INTERVIEW: Nima Javidi, director of Melbourne, Opening Film of Venice71 Critics Week  Director Nima Javidi opened this year's Critics Week at the 71st Venice Film Festival with his debut feature Melbourne, telling the story of a couple in contemporary Iran whose planned migration to Melbourne is prevented by an unfortunate event few hours before departure. Javidi is the director of six short films and two documentaries. He is mainly known in Iran for his work on televisioncomm...

Numerous plastic bags filled with clothes and personal objects are drained until the very last airdrop is lost and their entire content appears withered, even more soulless than in its actual state. As the opening credits roll down, this stylistic symbol unpacks an array of thoughts and interpretations.  We are transferred to a simple, but modern apartment in Tehran. A couple is packing. Amir (Payman Maadi) and Sara’s (Negar Javaherian) belongings, their lives and future are about ...

Check my recently posted reviews of The Whirlpool, The Verdict and the Iranian three grand peaces at the Montreal World Film Fesival's Blog. A serbian review of The Whirlpool (Vir, Serbia, 2013)   Three years after its absence in the MMF's competition programs,  the Serbian cinema can be proud of its comeback with Bojan Vuk Kosovcevic’s movie The Whirlpool, competed in the first films selection. Made for modest, less than $300.000, Kosovcevi...

  In continuation of my tribute to Persian cinema (previous article) I am still long overdue to review this stellar film of 2009 that I watched months ago and again recently with the intention to interview actor Navid Akhavan; but alas, our schedules rarely coincide to make the time to meet up so in the interim I will take this time to say a few words about ‘For A Moment, Freedom'.   Directed by Arash T. Riahi, ‘For A Moment Freedom' features an ensem...

A tribute to Iranian cinema... From ‘Women Without Men' (2009) to ‘Nader And Simin, A Separation' (2011)   So, seeing how Iranian cinema continues to make leaps and bounds for World Cinema in general let me recall one of my favorite Iranian films of the past year...   ‘Women Without Men' by director Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari premiered at the 66th Venice Film Festival on 8 Sep 2009 at the Sala Grande but sadly, I had not yet had the chance to see i...

  International reaction is building as news emerges from Iran that Jafar Panahi, one of that country's most internationally respected film artists, has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term. The Berlin International Film Festival is the first of many film institutions around the world to sharply condemn the harsh sentences handed down to the renowned Iranian director Jafar Panahi and his directing colleague Mohammed Rasulof. Accused of spreading “propaganda against the system”,...

This year’s Iranian Film Festival will partly evolve around the theme of 30 years of revolution in Iran. The fourth edition of this festival, which will take place on the 18, 19 and 20th of December in De Fabriek in Zaandam (the Netherlands) will not only look back at the events of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, but will also focus on Iran’s current situation. Through documentaries, short films and interviews with international guests, the festival tracks the development of Iran in the 30 ye...

All Roads in Iran...First look...Due to some unexpected connection issues we were unable to provide real-time updates to you from the field.  Alas, now that we have returned, a retrospective.  Everything you may have heard about the extent of Iranian hospitality is true.   As special invited guests of the first ever Cinema Verite Iranian International Documentary Film Festival, the whole notion of VIP has taken on new meaning.  From the moment we were able to clear customs, we were treated ...

Saturday, September 16---For several decades, the American government has successfully demonized the country of Iran, referring to it as an "evil empire" as a member of the "axis of evil". The rhetoric has ratcheted up in recent months, as Iran attempts to take hold of its own destiny by producing nuclear power, and possibly nuclear weapons. But what do we really know about this ancient culture that is one of the most influential nations in the Middle East? What more can we know without trave...