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Exclusive: Here’s your first trailer for Bahman Ghobadi’s new feature The Four Walls, which launched today at the Tokyo International Film Festival as part of its Main Competition.

The film, produced by Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters, follows Boran, a musician working in Istanbul away from his family. His wife has never seen the sea and he has worked for years to buy a small home overlooking it so he can bring his family to live with him. One day he returns home to find a building blocking his sea view. Now begins his fight to reclaim his lost view in the most tragic of circumstances, a fight which gets progressively harder as time goes by.

Festival favourite Ghobadi (Turtles Can Fly) directs. Starring are Amir Aghaee, Funda Eryiğit, Fatih Al, Bariş Yildiz and Onur Buldu. The film is produced by Waters, Ghobadi and Gökçe Isil Tuna, with...

Award-winning Iranian-Kurdish filmmaker’s features include A Time For Drunken Horses and Rhino Season.

Exiled Iranian filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi has written an open letter to the Academy Of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (Ampas) suggesting a new initiative under which directors in exile would be given a chance to submit their films to the best international film category.

His idea takes inspiration from the Refugee Olympic Team (Eor) which participated at the Tokyo games this summer with 29 athletes hailing from 11 different territories, including Iran, Syria and South Sudan but living in 13 host countries.

“I would like to address the concern...

Bahman Ghobadi, the exiled Iranian filmmaker who has won prizes at Cannes, Berlin, San Sebastian and many other international festivals, has penned a letter to the Film Academy saying, “It would be great if we could have one representative from exiled artists.”

Read his missive in full below.

Ghobadi, who has been in exile for the past 13 years, joined the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2017. In his letter to Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, he talks about exiled artists and suggests that every year one of their movies should be presented to the Academy for Oscar consideration. He notes that the same thing happened for the Tokyo Olympics, where a team of refugee athletes was able to join the competition.

Iran is a country with a complicated filmmaking legacy. One the one hand, it has spawned some of the world’s great directors — Abbas Kiarostami comes to mind...

Natural Selection: Shawky Shackled by Straight Story

Tackling notions of identity in both a figurative and transfigurative sense, Yomeddine teeters ever so lightly into fable terrain with a spirit akin to Miracle in Milan (1951) and proportionally Tod Browning’s Freaks. The antithesis of throw the baby out bleakness of a Bahman Ghobadi’s Turtles Can Fly, under the guise of the roadtrip buddy comedy (donkey is the favored mode of transportation here), we could coin Abu Bakr Shawky‘s feature debut has “hopeful” miserablism, a sincere, well-intention film with an attached quasi cathartic denounement that is simply too rough around-the-edges, formulaic to…...

Bahman Ghobadi’s Life On The Border, Hans Steinbichler’s The Diary Of Anne Frank join Generation special screenings.

Hans Steinbichler’s The Diary Of Anne Frank is among two special screenings added to the Berlin Film Festival’s (Feb 11-21) Generation strand, aimed at teenagers and children.

The film, which will be distributed by co-producers Universal Pictures International in Germany and gets its world premiere in the strand, stars Lea van Acken (Heil) as Anne Frank, alongside Martina Gedeck (The Lives Of Others) and Ulrich Noethen (Downfall).

The latest project from Kurdish filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi (Turtles Can Fly) will have its European premiere in the strand.

The documentary, produced by Ghobadi, sees eight children from Syrian refugee camps handed cameras and given the encouragement to tell their personal stories.

The juries for the Generation programme’s two sections - Generation Kplus and Generation 14plus – have also been revealed.

The Generation 14plus International Jury - which presents...

In 2015 it was Chad Gracia’s The Russian Woodpecker that walked away with the top World Cinema honors landing the coveted World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. In this year’s twelve pack we have Turtles Can Fly director Bahman Ghobadi making a more docu carbon footprint with A Flag Without a Country, we have The Last King of Scotland‘s Kevin Macdonald and his fiction-non-fiction balancing act continue with Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang) and finally a Sundance Lab participant we have the crazy kidnapping/escape story of The Lovers and the Despot by docu-helmers Robert Cannan and Ross Adam. Here is the eleven of the future dozen.

All These Sleepless Nights / Poland (Director: Michal Marczak) — What does it mean to be truly awake in a world that seems satisfied to be asleep? Kris and Michal push their experiences of life and love to a breaking point...

In the political discourse, when a country addresses another, whether in positive or negative terms, such statements often fail to differentiate between said country’s government and its people, between the government’s policies and the people’s unheard sentiment towards these.

While useful in the theoretical realm in which politics take place, these generalizations create a distorted image of the foreign nation fed by assumptions and dangerously insensitive stereotypes. It’s much easier for rulers to justify their actions if the adversary is made out to look like an irredeemable villain. Sensationalism and ignorance are weapons far more destructive than missiles, because once the smoke dissipates hatred remains.

On that note, it should be clear that the Iranian people are not the Iranian government. Their rich cultural history is not reflected in the actions of those in power, but in the prevailing elegance and allure of their artwork. Remarkable poets, musicians, painters, and, what we are mostly concerned with here, filmmakers.

The history of Iranian cinema is vast and has survived the many transitions and troubling periods the country has experienced. Even more impressive is the fact that as masterfully as Iranian filmmakers and actors understand the medium, they have never watered down their individuality for the sake of mainstream international success. Instead, they’ve managed to create their unique cinematic language that aligns with their idiosyncrasies and that is not silenced despite the hardships they face, but finds a way around censorship or defies it altogether.

Certainly not a definitive list, the following collection of films aims to be an introduction to the compelling and diverse voices within this captivating national cinema and to encourage you to seek out other films in the future. There are films here that are concerned with rural and working class lifestyles, others that focus on the traditions of ethnic minorities, those that deal with the modern middle class, and also several works denouncing the country’s political situation and the oppression that comes with it.

There are also some films that are note worthy even if they don’t easily fit within the parameters of what an Iranian film is.

Special Mentions:

-Iranian-American director Ana Lily Amirpour and her outstanding Farsi-language debut “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night,” a visually striking vampire story set in a fictional Iranian town.

-American filmmaker Till Schauder and his documentary “The Iran Job,” which follows Kevin Sheppard, an American professional basketball player in Iran, and uses his experience to build cultural bridges between the two countries.

-Farhadi’s “The Past,” which though is not precisely an Iranian story, continues to show the director’s specific talent for greatly written, puzzling narratives both in his home country and abroad.

-Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud's “Chicken with Plums,” a gorgeously whimsical and darkly comedic love story set in pre-revolutionary Tehran starring Mathieu Amalric.

Lastly, in honor of Nowruz or Persian New Year, which is a peaceful celebration of renewal and rebirth that takes place from March 20-24 in Iran and Iranian communities around the world, let’s remember the deeply moving and wise words that Asghar Farhadi gifted us during his acceptance speech on Oscar night a few years back. No one could have said it better than him.

“At this time many Iranians all over the world are watching us, and I imagine them to be very happy. They are happy not just because of an important award, or a film, or a filmmaker, but because at a time in which talk of war, intimidation, and aggression is exchanged between politicians, the name of their country, Iran, is spoken here through her glorious culture, a rich and ancient culture that has been hidden under the heavy dust of politics. I proudly offer this award to the people of my country, a people that respect all cultures and civilizations and despise hostility and resentment. Thank you so much.” –Director Asghar Farhadi after winning the Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award for “A Separation” on February 26, 2012

1. "About Elly" (2009)

Dir. Asghar Farhadi

In Farhadi's tense psychological drama a casual trip to the sea evolves into a subtly plotted mystery. The director's depiction of the Iranian middle class in such a fascinatingly unexpected story connected with both local and international audiences earning him awards at home and abroad, among them Berlin's Silver Bear.

*The Cinema Guild will release the film theatrically on April 17, 2015

2. "Baran" (2001)

Dir. Majid Majidi

Taking a look at the diverse ethnic groups that coexist in Iran, the film follows a love story between a man and a young Afghan woman who must pretend to be a man in order to work. Eliciting truly naturalistic performance from his cast Majidi gives voice to his almost silent protagonist, a woman caught up in a system designed by men.

*Available on Netflix Instant Watch

3. "Children of Heaven" (1997)

Dir. Majid Majidi

Iran's first ever Academy Award nominated film is also Majidi's most renowned work. Innocence permeates this sweet story about two siblings from a working class family trying to find a pair of missing shoes. Their adventure delivers valuable life lessons that are at once heartwarming and profound. Unquestionably a classic.

*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Lionsgate

4. "Closed Curtain" (2013)

Dir. Jafar Panahi & Kambuzia Partovi

In this enigmatic observation on repression and surveillance an anonymous screenwriter, played by co-director Kambuzia Partovi, hides with his dog in a secluded location. Eventually, as other surprising characters appear, the film becomes a complex dance between reality and fabrication. Both filmmakers had their passports confiscated by the Iranian government due to the subversive content of the film.

*Available on Amazon Instant Video

5. "Close-Up" (1990)

Dir. Abbas Kiarostami

In one of the greatest examples of reality and fiction blending in almost seamless ways, Abbas Kiarostami's masterwork poses complex questions about identity. When a film buff impersonates his favorite director, who happens to Mohsen Makhmalbaf , a series of events unravel as he plans his next, fake, film. Surreally enough the film is based on a true story and stars the actual people involved. It's all brilliantly meta.

*Available on Blu-ray & DVD from Criterion

6. "The Color of Paradise" (1999)

Dir. Majid Majidi

Though rejected by his father, a young blind boy rejoices in nature’s beauty and tries to understand the meaning of his struggles with the help of a mentor with the same condition. Showcasing Iran’s visually stunning rural landscapes and delicately embedding with philosophical concerns, Majidi’s poetic film delivers wisdom in wondrously unassuming ways.

*Available on DVD from Sony Pictures Classics

7. "The Cow" (1969)

Dir. Dariush Mehrjui

Considered a turning point in the nation’s cinematic history, this black-and-white work revolves around a man’s devotion for his cow and how its disappearance drives him into madness. While seemingly simple in its conception, Mehrjui manages to compellingly highlight the country’s traditional lifestyles.

*Available on DVD from First Run Features

8. "Fireworks Wednesday" (2006)

Dir. Asghar Farhadi

Intimate conflicts in the Iranian middle class are Farhadi’s expertise and this domestic drama, set fittingly during the celebrations prior to the Persian New Year, is no exception. When a soon-to-be bride in need of money for her wedding gets a job cleaning a family’s house, their secrets begin to unravel through their interaction and confrontations.

*Available on DVD from Facets

9. "Gabbeh" (1996)

Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Taking its name from a type of Persian carpet, this stunningly evocative fable is adorned with mysticism and magical realist elements that shine through its colorful visual palette. Gabbeh, a young nomadic woman who is likely the incarnation of one of these traditional rugs, falls in love with horseman, but her community follows beliefs that hinder her desire.

*Available on DVD from New Yorker Video

10. "The Green Wave" (2010)

Dir. Ali Samadi Ahadi

Told through striking animated sequences, interviews and footage from the protests, this documentary constructs a bold portrait of the 2009 Green Movement following Ahmadinejad’s reelection. The regime's strong grip over its citizens is exposed, but the spirit of the Iranian people demanding change is even stronger.

*Available on DVD from Strand Releasing

11. "Hamoun" (1990)

Dir. Dariush Mehrjui

Underscored by subdued comedy and poignant dream sequences, Mehrjui’s visionary drama centers on the decaying relationship between Hamoun, a businessman with hopes of becoming a writer, and his wife Mahshid, a painter. Insanity takes over him when she decides to divorce him because of his angry outbursts. A series of drastic occurrences ensue.

*Available on DVD from First Run Features

12. "Kandahar" (2001)

Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Despite being set in Afghanistan, this Iranian production is a powerful achievement that unveils the unjust treatment of women, not only under the Taliban’s control, but also in the entire region. Nafas, an Afghan women living in Canada, decides to return to her homeland to find her depressed sister. Through this dangerous journey she discovers much more about life in the war-torn country than she expected.

*Available on DVD from New Yorker Video

13. "Leila" (1997)

Dir. Dariush Mehrjui

Starting famous Iranian actress Leila Hatami in one her earliest roles as a married woman unable to have children, this conjugal drama explores the role of women within Iranian society. Leila’s husband, Reza (played by “The Past” star Ali Mosaffa), loves her, but his mother wants him to get another wife that can give him a son. The title character is divided between her happiness and what others think is best for her marriage.

*Available on DVD from First Run Features

14. "Manuscripts Don't Burn" (2013)

Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof

Rasoulof’s brave and searing political statement was shot illegally going against the20-year-ban from filmmaking imposed on him by the Iranian government. It denounces the terrifying lack of freedom of expression via the thrilling story a pair of writers risking it all to protect an incendiary manuscript that authorities are eager to destroy.

*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Kino Lorber

15. "Marooned in Iraq" (2002)

Dir. Bahman Ghobadi

Highlighting the rich Kurdish culture, both in Iran and Iraq, Ghobadi’s film is set in the aftermath of the ravaging Gulf War. Marooned is an elderly man who must travel across the mountainous landscape that divides the two countries to find his ex-wife. While portraying the horrors of war in an affecting manner, the film is also a life-affirming work that finds hope in the most surprising places.

*Available on DVD from Wellspring

16. "My Tehran for Sale"

Dir. Granaz Moussavi

Devastating and current, this debut feature from renowned poet turned filmmaker Granaz Moussavi is a hard-hitting critique on the blatant criminalization of artists in Iran. An actress banned from her profession questions whether she should remain in the country or flee. Getting to safety means leaving everything she knows behind. There are no easy options for her.

*Available on DVD from Global Lens

17. "No One Knows About Persian Cats" (2009)

Dir. Bahman Ghobadi

Music as the banner of freedom is the focus of Ghobadi’s film about the underground rock scene in Tehran. Secular music is essentially forbidden, and playing in public is considered a criminal act punished with prison. Crafted between reality and fiction, this quasi-documentary takes a look at a group of young musicians desperate to express themselves through their art.

*Available on DVD from Mpi Home Video

18. "Offside" (2006)

Dir. Jafar Panahi

Attending sporting events is prohibited for women in Iran, but that doesn’t stop many of them who go as far as to dress like men to get in. Panahi’s touching and insightful film takes place during the 2006 World Cup Qualifying match between Iran and Bahrain, and follows several girls who despite being excluded cheer for their team as joyfully as any fan would.

*Available on DVD from Sony Pictures Classics

19. "Persepolis" (2007)

Dir. Marjane Satrapi & Vincent Paronnaud

Nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, this French-language marvel is based on Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel by the same name. With eye-popping hand-drawn animation, the film revisits the director’s childhood and teenage years in Iran during the events leading up to the Islamic Revolution. It’s a love letter to the bittersweet memories of the Iran Satrapi knew.

*Available on Blu-ray & DVD from Sony Pictures Classics

20. "A Separation" (2011)

Dir. Asghar Farhadi

Dealing with a marriage in turmoil facing the country's peculiar judicial system, Farhadi’s masterpiece is the most acclaimed film in the history of Iranian cinema and earned the country's first Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay for its enthralling thriller-like narrative that grips the audience until its unnerving conclusion. A must see!

*Available on Blu-ray & DVD from Sony Pictures Classics

21. "The Song of Sparrows" (2008)

Dir. Majid Majidi

When Karim (played by Berlin’s Silver Bear Winner Reza Naji), an ostrich farm worker, is forced to find a new job in the city to pay for his daughter’s hearing aid, Iran’s rural and urban realms collide. Thanks to the captivating grace that characterizes Majidi’s films, poverty and misfortune are observed here not with pity but with an optimistic and undefeated perspective.

*Available on DVD from E1 Entertainment

22." Taste of Cherry" (1997)

Dir. Abbas Kiarostami

This quiet and minimalist meditation on death and the simple joys of its antithesis is the first and only Iranian film to have won the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes. Kiarostami follows a man who has decided to commit suicide and is looking for someone to help him achieve this. However, those he recruits along the way come with their own views on the meaning of our existence and attempt to persuade him to reconsider.

*Available on DVD from Criterion

23. "Ten" (2002)

Dir. Abbas Kiarostami

A female cabbie drives through the streets of Tehran picking up an array of characters that via their casual conversations shine a light on the Iranian society’s expectations of women. Constructed of ten individual scenes in which the only constant is the driver, this heavily improvised and peculiarly shot cinematic experiment is a work of fiction embedded with truth in every frame.

*Available on DVD from Zeitgeist Films

24. "This is Not a Film" (2011)

Dir. Mojtaba Mirtahmasb & Jafar Panahi

In an effort to tell his story despite being banned from filmmaking and under house arrest, filmmaker Jafar Panahi takes his frustration and ingeniously turns it into a courageous visual statement. Whether is shooting video with his cell phone or blocking an imaginary scene in his living room, his passion for storytelling is resilient even when confronting such suffocating censorship.

*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Palisades Tartan

25. "A Time for Drunken Horses" (2000)

Dir. Bahman Ghobadi

With the snow-covered Zagros Mountains as backdrop, Ghobadi’s debut feature tells the story of Ayoub, a young Kurdish boy who must provide for his siblings after their mother’s death. Added to the already difficult circumstances, his handicapped brother desperately needs a surgery. This pushes the heroic kid to persevere against all odds in the hostile environment.

*Available on Netflix Instant Watch and on DVD from Kino Lorber

26. "Turtles Can Fly" (2004)

Dir. Bahman Ghobadi

Commanding a cast made almost entirely of children Ghobadi sets his film in an Iraqi Kurdish refugee camp just before the American occupation of 2003. Making a living by clearing the hazardous minefields that surround them, a group of orphan children create a small community to survive. The atrocities of war are ever-present, but like in most of the director’s works, the triumph of the human spirit is at the film's core.

*Available on Amazon Instant Video

27. "The White Balloon" (1995)

Dir. Jafar Panahi

Written by Kiarostami and directed by Panahi this is another film set during the important Persian New Year celebrations. It centers on a little girl trying to convince her parents to buy her a goldfish and who gets in a couple mishaps along the way. With utmost innocence, the seemingly simple premise manages to be a charming delight that showcases family values and ancient virtues with a nice dose of humor. It’s an uplifting gem.

*Sadly the film is not curently availble in any format in the U.S. Hopefully Criterion or another distributor will fix this soon.

28. "The White Meadows" (2009)

Dir. Mohammad Rasoulof

While ethereal, almost otherworldly imagery achieved by cinematographer Ebrahim Ghafori is reason enough to see this film, Rasoulof’s poetic storytelling elevates it to even greater intellectual heights. By using a barren coastal land and its inhabitant as a metaphor for the intolerance and injustice that many of his compatriots -creative people in particular - confront everyday, the filmmaker denounces these evils through melancholic beauty.

*Available on DVD from Global Lens

29. "The Willow Tree" (2005)

Dir. Majid Majidi

A writer, who had been blinded in an accident as a child, regains his vision as a middle aged adult only to be challenged by a world that has become foreign to him. At first, his miraculous new situation appears to be an answer to a prayer, but Majidi soon shows us how vision can become a curse in this spiritual drama about fate and regret. Exquisitely shot and sporting visceral performances, the film is both heart-rending and though provoking.

*Available on DVD from New Yorker Films

30. "The Wind Will Carry Us" (1999)

Dir. Abbas Kiarostami

Taking the audience on a trip to an untainted region of Iran where tradition hasn’t yet been disrupted by modernity, the acclaimed director crafted another unforgettable experience. Sublimely executed, the film joins four journalists pretending to be engineers as they document the funerary rituals of the local Kurdish people. More than learning about them as researchers, their interactions force them to engage on a much more human level.

*Availble on Blu-ray and DVD from Cohen Media Group...

The past few years have seen many musicians trying their hand at scoring movies -- Daft Punk, Trent Reznor and Jonny Greenwood, among others -- but it’s a trend that extends past the current crop of critically-acclaimed musician-turned-film-composers. In 1988, Peter Gabriel provided the score for Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of the controversial “The Last Temptation Of Christ” -- it was his second score after the little-seen “Birdy” -- and now it looks like the Genesis founding member is going back to the world of religion for his next scoring gig. THR is reporting that Gabriel will compose the score for the religious-themed anthology film “Words of Gods.” Produced by Alex Garcia and Guillermo Arriaga, the film will feature nine different segments directed by names like Bahman Ghobadi (“Turtles Can Fly,” "No One Knows About Persian Cats"), Emir Kusturica (“Underground”), Hideo Nakata (“Dark Water”)...

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain -- Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon and Martial Fougeron's My Son shared top honors at the 54th San Sebastian International Film Festival, finishing in an unusual tie Saturday for the noncash Golden Shell award. Ghobadi, who won the Golden Shell in 2004 with Turtles Can Fly, dedicated his Iranian-Iraqi-Austrian-French co-production to the Kurdish people. Tom DiCillo picked up best director and screenplay prizes for Delirious, starring Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt, while Argentine director Carlos Sorin walked away with the Special Jury Prize for his pilgrimage story El Camino de San Diego.

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain -- Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon and Martial Fougeron's My Son shared top honors at the 54th San Sebastian International Film Festival, finishing in an unusual tie Saturday for the noncash Golden Shell award. Ghobadi, who won the Golden Shell in 2004 with Turtles Can Fly, dedicated his Iranian-Iraqi-Austrian-French co-production to the Kurdish people. Tom DiCillo picked up best director and screenplay prizes for Delirious, starring Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt, while Argentine director Carlos Sorin walked away with the Special Jury Prize for his pilgrimage story El Camino de San Diego.

GOLD COAST, Queensland -- Iranian director Bahman Ghobadi's Lakposhtha ham parvaz mikonand (Turtles Can Fly) was the most popular film with audiences at the Melbourne International Film Festival this year. MIFF organizers, announcing audience favorites in a statement Wednesday, said that second place went to Look Both Ways, the debut feature by Australian director Sarah Watts. Ways also won the top audience prize at the recent Brisbane International Film Festival. Other titles that resonated with MIFF audiences included many direct from the Festival de Cannes. Among these were Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's Palme D'Or winner L'Enfant (The Child), Miranda July's You, Me and Everyone We Know, Michael Haneke's Cache (Hidden), Greg McLean's Wolf Creek and Kim Ki-duk's 3-Iron.

SYDNEY -- Independent distributor Palace Films has secured Australian and New Zealand rights for two of the films screened at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. Turtles Can Fly, the first film out of Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein, is the latest feature from Kurdish director Bahman Ghobadi (A Time for Drunken Horses) and was recently awarded the Golden Shell at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Touch the Sound is a documentary about the pioneering solo percussionist Evelyn Glennie. Melbourne-based Palace also confirmed that Benjamin Zeccola will be managing acquisitions for the company after Tait Brady's recent departure to become a feature film evaluation manager with the Film Finance Corporation Australia.

PARIS -- As it announced its debut slate Tuesday, Bac Films International -- the newly formed international sales arm of French distributor Bac Films -- also named Silvere Moreau as head of the company. Moreau, until recently head of sales at Bac Films, said in a statement that the new division will distribute about six international films a year at the start. Bahman Ghobadi's Turtles Can Fly, which bagged the top honor at the San Sebastian Film Festival last month, will be the first film to be distributed. Turtles already has been sold in more than 10 territories, including Britain, Canada, Benelux, Australia, Spain and Latin America, Moreau said. Other films on Bac International's debut slate include Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau's Coquillages et Crustaces (Shellfish and Crustaceans), Pierre Jolivet's La Caisse (The Crate) and La Planete Blanche (White Planet), a documentary directed by Stephane Milliere and Thierry Piantanida and produced by Gedeon Programmes -- which, like Bac Films, is part of French animation and production group Millimages.