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Exclusive: Exploring tales of Muslim teen summer camps, flying Singaporean children, a post-apocalyptic 2065, British soccer stars, and some Bill Shakespeare, the Black List and GLAAD unveiled the 2024 GLAAD List today.

The fourth annual list spotlighting the most auspicious unmade LGBTQ-inclusive scripts in town chose 10 finalists across a variety of genres. It is pretty good company, if for no other reason than of the 40 scripts picked in the first three GLAAD Lists since its 2019 Sundance Film Festival, the quartet of the Ximena Garcia Lecuona penned Anything’s Possible, the Jared Frieder written Three Months, Steve Desmond and Michael Sherman’s Knock At the Cabin, and the Trevor Anderson & Fish Griwkowsky penned Before I Change My Mind have all been released already as features.

A lucky 13 other past GLAAD List scripts are in development at the moment and four more scripts have been shot as proof-of-concept short films. In that context, the odds...

Black Bear’s management arm has signed Swedish creator, writer and showrunner Oskar Söderlund for international representation.

Söderlund is best known for creating the Swedish crime thriller, “Snabba Cash,” which was a hit series for Netflix. He was recently tapped to write and showrun a television adaptation of the John Le Carré spy novel “A Most Wanted Man” from production companies The Ink Factory, founded by Le Carré’s sons Stephen and Simon Cornwell, and Amusement Park, which produced “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

Söderlund currently serves as the head writer on TV4’s “Cry Wolf,” a thriller based on Hans Rosenfeldt’s novel of the same name, and on Netflix’s series “The Breakthrough” — both of which are set to premiere early next year. His previous work includes award-winning television series “The Fat and the Angry” directed by Johan Renck; thriller series “Greyzone”; and the five-part psychological drama series “The Dark Heart,...

Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival is back after a one-year hiatus with a rich mix of Arabic and international titles launching into the Middle East and plenty of promising projects from Arab countries set to be unveiled to prospective partners at its CineGouna industry side.

The event launched in 2017 by Egyptian telecom billionaire Naguib Sawiris – whose brother Samih built the El Gouna resort in a swathe of desert near the tourist town of Hurghada 250 miles south of Cairo – was put on pause in 2022 ostensibly due to the country’s economic crisis following five editions during which fest co-founder Amr Mansi and chief Intishal Al Timimi had managed to rapidly put El Gouna on the international festival map while also making it a favourite with the local crowd.

“If there is a positive from the fact that we were forced to skip a year it’s that we were sorely...

Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi has launched an impassioned appeal for production designer Leila Naghdipari to be released from jail following her recent arrest during demonstrations marking the one year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death.

Naghdipari was one of hundreds of Iranians arrested on Sept. 16 during widespread protests marking the anniversary of Amini’s death while being detained for allegedly violating the country’s hijab law that mandates covered hair.

“Today, Iranian independent cinema is more that ever struggling to breathe under the boots of the security forces,” Panahi said in his appeal.

Panahi added that it’s been more than 10 days since the arrest of Naghdipari, who was the production designer on his 2018 film “Three Faces,” a road trip through the repressive territory of patriarchal rural Iran. Panahi shot the film, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival, in violation of his 20-year filmmaking ban.

“All the efforts of her husband Majid Barzegar,...

Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s travel ban has suddenly been lifted after 14 years, allowing the acclaimed auteur and his wife Tahereh Saeedi to reportedly leave Iran for an undisclosed location.

Saeedi on Tuesday night posted a picture on Instagram showing her arriving with her husband at an undisclosed airport.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Tahereh saeedi (@taherehsaidii)

It is captioned: “After 14 years, Jafar’s ban was cancelled and finally we are going to travel together for a few days…”

Panahi, 62, was temporarily released from prison last month after going on a hunger strike to protest “the illegal and inhumane behavior” of Iran’s judiciary. He was out on bail.

The director was arrested last July in Tehran in the wake of the country’s conservative government crackdown. Panahi had gone to the Tehran’s prosecutor’s office to follow up on the situation of fellow dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulov,...

Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been released from Tehran’s Evin prison, his wife Tahereh Saeidi announced in an Instagram post. However, Panahi is out on bail and his case will be reviewed in March, so the release could just be temporary, according to several sources.

The director was released two days after announcing that he was going on a hunger strike to protest still being incarcerated after Iran’s Supreme Court had in last October overturned a six-year sentence issued against him in 2010 for “propaganda against the system”, ‘Variety’ reported.

That sentence had become obsolete due to the country’s 10-year statute of limitations. But the directors’ wife and lawyers said that Iranian security services were forcing the judiciary to keep Panahi behind bars.

“Although I am happy about Panahi’s release, it must be said that it should have taken place three months ago,” the director’s lawyer,...

Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been released from Tehran’s Evin prison, his wife Tahereh Saeidi has announced in an Instagram post.

The director was released on Friday two days after announcing he was going on a hunger strike to protest still being incarcerated after Iran’s supreme court last October had overturned a six-year sentence issued against the director in 2010 for “propaganda against the system.” That sentence had become obsolete due to the country’s 10-year statute of limitations. But the directors’ wife and lawyers said that Iranian security services were forcing the judiciary to keep him behind bars.

“Although I am happy about Mr. Panahi’s release, it must be said that it should have taken place three months ago,” the director’s lawyer Saleh Nikbakht said in a statement on Friday. He noted that Panahi should have been released on bail last Oct. 18, the day his sentence was overturned.

Jafar Panahi has gone on a hunger strike to protest being still held in Tehran’s Evin prison even though Iran’s supreme court has overturned the conviction that led to the dissident director’s detention.

Panani has issued a statement from prison saying that to protest against the “illegal and inhumane” treatment by the Islamic Republic’s judiciary and security forces and their “hostage-taking” he will stop eating, drinking, and taking his medications until “maybe my lifeless body would be released from this prison.”

The statement announcing Panahi’s decision to go on a hunger strike was posted by Panahi’s wife Tahereh Saeedi and son Panah Panahi on their Instagram accounts.

Panahi, 62, is known globally for prizewinning works such as “The Circle,” “Offside,” “This is Not a Film,” “Taxi,” and most recently “No Bears,” winner of last year’s Venice’s Special Jury Prize. He was arrested last...

A ruling on Jafar Panahi’s release from Tehran’s Evin prison is deemed imminent now that Iran’s supreme court has overturned the conviction that led to the incarceration last year of the auteur who is considered one of Iranian cinema’s greatest living masters.

Panahi’s wife, Tahereh Saeedi, has launched an appeal on Instagram stating that his lawyers have managed to successfully overturn the six-year sentence issued against the director in 2010 for “propaganda against the system.” That sentence has become obsolete due to the country’s 10-year statute of limitations. Panahi’s case has now been sent to an Iranian court of appeals.

“Last week we were informed that Jafar will be out in a week,” Saeedi said in the appeal posted on Instagram this week. However, “a week passed by and Jafar is still not with us,” she went on to lament.

Panahi’s lawyer, Saleh Nikhbakht,...

In a strong show of support and solidarity, the 79th Venice International Film Festival honored Jafar Panahi by organizing an unprecedented flash-mob red carpet for the screening of his new film “No Bears,” despite the conspicuous absence of Panahi himself. The ceremony was a sad reminder of the shameful detention of him and fellow filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof by the Islamic Republic in Iran while his work was being celebrated on a prestigious international stage.

This was not the first time Panahi was absent at a festival screening of one of his films. He has been barred from leaving the country since 2010 when he was arrested and jailed for nearly three months on bogus charges of acting against national security. He was also banned from making films for 20 years, but he kept working surreptitiously in defiance of the absurdly unjust verdict. He strongly suspected at the time that the Islamic regime...

In a new statement shared with the Venice Film Festival, imprisoned Iranian filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rosoulof have said the “hope of creating again” is a “reason for existence.”

Venice showed solidarity with persecuted filmmakers in Iran and Turkey as part of a session co-organized with the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (Icfr) that highlighted the plight of creatives in these countries, and the remaining work — and funds — required to raise awareness of their immense struggle, and fight for civil liberties.

Iran, in particular, is seeing a major crackdown on the filmmaking community. In early July, Mohammad Rasoulof, winner of the 2020 Berlin Golden Bear for “There Is No Evil,” and fellow filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad were arrested for posting a statement on social media in the wake of a violent government crackdown. Just days later, dissident Iranian auteur Jafar Panahi, known globally for prizewinning works such as “Offside” and “Taxi,...

The international trailer has been debuted for Jafar Panahi’s “No Bears,” which has its world premiere on Sept. 9 in competition at Venice Film Festival, before moving to Toronto Film Festival and New York Film Festival. Celluloid Dreams, which is handling world sales, has revealed territory deals with several distributors. Last month, Panahi was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment by the Iranian judiciary.

The political thriller/drama portrays two parallel stories of love. In both, the lovers are troubled by hidden, inevitable obstacles, the force of superstition and the mechanics of power.

Celluloid Dreams has closed deals with the following distributors: Picturehouse Entertainment (U.K.), Arp Selection (France), Academy Two (Italy), La Aventura (Spain), Golden Scene (Hong Kong/Macau), Impact Films (India), Midas Filmes (Portugal), Panda Film (Austria), September Films (Benelux), and Pt Falcon (Indonesia).

The cast includes Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobaseri, Bakhtiyar Panjei, Mina Kavani and Reza Heydari.

Nabil Ayouch’s grittily authentic tale of a rapper turned teacher helping his students find their creative voices is a class act

The Arabic title of Franco-Moroccan director Nabil Ayouch’s empowering hip-hop fable translates loosely as “rise your voice”, while in France, where the film competed for the Cannes Palme d’Or, it’s known as Haut et fort ­– “high and loud”. Both monikers perfectly capture the vibrant spirit of this stirring street musical, described by its creator as arising out of “the desire to make a film to give voice to young people”. On one level it’s a patchwork of popular cinematic tropes, combining the strength-through-music themes of films as diverse as 8 Mile and School of Rock with the inspirational classroom formats of everything from Blackboard Jungle to Dead Poets Society. But there’s also a strong whiff of the discursive politics of Ken Loach’s Land and Freedom,...

An angry woman rails against the system in the punchy and timely “Cold Sweat,” a fact-based drama about an Iranian national futsal team member whose husband uses his legal right to prevent her traveling abroad and playing in the most important game of her life. This intelligently written, well performed and emotionally rewarding second feature by writer-director Soheil Beiraghi (“Me”) will enlighten and entertain audiences everywhere. A hit in local cinemas when released in late September, “Cold Sweat” ought to enjoy a long festival life at the very least. French arthouse outfit Sophie Dulac Distribution will screen the film theatrically Nov. 28.

A tale with especially strong appeal in these #TimesUp times, “Cold Sweat” draws from the real-life cases of many Iranian sportswomen whose dreams were dashed when their husbands invoked patriarchal laws. Its success at the local box office comes in the wake of well-publicized protests at the men’s soccer World Cup in June,...

Although he is banned from travel outside his home country, and banned from filmmaking period, Iranian director Jafar Panahi continues to persevere, crafting movies that make their way to international festivals and theatrical release. At the New York Film Festival premiere of his latest work, 3 Faces, Panahi said via statement last night that he is “hopeful about the future of Iranian cinema” and offered a word of encouragement to others working under difficult circumstances.

In 2010, Panahi was arrested by the Iranian authorities and barred from making movies. He has continued to work, but still faces a prison sentence which has not been enforced. 3 Faces had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it won the Best Screenplay prize. Kino Lorber acquired the movie which it will release in March next year.

In NY on Monday night, Panahi’s friend, Iranian-American film scholar Dr. Jamsheed Akrami,...

Editors Note: Katy Sullivan is an actor, athlete and bilateral above knee amputee whose credits include My Name Is Earl, Last Man Standing and NCIS: New Orleans as well as the upcoming indie pic Offside. She got her acting start starring onstage in Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Chicago production The Long Red Road, and this year was nominated for Lucille Lortel and Drama League awards for her featured role in Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Cost of Living. A four-time U.S. paralympic champion in the 100 meters, Sullivan is currently national coordinator for Hanger Clinic’s Ampower Program, a resource and community for amputees, and is developing Legs, a single-camera sitcom based on her life experiences.

Dear Dwayne,

My name is Katy Sullivan. I am an actress, Paralympian, double above-the-knee amputee from birth, and I have a request to ask of you. You seem like a genuinely good dude,...

Jafar Panahi was banned from filmmaking by the Iranian government, but the decree only led him to make movies in a different kind of way. Starting with the meta-documentary “This Is Not a Film” in 2011, Panahi’s creative frustrations have taken center stage in various inventive ways: In “Closed Curtain,” the allegorical tale of thieves on the lam folds into a broader creative lament when the filmmaker enters the frame to contemplate his characters, while the acclaimed “Taxi” found his camera exclusively in the confines of the titular vehicle as Panahi drove around Tehran.

The fourth entry in this innovative period, “Three Faces,” finds him acting in another story seemingly pulled from his real experiences — although this time, he’s more of the supporting character in a meandering but often insightful exploration of censorship and oppression in a society that accepts those phenomena as facts of life.

It starts with a call for help.

At the conclusion of Wednesday’s morning Cannes press conference for Asghar Farhadi’s latest film, the festival opener “Everybody Knows,” the Iranian filmmaker snuck in one last comment, unprompted by the assembled crowd of international press or his starry cast of heavy-hitters like Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem. After the conference wrapped, the “A Separation” filmmaker requested to have his microphone back, so that he could issue a comment on a situation clearly close to his heart.

“I thought perhaps we could go on to one last point,” he said. Farhadi pointed out that his is not the only Iranian film in competition this year, but that his fellow countryman Jafar Panahi was not in attendance to support his film “Three Faces” because of his ongoing house arrest in 2011 for charges of making propaganda.

The “Offside” and “The Circle” filmmaker was also banned by his own country from making films for twenty years,...

Lille, France — Walter Presents, one of Europe’s barometers for cool in international TV sales, announced today at Series Mania that it have secured the U.K. rights to the Scandinavian thriller “Greyzone.”

Since its launch on commercial channel TV2, the series has competed head-to-head with Dr’s flagship series “Liberty,” in the 8pm Thursday night slot, with “Liberty” winning the timeslot, but each enjoying favorable ratings, as well as audience and critical praise. According to the Nordisk Film & TV Fond news site, “Greyzone” opened with a 28% market share, and a satisfaction evaluation of 4.1 out of a possible 5.

Set in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Frankfurt, the series follows Victoria, played by “Borgen” star Brigitte Hjort Sørensen, a drone engineer who is taken hostage by a group of terrorists. Before being abducted, she manages to get a message to the secret services about a potential attack on Scandinavian soil.

With its...

In a wide-ranging press conference held during his first visit to Iran, Oliver Stone expressed appreciation for Iran’s extensive history and recent cinematic accomplishments, criticized American policy toward the Middle East, and voiced his wish that director Jafar Panahi would be allowed to attend the Cannes Film Festival to witness the premiere of his latest film.

Spending a week in Iran as a guest of the Fajr International Film Festival, Stone answered questions from a crowd of approximately 150 Iranian and a few foreign journalists in the Charsou complex in Tehran. He started out by saying that the early part of his visit took him to other Iranian cities, including Isfahan and he was impressed at the hospitality he had been shown and the “warmth” he felt from people of all walks of life. He said he had long been interested in Iran and its 2500-year history and was fortunate...

In a first for Jafar Panahi, the lauded Iranian filmmaker has a berth in the main competition at the Cannes Film Festival with his latest work, Three Faces. What is not clear is if he will be allowed to travel to the Riviera for the honor. In 2010, Panahi was arrested by the Iranian authorities and banned from making films. He has continued to work, but is unable to leave Iran and still faces a prison sentence which has not been enforced. Cannes chief Thierry Frémaux said today that the festival will appeal to Iran for the filmmaker’s presence.

The same goes for Kirill Serebrennikov, the theatrical producer and director who is under house arrest in Russia. He has been invited to the festival in competition for the first time with Leto (Summer) about the life of Soviet rock star Viktor Tsoi and the Leningrad rock underground of the 80s.

Dear President Trump,

On a recent Saturday, as you were watching your first movie in the White House, an unprecedented wave of protests swept across the country in opposition to your decision to impose a ban on visitors from seven predominantly Muslim nations.

I am not going to focus on the striking irony of foreign travelers being detained in the U.S. airports as you were enjoying Pixar’s “Finding Dory,” the story of a migrant fish detained in this country and aided by aquatic friends of different colors to find her parents.

Instead, I would like to bring to your attention an event of a smaller scale that was eclipsed by the news of the national uproar over your travel ban: the limited opening of an Iranian film, “The Salesman,” inspired by an American play to rave reviews and strong box office numbers.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Belladonna of Sadness (Eiichi Yamamoto)

It all begins with Once Upon a Time. Such a simple introduction for Belladonna of Sadness, a 1973 Japanese animated feature whose newfound legacy includes a decades-long disappearance, a dramatic re-emergence, and a growing reputation as a frenzied, pornographic freakout. The final entry in anime elder statesman Osamu Tezuka‘s erotic Animerama trilogy has remained largely unknown to even the most die-hard cult cinephiles,...

Every week we dive into the cream of the crop when it comes to home releases, including Blu-ray and DVDs, as well as recommended deals of the week. Check out our rundown below and return every Tuesday for the best (or most interesting) films one can take home. Note that if you’re looking to support the site, every purchase you make through the links below helps us and is greatly appreciated.

In a Lonely Place (Nicholas Ray)

When a gifted but washed-up screenwriter with a hair-trigger temper—Humphrey Bogart, in a revelatory, vulnerable performance—becomes the prime suspect in a brutal Tinseltown murder, the only person who can supply an alibi for him is a seductive neighbor (Gloria Grahame) with her own troubled past. The emotionally charged In a Lonely Place, freely adapted from a Dorothy B. Hughes thriller, is a brilliant, turbulent mix of suspenseful noir and devastating melodrama,...

With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit the interwebs. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.

Deadpool (Tim Miller)

As Hollywood struggles to reinvent their array of superheroes with each iteration, it’s no surprise that audiences would become hungry for something off the beaten path. While it’s not the first post-modern comic-book adaptation, Deadpool is billed as ushering in a new direction: a fan-spurred, self-aware tentpole that’s R-rated to its core, featuring a wise-ass character (don’t call him...

The girls in Deniz Gamze Ergüven's Mustang

After talking about working with Warren Ellis, being in a short film directed by Olivier Assayas for To Each His Own Cinema, the costumes by Selin Sozen, writing with Alice Winocour and being in Augustine, Deniz Gamze Ergüven discussed with me seeing Don Siegel's Escape From Alcatraz as an influence, the contrasting comparisons with Jafar Panahi's Offside and Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides and dynamics between the girls (Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu, Elit Iscan, Ilayda Akdogan) and their guardians (Nihal G. Koldas, Ayberk Pekcan) in Mustang.

Anne-Katrin Titze: The football idea, although you use it differently, reminded me of Jafar Panahi's tremendous Offside. Were you connecting that?

Mustangs in the sea: "Plus you see the sea from the window."

Deniz Gamze Ergüven: What really triggered it was that that was such a crazy situation. For...

Mustang director Deniz Gamze Ergüven on costume designer Selin Sozen's "shapeless shit-colored dresses": "For me it looks like a western." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu, Elit Iscan, Ilayda Akdogan star with Nihal G. Koldas, Ayberk Pekcan, Burak Yigit and Bahar Kerimoglu in Deniz Gamze Ergüven's Foreign Language Film Oscar nominated drama Mustang, co-written with Augustine director Alice Winocour. On a frosty afternoon in Chelsea, we spoke about Nick Cave collaborator Warren Ellis, who is featured in Jane Pollard and Iain Forsyth's 20,000 Days On Earth, Jafar Panahi's Offside, why Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides lacks in comparison to Don Siegel's Escape From Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood, costume design, cooking lessons and the importance of blanket making.

Lale (Günes Sensoy)

Part allegory, part teenage empowerment, Mustang follows five high-spirited, orphaned sisters, Sonay [Akdogan], Selma [Sunguroglu], Ece [Iscan], Nur [Doguslu] and Lale [Sensoy]. Defying expectations in different...

Again thumbing his nose at the regime that has banned him, the courageous Iranian director makes his latest film in a taxi rigged with three hidden cameras

Much loose talk is bandied around in the film world about directors’ bravery and the heroism of “guerrilla” film-making – but those terms genuinely mean something when applied to Iran’s Jafar Panahi. After making several robust realist dramas about the challenges of everyday life in his country – among them The Circle, Crimson Gold and the exuberantly angry football movie Offside – Panahi fell foul of the Iranian government, which threatened him with imprisonment, prevented him from travelling and banned him from making films for 20 years. He has protested by working under the wire to make three extraordinary works, contraband statements that are at once a cri de coeur from internal exile, and a bring-it-on raised fist of defiance.

This Is Not a Film (2011, directed...

Again thumbing his nose at the regime that has banned him, the courageous Iranian director makes his latest film in a taxi rigged with three hidden cameras

Much loose talk is bandied around in the film world about directors’ bravery and the heroism of “guerrilla” film-making – but those terms genuinely mean something when applied to Iran’s Jafar Panahi. After making several robust realist dramas about the challenges of everyday life in his country – among them The Circle, Crimson Gold and the exuberantly angry football movie Offside – Panahi fell foul of the Iranian government, which threatened him with imprisonment, prevented him from travelling and banned him from making films for 20 years. He has protested by working under the wire to make three extraordinary works, contraband statements that are at once a cri de coeur from internal exile, and a bring-it-on raised fist of defiance.

This Is Not a Film (2011, directed...

James Quandt in the new issue of Artforum on Jafar Panahi's Taxi: "That the director of such teeming, expansive works as The Circle (2000) and Offside (2006) should find himself limited to the confines of a car may seem lamentable, but Taxi has illustrious cab-bound ancestors, most obviously Ten (2002) by Panahi’s mentor, Abbas Kiarostami, as well as Jim Jarmusch’s Night on Earth (1991). And with the intrepid Panahi in the driver’s seat as both novice cabbie and veteran filmmaker, spatial restrictions predictably provide ample opportunity for formal innovation." Also today: David Bordwell on Edmund Goulding's Nightmare Alley, La Furia Umana on Manoel de Oliveira—and more. » - David Hudson...

James Quandt in the new issue of Artforum on Jafar Panahi's Taxi: "That the director of such teeming, expansive works as The Circle (2000) and Offside (2006) should find himself limited to the confines of a car may seem lamentable, but Taxi has illustrious cab-bound ancestors, most obviously Ten (2002) by Panahi’s mentor, Abbas Kiarostami, as well as Jim Jarmusch’s Night on Earth (1991). And with the intrepid Panahi in the driver’s seat as both novice cabbie and veteran filmmaker, spatial restrictions predictably provide ample opportunity for formal innovation." Also today: David Bordwell on Edmund Goulding's Nightmare Alley, La Furia Umana on Manoel de Oliveira—and more. » - David Hudson...

Art house distributor Kino Lorber has an outstanding lineup at Tiff 2015 that includes some of the most acclaimed international films of the year. Miguel Gomes' "Arabian Nights," which Volume 2 (The Desolate One) was just announced as Portugal's Oscar entry; Guatemala's "Ixcanul," which will also represent the Central American country at the Academy Awards; and Jafar Panahi's latest clandestine feature ,"Taxi," made under incredibly difficult conditions and winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, are among their upcoming titles.

Take a look at when and where you can catch some of these films while you are at Tiff this week.

"Arabian Nights Trilogy" [Wavelengths]

A major hit at this year's Cannes, this epic, three-part contemporary fable by Portuguese auteur Miguel Gomes ( "Tabu" ) adopts the structure from "Arabian Nights" in order to explore Portugal's plunge into austery.

Directed by Miguel Gomes

Screening with Volume 1-3,

381 minutes

Screening Date:

9/19/15, Public Screening, 1pm, Jackman Hall

"Arabian Nights: Volume 1, The Restless One" [Wavelengths]

Directed by Miguel Gomes

North American Premiere, 125 minutes

Opens Dec. 4th in New York (Film Society of Lincoln Center)

Upcoming Screening:

9/19/15, Public Screening, 11:45am, Jackman Hall

"Arabian Nights: Volume 2, The Desolate One" [Wavelengths]

Directed by Miguel Gomes

North American Premiere, 131 minutes

Opens Dec. 11th in New York (Film Society of Lincoln Center)

Upcoming Screening:

9/19/15, Public Screening, 3pm, Jackman Hall

"Arabian Nights: Volume 3, The Enchanted One" [Wavelengths]

Directed by Miguel Gomes

American Premiere, 125 minutes

Opens Dec. 18th in New York (Film Society of Lincoln Center)

Upcoming Screenings:

9/14/15, P&I 1, 7:15pm, Scotiabank 6

9/16/15, Public Screening, 6:15pm, Jackman Hall

"Ixcanul" [Discovery]

In this dreamlike fusion of documentary and fable, two young, impoverished Mayan lovers escape from their servitude on a remote Guatemalan coffee plantation and attempt to make their way to the United States.

Directed by Jayro Bustamante

Canadian Premiere, 93 minutes

Upcoming Screenings:

9/16/15, Public Screening, 6:30pm, Tiff Bell Lightbox 2

9/18/15, Public Screening, 9:30am, Tiff Bell Lightbox 2

9/20/15, Public Screening, 9:30pm, Scotiabank 2

"Jafar Panahi's Taxi" [Masters]

Shooting almost entirely within a cab circling the streets of Tehran, the great director Jafar Panahi ( "Offside," "This Is Not a Film") offers a multilayered mosaic of life in today's Iran.

Directed by Jafar Panahi

Canadian Premiere, 82 minutes

Winner of the Golden Bear at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival

Opens Oct. 2nd in New York (IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas)

Upcoming Screenings:

9/17/15, Public Screening, 5pm, Winter Garden Theatre

9/19/15, Public Screening, 3:30pm, Cinema 1

"Mountains May Depart" [Masters]

The new film from Mainland master Jia Zhangke ("A Touch of Sin") jumps from the recent past to the speculative near-future as it examines how China's economic boom has affected the bonds of family, tradition, and love.

Directed by Jia Zhangke

North American Premiere, approximately 131 minutes

Upcoming Screenings:

9/14/15, Public Screening, 9:30pm, Princess of Wales

9/15/15, Public Screening, 11:45am, Cinema 1

"The Forbidden Room" [Wavelengths]

Evan Johnson and Winnipeg’s wizard of the weird Guy Maddin ("My Winnipeg," "The Saddest Music in the World") plunge us into celluloid delirium with this mad, multi-narrative maze of phantasmal fables.

Directed by Guy Maddin and co-directed by Evan Johnson.

North American Premiere, 119 minutes

Opens Oct. 7th at New York's Film Forum.

Upcoming Screenings:

9/16/15, Public Screening, 9:15pm, Tiff Bell Lightbox 2

9/18/15, Public Screening, 3:15pm, Jackman Hall

"The Pearl Button" [Masters]

The great Chilean filmmaker Patricio Guzmán ("The Battle of Chile," "Nostalgia for the Light") chronicles the history of the indigenous peoples of Chilean Patagonia, whose decimation by colonial conquest prefigured the brutality of the Pinochet regime.

Directed by Patricio Guzman

North American Premiere, 82 minutes

Winner of the Silver Bear at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival

Opens Oct. 23rd in New York City (IFC Center and Lincoln Plaza Cinemas)

Upcoming Screenings:

9/13/15, Public Screening, 11:30am, Tiff Bell Lightbox 3

9/18/15, Public 3Screening, 3pm, Tiff Bell Lightbox 2...

Iconic actress Rita Moreno ("West Side Story"), internationally-renowned filmmaker/actor Alfonso Arau ("Like Water for Chocolate") and Oscar-winning screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana ("Brokeback Mountain"), will be the special guests this October at the 6th annual Loft Film Fest to take place at The Loft Cinema in Tucson, Arizona.

The festival will feature an incredible array of legendary, award-winning performers, filmmakers and screenwriters, as well as a stellar program of critically-acclaimed films selected from prestigious festivals around the globe, including Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Venice.

The film selection includes the documentary "Hitchcock/Truffaut," which will premiere at Tiff, the Sundance comedy hit "Entertainment" (starring Michael Cera and John C. Reilly), and the latest film from celebrated Iranian director Jafar Panahi, "Taxi" (winner of the Golden Bear at Berlin).

The festival will also host “under the stars” screenings of Hollywood classics like "Three Amigos" (starring Alfonso Arau) and Hitchcock’s "Psycho" in the Loft parking lot, presented on The Loft’s new, state-of-the-art outdoor screen and projection system. On opening night, October 21, the festival will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the classic comedy "Back to the Future" with a special "Back to the Future Day" double feature of the first two films in the trilogy. Live '50s music, themed-food, and other surprises will make the evening even more memorable.

The Guests

Rita Moreno is a legendary star of stage, screen and television, and is one of only 12 performers in history to be classified as an Egot winner (winner of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony). She is one of only four women to have achieved this landmark status, as well as the first Hispanic performer to be thusly honored. Over the course of her groundbreaking career, Ms. Moreno has starred in such iconic classics as "Singin’ in the Rain," "The King and I" and "West Side Story" (for which she won the 1962 Best Supporting Actress Academy Award), performed on Broadway in hits like "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers" and "The Ritz" (for which she won the 1975 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress), appeared on such successful television shows as "Oz, The Electric Company" and "The Muppet Show" (for which she was awarded a 1977 Emmy), recorded albums (including her Grammy-winning 1973 album for children, "The Electric Company") and written a New York Times best-selling memoir, 2014’s Rita Moreno: A Memoir. She has also been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Screen Actors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award, and in December, 2015, she will receive a prestigious Kennedy Center Honor. Ms. Moreno will appear at The Loft Film Fest for a tribute that will include a career highlight reel, an onstage Q&A, the presentation of a 2015 Loft Lifetime Achievement Award and a screening of "West Side Story."

Alfonso Arau, one of the legends of Mexican cinema, is the internationally-renowned director of such acclaimed films as " Zapata: The Dream of a Hero," "A Walk in the Clouds" and the arthouse smash, "Like Water for Chocolate" (winner of the 1992 Ariel Awards for Best Picture and Best Director). Over the course of his distinguished career, he has also made numerous memorable appearances as an actor in such classics as "The Wild Bunch," "El Topo" and the Tucson-shot comedy "Three Amigos" (in the unforgettable role of El Guapo). At The Loft Film Fest, Mr. Arau will also receive a tribute that will include a career highlight reel, an onstage Q&A, presentation of a 2015 Lofty Lifetime Achievement Award and a screening of "Like Water for Chocolate." Filmmaker/artist/actress Yareli Arizmendi (star of "Like Water for Chocolate") and filmmaker/artist/actor Sergio Arau ("Day without a Mexicans"), the son of Mr. Arau, will also appear at this event. The Loft Film Fest will also present an “under the stars” screening of "Three Amigos" on the Loft’s new outdoor screen in the parking lot.

Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana are the Academy Award-winning co-screenwriters and co-producers of the groundbreaking hit film, "Brokeback Mountain." Mr. Murtry is a prolific, Pulitzer Prize-winning author (for the best-selling novel Lonesome Dove) and the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of "The Last Picture Show" (based on his novel). Ms. Ossana is an acclaimed writer and Oscar-nominated producer (for "Brokeback Mountain"). The Loft Film Fest will present a special 10thanniversary screening of "Brokeback Mountain," and Mr. McMurtry and Ms. Ossana will participate in an onstage Q&A to discuss the film’s lasting impact and legacy.

The Films

"Hitchcock/Truffaut," a new documentary by Kent Jones, uses the 1962 meeting between the two legendary directors, Alfred Hitchcock and Francois Truffaut, as a jumping off point for an exploration of the endlessly fascinating work of Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense. After premiering at Cannes earlier this year, the film will have its Arizona Premiere at The Loft Film Fest, following its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. The Loft Film Fest will also present an “under the stars” screening of Hitchcock’s classic 1960 scare-fest, "Psycho," in the parking lot on The Loft’s beautiful new outdoor screen!

"Entertainment," a hilarious new dark comedy from Rick Alverson, follows the misadventures of an aging, broken-down comedian playing a string of disastrous shows in the Mojave Desert while en route to meet his estranged daughter. Starring Michael Cera, John C. Reilly and Gregg Turkington (aka comedian Neil Hamburger), "Entertainment" makes its Tucson debut at The Loft Film Fest following successful screenings at Sundance and SXSW.

"Taxi," the new film from celebrated Iranian director Jafar Panahi ("Offside," "The White Balloon"), features Panahi himself starring as a taxi driver in Tehran whose conversations with the diverse passengers he picks up are hilarious, enlightening and heartbreaking. Winner of the Golden Bear and the Fipresci Prize at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, Taxi will be making its Arizona debut at The Loft Film Fest.

"Go faster and we'll make it, God willing." The first official trailer has debuted via Tiff for the outstanding film Taxi, or Jafar Panahi's Taxi, where Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi takes us for a ride throughout Tehran inside his taxi, picking up all kinds of fun passengers. This won the top prize at the Berlinale Film Festival, the Golden Bear, and that's where I saw it and loved it. It's a fun film and it has a heart aside from the themes it explores through Panahi's lens. This trailer is a quick intro to some of the people he picks up, and the light-hearted feel of the film. This is really one of the best discoveries of the year, so give it a look. Here's the first festival trailer (+ poster) for Jafar Panahi's Taxi, from Tiff's YouTube: Shooting almost entirely from within a cab circling the streets of Tehran,...

Exclusive: Acclaimed drama one of three deals for UK indie.

UK indie distributor New Wave has concluded a deal with Celluloid Dreams for Jafar Panahi’s Berlinale Golden Bear winner Taxi.

Panahi’s drama, largely shot under cover due to restrictions on the filmmaker, also won the Fipresci prize at the Berlin Film Festival in February.

In Taxi, director Panahi captures life in contemporary Iran through passengers in a Tehran cab.

As the cab drives through the colourful streets of Tehran, it picks up a diverse mix of passengers, who speak to the driver, played by Panahi.

It proved one of the hot sellers for Paris-based Celluloid Dreams at last month’s European Film Market (Efm), snapped up by Memento for France and a host of other buyers in Germany, Italy and Colombia, among others.

Kino Lorber acquired North American rights.

Panahi has been banned from making films in his homeland, or leaving...

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...

“An incredible selection” was the verdict given by jury president Darren Aronofsky about the Berlinale’s 2015 competition line-up.

Speaking at the the closing gala, Aronofsky said: “Hats off to Dieter [Kosslick], the curators have made an incredible selection. It’s been incredibly difficult to decide on the prizes (…) there were so many quality films that it was hard not to award many, many of the films.“

In fact, the International Jury, which included actors Daniel Brühl and Audrey Tautou and the former Golden Bear winner Claudia Llosa from Peru, gave awards to nine of the 19 Competition titles by splitting two of the prizes, and showed the unanimity of its decisions by all being on stage together for the presentation of the awards in the Berlinale Palast.

Jafar Panahi’s Taxi became the second Iranian film in the Berlinale’s 65-year history to win the Golden Bear - after Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation in 2011 - and is Panahi...

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has released a statement to the press in defiance of his official ban by the Iranian government from making films or speaking to journalists.

“I’m a filmmaker. I can’t do anything else but make films. Cinema is my expression and the meaning of my life,” wrote Panahi, whose latest feature Taxi will world premiere in competition at the Berlin International Film Festival.

“Nothing can prevent me from making films as when being pushed to the ultimate corners I connect with my inner-self and in such private spaces, despite all limitations, the necessity to create becomes even more an urge. Cinema as an Art becomes my main preoccupation. That is the reason why I have to continue making films under any circumstances to pay my respect and feel alive.”

Taxi is Panahi’s third film since he was arrested and banned from making films by...

Queen of the Desert, starring Nicole Kidman and Robert Pattinson, added to Berlinale competition line-up; Mr. Holmes, starring Ian McKellen as an aged Sherlock, to play out of competition.

The 65th Berlin International Film Festival (Feb 5-15) has added a further eight titles to its Competition programme, ahead of the complete line-up next week.

The films, which originate from across Europe, Asia, the Us and the Middle East, include the world premiere of Queen of the Desert, Werner Herzog’s biopic based on the life of British explorer Gertrude Bell.

Nicole Kidman plays the 19th century explorer, known as the female Lawrence of Arabia, and her co-stars include James Franco, Damian Lewis and Robert Pattinson (as Te Lawrence).

Berlinale 2015: new Competition films

Body

Poland

By Malgorzata Szumowska (Stranger, Elles, In the Name of)

With Janusz Gajos, Maja Ostaszewska, Justyna Suwala

World premiere

Cha và con và (Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories)

Vietnam / France / Germany...

Sebastian Schipper, Werner Herzog, Benoit Jacquot and Further Titles Added to the Selection

Another eight films have been selected for the Competition Programme of the 65th Berlin International Film Festival.

The productions are from the following countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong/China, Iran, the People’s Republic of China, Poland, the USA, the United Kingdom and Vietnam.

Body

Poland

By Malgorzata Szumowska (Stranger, Elles, In the Name of)

With Janusz Gajos, Maja Ostaszewska, Justyna Suwala

World premiere

Cha và con và (Big Father, Small Father and Other Stories)

Vietnam / France / Germany / Netherlands

By Di Phan Dang (Bi, Don’t Be Afraid)

With Do Thi Hai Yen, Le Cong Hoang, Truong The Vinh

World premiere

Journal d’une femme de chambre (Diary of a Chambermaid)

France / Belgium

By Benoit Jacquot (Farewell, My Queen; Three Hearts)

With Léa Seydoux, Vincent Lindon, Clotilde Mollet, Hervé Pierre, Vincent Lacoste

World premiere

Mr. Holmes

United Kingdom

By Bill Condon (The Fifth Estate)

With...

Rebirth of House of Cinema in Tehran signals relaxation of regime's hard line on homegrown movie industry

• Xan Brooks on Jafar Panahi's This Is Not a Film: 'A salute to a creative spirit that will not be crushed'

• Jafar Panahi defies ban to appear at film festival via Skype

Iran's main film industry guild has reopened, almost two years after it was closed by hardliners, reports the state news agency, Irna.

The demise of the House of Cinema was criticised by high-profile directors such as Asghar Farhadi, whose film, A Separation, won the 2012 Oscar for best foreign-language film. The reopening could signal a change in attitude towards film under the leadership of new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, who is seen as more moderate than his predecessor and has hinted at a greater tolerance on cultural issues.

The guild, which has more than 5,000 members from all corners of the Iranian film industry,...

Cinema is a medium that is, by nature, based around deception. Deception plays a role of central importance , as far as the storytelling mechanisms of cinema go. Many think this is because cinema has the most potential when it comes to using deception as a storytelling tactic. Shortly after its inception, film-making’s early innovators would discover just how effective this technique really was when it came to manipulating audiences.

This would be particularly evident in the genius of George Melies, who was pioneer of early special effects. His films were essentially his way of performing mind-blowing magic in a totally new way, as far back as the late 1800′s. Since then there have been all sorts of films that have focused on one part or another of the film-making process. The bulk of these films provide us with some sort of inside information about a behind-the-scenes aspect of the...

Iranian government seizes passports of director Kambuzia Partovi and actor Maryam Moghadam, preventing them from promoting film abroad

The co-director and star of Iranian dissident film-maker Jafar Panahi's Berlin prizewinner Closed Curtain have had their passports confiscated by officials.

The move means Kambuzia Partovi and actor Maryam Moghadam will no longer be able to go abroad to promote the winner of the 2013 Silver Bear for best screenplay. Panahi himself remains under house arrest in the Islamic Republic after being banned from making films for 20 years and sentenced to six years in prison in December 2010.

Iran's authorities berated Berlin organisers for rewarding Panahi, the celebrated director of The White Balloon and Offside, earlier this month. Closed Curtain is the second movie he has made (following 2011's This Is Not a Film) since his government ban. "Making these films is illegal," said Iranian cinema chief and deputy culture minister Javad Shamaqdari,...

Berlin — A new movie from dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi, which defies a ban on filmmaking and reflects his frustration at being unable to work officially, makes its debut at the Berlin film festival Tuesday.

"Closed Curtain" is co-directed by Panahi and his fellow Iranian filmmaker and longtime friend, Kamboziya Partovi. Panahi, who has won awards at several major film festivals in the past, was sentenced to house arrest and a 20-year ban on filmmaking in 2010 after being convicted of "making propaganda" against Iran's ruling system.

Partovi presented the movie at the Berlin festival, where it's one of 19 films competing for the top Golden Bear award.

The new film, made by a very small team, is filmed entirely inside an isolated seaside villa, much of the time with the curtains drawn.

The two directors are the lead actors: Partovi playing an increasingly paranoid man trapped in the house as police search the area,...

This is Not a Film

"A subtle and haunting work of art ... A masterpiece in a form that

does not yet exist.” – A.O. Scott, The New York Times

“An extraordinary film. This Is Not a Film ends with a whimper that is a bang.”

– David Edelstein, New York Magazine

EW's Grade: A

"Ignore the title This is Not a Film — this is a great film, and a triumph of creativity and courage over repression." - Lisa Schwarzbaum , Entertainment Weekly

Released by Palisades Tartan, this “breathtakingly cinematic” (Karina Longworth, Village Voice) film already opened in more than 50 markets and continues to play in select venues throughout the United States. With a rare 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes and rave reviews by The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The New Yorker and Village Voice, to name a few, This is Not a Film has already been included on several annual Top 10 lists (Sight & Sound; The Guardian; Washington Post).

Shot partially on an iPhone and smuggled into France (in a Flash-Drive hidden inside a cake) for a last-minute submission to Cannes, This is Not a Film depicts a day in the life of acclaimed Iranian director Jafar Panahi (Offside, The Mirror, The Circle).

While appealing his sentence – six years in prison and a 20-year ban from filmmaking – fellow director Mojtaba Mirtahmasb (Lady of the Roses) visits Mr. Panahi at his Tehran apartment and films him talking to his family and lawyer on the phone, reflecting on the art of filmmaking, meeting some of his neighbors and even interacting with an inquisitive iguana. After several years of conflict with the Iranian government over the content of his films (including several short-term arrests), Panahi was arrested on March 1, 2010 and taken to Evin Prison, an Iranian penitentiary noted for its political prisoners' wing. He was released three months later on bail, and was eventually prosecuted for "assembly and colluding with the intention to commit crimes against the country’s national security and propaganda against the Islamic Republic."

On December 20, 2010, Panahi was given a six-year jail sentence and a 20-year ban on making or directing any movies, writing screenplays, giving any form of interview with Iranian or foreign media as well as leaving the country.

On Octorber 16, 2011, the appeal which is discussed in the film was denied, and Mr. Panahi can be taken to prison at any time.

The film's co-director, Motjaba Mirtahmasb, was arrested in September 2011, on his way to present This is Not a Film in Toronto. He was released on bail in December of 2011, after he was charged with being a spy for the BBC.

Since his detention in 2010, Panahi's cause has won international support from the film community. World-renowned directors, including Joel and Ethan Coen, Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Robert De Niro, Ang Lee, Terrence Malick, Michael Moore, Robert Redford, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Frederick Wiseman, among many others, signed a letter of support calling for his release.

Confirming the importance of Mr. Panahi’s work as well as his trailblazing role in Iranian society, The European Parliament has recently honored him with the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. The Sakharov prize is widely considered to be the most important human rights award in the world. The Prize was shared with the imprisoned Iranian Human Rights Lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, who just ended her 49-day hunger strike after Iranian authorities finally met her demand to stop harassing her family. The European delegation canceled their visit to Iran in October 2012, after Iran refused for them to meet with, and present the prize to, both winners.

http://www.thisisnotafilm.net...

25: The Dark Knight Rises

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Screenplay by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan

2012, USA

The Dark Knight Rises feels as if it was made up of two equal halves, with the most critical moment of the film breaking the movie in half, almost literally. While the second half may have been a let down, the first half is incredibly ambitious to say the least. The opening sequence, a gravity-defying skyjacking, is a tour de force – wildly choreographed, vivid, visceral, and chock full of suspense. That aerial extraction alone is worth the price of admission. Production-wise, effects-wise, Nolan’s movie (with sequences shot with Imax cameras) is staggering. There was an opportunity here for Nolan to stretch the boundaries of what is possible in the genre, alas, the final act becomes a little too conventional – complete with a doomsday device and a ticking-clock countdown. But for every quibble,...

Day seven of the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival already?!? There are still four days and hundreds of great films to go!

Sliff’s main venues are the the Hi-Pointe Theatre, Tivoli Theatre, Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Webster University’s Winifred Moore Auditorium, Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium and the Wildey Theatre in Edwardsville, Il

The entire schedule for the 21st Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival be found Here.

http://cinemastlouis.org/sliff-2012

Here is what will be screening at The 21st Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival today, Wednesday, November 14th

Booker’S Place

Booker’S Place plays at 7:15pm at the Tivoli Theatre

Booker Wright was an African-American restaurant owner who also served double-duty as a waiter in a whites-only restaurant in Mississippi in the 1960s. He became an unlikely activist for the civil-rights movement when he appeared on a 1965 network TV...

Glenn here winding down with the Melbourne Film Festival coverage. For whatever reason, Miff’s selection of queer films is never particularly large. I wasn’t able to attend the AIDS documentary How to Survive a Plague, although I’ve heard it’s a powerful experience, but I did get along to Ira Sachs’ Keep the Lights On that follows a nine-year relationship between a Danish documentary filmmaker (Thure Lindhardt, Into the Wild) and a lawyer (Zachary Booth, Damages, Dark Horse) in New York City. I know Nathaniel’s not a fan (and I can certainly see why as there are problematic areas), but it’s rare for a “gay film” to find a positive foothold in the critical community so that made it a veritable must see.

There’s a moment when Lindhardt’s Erik passes a graffiti sign that reads “Fake Your Beauty”, which is actually a good...

My penulitmate day at Hkiff 2012 saw lots of frantic reshuffling as I struggled to see the films I really wanted to, while also dealing with the tricky logistics of negotiating the city at high speed. It resulted in a massive win, however, as I caught a film I had previously heard nothng about, based solely on the fact it was at a closer venue, which turned out to be one of the best of the festival!Day 12 (3 April)This Is Not a Film (dir. Jafar Panahi/Mojtaba Mairtahmasb, Iran)Hailed around the world for directing such films as The White Balloon, The Mirror and Offside, Panahi has been arrested and harassed numerous times by Iranian authorities. In late 2010 he was sentenced to 6 years house...

Jailed director Jafar Panahi's agonising non-film heaps shame on the Iranian government

"One does not imprison Voltaire," General de Gaulle is reported to have said, in response to a suggestion that Jean-Paul Sartre could be silenced with a jail sentence. If only the Iranian government showed that kind of class. In December 2010, the film-makers and pro-democracy activists Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof were sentenced to six years in prison for alleged crimes against national security. Grotesquely, Jafar Panahi – the director of The White Balloon, Crimson Gold and Offside – was also subject to a 20-year ban on film-making, and forbidden moreover to give interviews or leave the country in that period. With this crass, quasi-Soviet attempt to crush his creativity and humanity, the government disgraced itself in a unique fashion. Hollywood big-hitters have signed petitions, but in the current climate, pressure from the Us could just be counterproductive.

Meanwhile, Panahi...