahmans father served as a military officer under the Shah. Among the contemporary references, Bahmans young driver points out some of the changes that have taken place such as the re-naming of streets. For example, what was once Eisenhower St (which the driver explains was named after an English singer!) is now Azadi (peace) St. The young driver is also forever casting his gaze at girls on the street, and explains the coded language of honking, hinting at the prevalence of coded communication in Iranian culture more generally. Billboards, mobile phones, comments about nose jobs and techno music highlight the presence of modern, Western consumer culture, which is juxtaposed with glimpses of revolutionary images on TV, and Ahmadinejad talking about nuclear power plants. These details successfully manage to give this film both local specificity and contemporary global relevance, resisting the nativist tendencies which Dabashi has accused some Iranian filmmakers of. (5)
Santouri
This brings me to my picks of the festival, which both dealt with the very contemporary and pressing social issue of drug addiction. Santouri by the father of the Iranian new wave cinema, Dariush Mehrjui, was perhaps my most anticipated film of the festival. In fact it was not certain until the last minute whether we would get to see it, for apparently the censors had insisted on some changes, including the removal of some scenes featuring the films beautiful female protagonist, Hanieh, played by Golshifteh Farahani. In addition, it was rumoured that they had also judged the use of the name Ali for a drug addict inappropriate, for this is the name of the revered first Imam and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad. The film is a fine, realist drama reminiscent of some of Mehrjuis earlier films. Bahram Radans passionate and convincing performance of the drug-addicted musician Ali is worthy of comparison with Ezzatolah Entezamis performance of the man who thinks he is a cow in Mehrjuis groundbreaking Gav (The Cow, 1969). There is no doubt that this film serves as a gritty social critique, and was one of the few truly introspectively critical films of the festival.
Rakhshan Bani Etemad, working for the second time with Mohsen Abdolvahab, her co-director on Gilaneh (2005), has produced an outstanding cinematic experience with Khoon Bazi (Mainline), staring Bani Etemads daughter Baran Kowsari, who plays a young woman (Sara) struggling with drug addiction. Accomplished cinematographer, Mahmoud Kalari who has worked with most of the greats of Iranian cinema including Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Abbas Kiarostami, Tahmineh Milani, Mehrjui, Majidi and Panahi has provided this film with a highly unique but utterly contemporary visual style. Shot predominantly with a hand-held camera in almost black and white, Kalari allows just a touch of colour to seep into the image at crucial moments. The rather confronting use of extreme close-ups of Kowsari helps to deeply connect the viewer with Saras suffering, and with her mothers desperate attempts to protect her from society and herself. This film is surprisingly fresh and daring, given Irans censorship regulations, directly depicting scenes of drug taking and more than hinting that Sara sells her body to feed her drug habit. In fact, at times I was barely aware I was watching an Iranian film. Mainline transcends the very local issues of its content to produce a cinematic experience of the highest international standard.
It is difficult for an international guest of the Fajr Film Festival to fully assess the impact of individual films on the viewing public. Unlike most international festivals where journalists, festival directors and other film professionals may attend the public screenings, in Tehran, international guests, who are generously looked after by the Farabi Cinema Foundation, attend screenings that are not open to the general public. This generates the effect of being sequestered away in a little international enclave, and prevents us from experiencing the energy, excitement and passion normally associated with an international film festival. It was strangely surreal not to experience the throng of the crowd and the displays of appreciation and disappointment that usually accompany festival screenings. That said, with this being my first visit to Tehran, Im not sure I was ready to experience the Iranian throng just yet, despite the Iranian peoples enormous reputation for a deep, passionate engagement with cinema. I look forward to sharing this experience with them in the future. (Senses of Cinema)
-- Director Manijeh Hekmat plans to begin shooting her new movie These Three Women by the end of summer. The screenplay by Naghmeh Samini is about the problems of three Iranian women from three different generations.
Film director Manijeh Hekmat (C), actress Pegah Ahangarani (L) and Roya Nonahali pose at Venice Lido to promote the movie "Women's prison", September 6, 2002. REUTERS/Claudio Papi
It tells the story of a mother named Minu who is searching for her daughter and in the process discovers that some people are planning to plunder Irans cultural heritage.The film stars Hedyeh Tehrani, Pegah Ahangarani, Maryam Bubani, and Nazanin Aqa-Mohammadi.
The crew includes make-up artist Mehri Shirazi, costume designer Hedyeh Tehrani, music composer Heydar Sajedi, photographer Amir Abedi, and assistant director Hamid Akbari.
Dariush Ayyari and Mostafa Kherqehpush are to work as cinematographers, editors, and screenplay counselors.
Hekmats film Womens Prison caused a bit of controversy in Iran several years ago.
RM/HG
END
MNA
6/11/2006
From Arman
Mohammad Rasoulofs Iron Island
16th Annual Iranian Film Festival
Over the past 16 years the UCLA Film and Television Archive has presented an eclectic selection of the best new film and video works from Iran and the Iranian Diaspora. From the very beginning in 1990, the annual Celebration of Iranian Cinema has been one of the most eagerly anticipated festivals presented by the Archive, with packed houses nightly.
This years festival featured some of the strongest and most diverse examples of recent work from Iran.
The series opened with Mohammad Rasoulofs breathtaking Iron Island, about a group of impoverished families living aboard a rusting ship anchored in the Persian Gulf. Other highlights included two films about Tehran after dark: Ali Mosaffas haunting and enigmatic Portrait of a Lady Far Away, about a man (played by Homayoun Ershadi) who is taken on a wild ride through nocturnal Tehran by a mysterious woman, and actress Niki Karimis brave directorial debut One Night, about the wanderings of a young woman alone in the city. Also screened were We Are All Fine, directed by Bijan Mirbagheri, A Piece of Bread by Kamal Tabrizi, and Wake Up, Arezoo! by Kianoush Ayari, the latter bringing the unfathomable dimensions of the earthquake that struck the ancient city of Bam in 2003 to an immediate and shocking human level. Finally, the closing night feature was Irans official submission to the Academy for the Foreign Film Oscar, So Close, So Far, directed by Riza Mirkarimi.
The first screening of post-revolutionary Iranian cinema in 1990 was a pioneering initiative co-sponsored by the Center for Near Eastern Studies and curated by alumnus Hamid Naficy. On the occasion of the festivals sixteenth anniversary, the Center asked several friends and acquaintances to comment on films in the 2006 festival which appear to have provoked a critical response among many.
Iron Island (Jazireh ahani) is a refreshing addition to a long list of remarkable Iranian films, said Hassan Hussain, Islamic Studies doctoral student. The film is ripe with allegories comparing the community of dispossessed living on a sinking ship under the firm yet protective rule of 'Captain' Nemat to the fragility and uncertain future of the Iranian state and society. However, in addition to the layers of meaning and social commentary, I also enjoyed the setting and characters of the film. Most likely shot near Bandar Abbas, Jazireh ahani depicts the cultural dynamism of the Gulf by using Arab Iranian characters speaking a mixture of Persian and Arabic often found along the southern coast of Iran. I have to admit that it was also nice to see an Iranian movie tackling issues of economic and social constraints on personal freedom without overwhelming and heart-wrenching despair and misery.
Filmmaker and UCLA alum Erik Friedl found We Are All Fine (Ma hameh khoubim) to be a searing self-portrait of present-day Iran, brilliantly presented in microcosmic form through the all-seeing eye of the commonplace video camera. The eldest son, Jamshid, who has apparently been out of the country some six years, has requested a video portrait of his family. In the hands of the younger son, the video camera proves to be the catalyst that gets members of this impossibly dysfunctional family talking for the first timean ingeniously simple device on the part of the screenwriter. I also found very effective the intercutting of the more objective 35 mm footage with the gritty, smeary video images of each family member baring his or her soul. There was finally so much emotional bloodletting that I wasnt surprised when the matriarch of this unraveling householdread: the governing mullahsdecided to pull the plug and demand a take-two: We are all fine.
Ali Mosaffas Portrait of a Lady Far Away (Sima-ye zani dar doordast) explores the themes of loneliness, peoples unwillingness to take risks, and the struggles with commitment in a relationshipissues applicable to any society, not just Iran, said Islamic Studies doctoral student Eric Bordenkircher. The main character, Ahmed, receives a message on his answering machine from an anonymous female claiming to be on the verge of committing suicide. Although he does not initially respond to the phone call, his concern and/or curiosity lead him on a journey to locate the woman. Throughout his journey, one observes glimpses of Tehrans nightlife, but more prominently, the shortcomings of Ahmed. Portrayed in a rather dark, unconventional manner, the imagery was effective at first, but as the movie progressed it came to hamper the storyline, making it difficult to comprehend and increasingly muddled and confusing.
Holly Shissler from the University of Chicago, who was visiting UCLA during 2005-06 as a Balzan Fellow, said that One Night (Yek shab) reminded her of Jim Jarmusch's 1991 film Night on Earth in the way that it used the conceit of random car rides through the city and the conversations that take place to comment on the condition of the larger society. "In Night on Earth, taxis provide the venue, while in One Night, a young woman hitchhiker serves as the pretext for a variety of male drivers to reveal themselves. A striking feature is that although the young woman is the constant in the film and its nominal protagonist, and although every man who offers her a ride has something to say about women and the relations between the sexes, one felt that there was almost no real female presence in the film. The protagonist remains largely silent, and the drivers monologue about their relations with women without ever seeming to have any sense of the existence of women as independent from their own needs and imaginings. My initial reaction to the film was that it was long and somewhat rambling, but over time I have found it haunting.
Having seen Kamal Tabrizi's first feature film a few years agothe satire titled The Lizard (Marmoolak)UCLA alumna Afsaneh Matin, Program Director at Miller Childrens Hospital, went to see A Piece of Bread (Yek teke nan) with much anticipation. The movie takes the audience on a journey to the site of a miracle in a small town in Iran. Locals from nearby villages rush to the site, each hoping to have a wish granted. On this journey we also meet a naive and seemingly meditative young recruit from a remote and unknown place who loses himself in the beauty of nature and repeatedly finds himself in situations not short of small miracles that are lost to the busy eyes of the locals. In the end, we find that he has unknowingly been at the center of the miracle all along. A Piece of Bread is a poetic and visually beautiful movie. However, I wish Tabrizi had allowed his audience to make up their own minds about the reputed miracles and the interrelation of spirituality and religion or the real and the imaginary, she concluded.
Another UCLA alumna, sociologist Elham Gheytanchi of Santa Monica College, saw A Piece of Bread as a moral tale: "It invites a critical assessment of religious fervor and favors a more inward, genuine and essential relationship with God without intermediaries.
Robert Bianchi from the University of Chicago and Iliya Harik from Indiana University were on campus for a CNES workshop and coincidentally attended the last film in the series, So Far, So Close (Kheili dour, kheili nazdik). Its a double love story between father and son and between man and God, said Bianchi. The father-doctor couldnt care less about God, but when he learns that hes losing his son to a disease that he cannot cure, he begins a desperate journey to find the boy and become the father he never was. The son taunts his atheist father, leading him on a chase through the desert and speaking only indirectly via his girlfriends disembodied and scolding cell-phone voice. The last-minute effort to play the father role invites disaster when a sandstorm buries the doctor alive in his Mercedes-turned-coffin. As his oxygen runs out, he replays home videos of the boy on his camcorder and in his mind. In the end, it is the immortal son who saves the dying father in a terrifying conclusion that makes the departing audience check their own breathing and values.
Heres my take on the film, said Iliya Harik. There are a lot of things to praise about it including the acting. What concerns me most are minor matters, as films go. First, it was relentless, with no comic relief. At the height of the tension, when the doctor was at the desert hostel, the budding romance could have offered that chance, but then it was totally sacrificed for the religious mission, when the girl was shocked by his disbelief and turned away from him: It seems the doctor is in need of help himself, not his son, a trite and harsh response not befitting those sweet lips from which it was uttered. But maybe that was the price the producer had to pay the censor under an austere religious regime. In some way, the bargain was not that bad for a person who wanted to present an atheistic position. After all, an unbeliever was portrayed as being as human as anybody else, sacrificing himself to save his son, and finally not struck down by an awesome god. In fact, he was saved by his son, about whose faith we know nothing. Not a bad turn for an unrepentant atheist!
Mimi Brody and FTA colleague David Pendleton have co-curated the series for the past three years. In Winter 2007, the festival moves to the Hammer Museum in the heart of Westwood. Said Brody, We look forward to presenting many more festivals in the years to come."
Director Jafar Panahi's Offside premiered at the Berlin film festival on Friday. The comedy uses soccer mania to highlight the struggle for women's rights in Iran.
Panahi has used a cast of first-time actors to portray a group of girls who disguise themselves as boys to attend a World Cup qualifier at a Tehran stadium, which women are forbidden from entering.
Social agenda
The director is best known for The White Balloon and The Circle, the winner of the Venice Film Festival in 2000.
He said Offside aims to "bring to people's attention that a lot of people actually can't exercise their most fundamental rights".
However, he dodged a question about the impact of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's new government on the atmosphere in Iran.
"I've always emphasised that I'm a socially minded filmmaker. I'm not a political filmmaker," Panahi told reporters.
He added that he hopes to have Offside screened in Iran before this summer's World Cup finals, but has yet to get permission.
Times of tension
The other festival contender from Iran this year is Zemestan (It's Winter) from director Rafi Pitts.
The low-key portrayal of everyday life in Iran begins with a man leaving his family behind to find work abroad after he loses his job.
Festival chief Dieter Kosslick has said the decision to have two Iranian entries in the 19-movie competition for the top Golden Bear award predated the current spike in tensions over Iran's nuclear program.
Iranian.ws
2/22/2006
From ali@it.com
French award for Iranian film 'Gilaneh'
Feb 18, 2006
'Gilaneh', a film by the prominent Iranian director Rakhshan Bani Etemad won the Board of Critics Award at the French Vezoul Asian Cinema Festival in which the film participated in the competition section.
According to the reports, another film by Bani Etemad 'Under the Skin of City ' was also featured in the non-competition section of the festival, which was held from January 31 until February 7.
The film is about a woman called Gilaneh and her pregnant daughter, who come to Tehran at the time Iraqi forces targeted Iranian cities during the 1980-1988 imposed war, in search of his son and son-in-law.
However, they had already left for the war front. Some 15 years later, Gilaneh takes care of his disabled son alone.
The cast of 'Gilaneh' includes Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, Bahram Radan, Baran Kowsari, Jaleh Sameti, Shahrokh Forutanian, Majid Bahrami and Nayereh Farahani.
'Gilaneh' will also be screened in Bangkok Film Festival, which began in the Thai capital on Friday and will continue until February 27 in Bangkok.
The latest film by Bani Etemad 'Playing With Blood' is now being edited by Sepideh Abdolvahhab.
Iranian.ws
11/28/2005 3:33:32 PM
From ali
Winner at Iranian Film Festival
Reza Mir-Karimi, director of "Too far away, too close" won several awards at this year's Fajr Film Festival in Tehran, Iran
Shot on Kodak film stock, the film Too far away, too close, picked up several awards at this year's Fajr Film Festival held in Tehran, Iran. The festival is held annually and this year's (the 23rd) took place between the end of January and 10th February.
Reza Mir- Karimi is the director of Too far away, too close and the DP is Hamid Khozouie-Abyane. The film won the best film in the category of long feature films, best DP and best music. It was shot using a combination of Kodak Vision 200T 5274 film and Kodak Vision 500T 5279 film.
The film is about a prominent neurologist and brain surgeon who is so engrossed with his professional and personal affairs that he neglects the upbringing of his son. An accident causes the surgeon to give up his successful profession and cross the desert to join his son.
"Too Far, Too Close", best film of 9th Iran Cinema Celebration
Sep 11, 2005
The Iranian film "Too Far, Too Close", directed by Reza Mir-Karimi, was named as the best work of the 9th Iran's Cinema Celebration and Association of Cinema Writers and Critics here on Saturday.
Organized by Iran's Cinema House, the 9th Iran's Cinema Celebration was held at Tehran's Vahdat Hall on the occasion of Iran's National Cinema Day.
The jury academy, comprising of 170 representatives of various cinema guilds and figures, judged 51 feature films, 211 short films, 166 documentaries, and five animated feature films as well as photographs of 29 films.
"Too Far, Too Close" and Reza Mir-Karimi, respectively, were awarded the statues for the best film and best director.
Masoud Rayegan (Too Far, Too Close) and Fereshteh Sadr Orafaei (Cafe Transit) received awards for the best actor and actress in a leading role while Elham Hamidi (Too Far, Too Close) and Mohsen Qazimoradi (We Are All Good) for the best actress and actor in a supporting role.
The jury also gave the best animated feature film award to "Iranian Chat", directed by Amir Saharkhiz.
The best screenplay, film editing, cinematography awards were presented to Kambozia Partoy (Cafe Transit), Mostafa Kherqepoush (Duel) and Mahmoud Kelari (Fishes Fall in Love), respectively.
The statues for best makeup, sound recording and sound dubbing and mixing were awarded to Mohammad-Reza Qomi (Too Far, Too Close) and Bahman Ardalan (Duel) as well as Masoud Behnam and Hamid Naqibi (Duel).
The awards for the best film music and best set and costume design were given to Ahmad Pejman (The Willow Tree) and Amir Esbati (Duel).
ALI SAMADI AHADI 
Berlin film review: "Nader and Simin, a Separation" 
Nader (Peyman Moaadi, seen in About Elly) is a decent man but a stubborn one, and he neglects his wife. Too proud to ask her to stay with him, he lets her move back to her mothers place while he and Termeh are left to look after his aged father with Alzheimers disease. He hastily hires a poor woman named Razieh (Sareh Bayat) as a daytime caretaker, who signs on without telling him shes pregnant (or does she?). 
Israeli Samuel Maoz wins Golden Lion in Venice
Against that backdrop, four women -- a prostitute, an activist, a cosmopolitan woman and a traditional young girl -- fight for individual freedom and independence, winding up together at an idyllic orchard in the countryside.
A Prophet wins inaugural London Film Festival best film award
Offside premiers in Berlin
French award for Iranian film 'Gilaneh'
