Artificial Eye, the arthouse distribution company established in 1976 by Curzon Cinemas, is set for a re-launch as a theatrical and home entertainment label.
Founded by Andi and Pam Engel, the label gained recognition for releasing independent, arthouse, and foreign language films, promoting films from directors such as Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers, and Trần Anh Hùng.
Artificial Eye went on hiatus in 2014, after being part of the Curzon group since 2006. In 2019, we told you Curzon Group and its subsidiaries, including Artificial Eye, had been acquired by U.S. indie distributor and exhibitor Cohen Media Group. Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure was one of the last films released under the previous version of the label.
Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label led by Managing Director Louisa Dent. One of their successes has been Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the UK box office.
Founded by Andi and Pam Engel, the label gained recognition for releasing independent, arthouse, and foreign language films, promoting films from directors such as Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers, and Trần Anh Hùng.
Artificial Eye went on hiatus in 2014, after being part of the Curzon group since 2006. In 2019, we told you Curzon Group and its subsidiaries, including Artificial Eye, had been acquired by U.S. indie distributor and exhibitor Cohen Media Group. Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure was one of the last films released under the previous version of the label.
Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label led by Managing Director Louisa Dent. One of their successes has been Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the UK box office.
- 5/1/2024
- by Hannah Abraham
- Deadline Film + TV
U.K. outfit Curzon — part of the Cohen Media Group — is set to relaunch Artificial Eye, the arthouse distribution label that was established in 1976 and has been on hiatus for the last decade.
The label, first founded by film enthusiasts Andi and Pam Engel and part of the Curzon group since 2006, became renowned for releasing independent, foreign-language and arthouse title to U.K. audiences, including those by Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers and Trần Anh Hùng. Its library boasts over 400 critically acclaimed films from directors including Wim Wenders, Michael Haneke and Claire Denis. Ruben Östlund’s “Force Majeure” was one of the last films released under the previous incarnation.
Led by managing director Louisa Dent, who has been with the company since 2008, Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label — including Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the U.K.
The label, first founded by film enthusiasts Andi and Pam Engel and part of the Curzon group since 2006, became renowned for releasing independent, foreign-language and arthouse title to U.K. audiences, including those by Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers and Trần Anh Hùng. Its library boasts over 400 critically acclaimed films from directors including Wim Wenders, Michael Haneke and Claire Denis. Ruben Östlund’s “Force Majeure” was one of the last films released under the previous incarnation.
Led by managing director Louisa Dent, who has been with the company since 2008, Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label — including Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the U.K.
- 4/30/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
The UK’s Curzon is to relaunch its specialist UK/Ireland distribution label Artificial Eye, as a theatrical and home entertainment brand.
The first release under the banner will be Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s Berlinale Competition title My Favourite Cake.
Led by Curzon managing director Louisa Dent, the acquisitions team will curate additions to the Artificial Eye catalogue, focusing on director-led world cinema and discoveries from emerging filmmakers.
Artificial Eye was founded in 1976 by Andi Engel and Pam Engel. The label released leading independent, foreign-language and arthouse titles, including films by Bela Tarr, the Dardenne brothers and Tran Anh Hung.
The first release under the banner will be Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s Berlinale Competition title My Favourite Cake.
Led by Curzon managing director Louisa Dent, the acquisitions team will curate additions to the Artificial Eye catalogue, focusing on director-led world cinema and discoveries from emerging filmmakers.
Artificial Eye was founded in 1976 by Andi Engel and Pam Engel. The label released leading independent, foreign-language and arthouse titles, including films by Bela Tarr, the Dardenne brothers and Tran Anh Hung.
- 4/30/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mahin decides to break her loneliness by searching for a partner in Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha's warm-hearted drama “My Favourite Cake”. The third directorial collaboration between two filmmakers had its world premiere in the official competition of Berlinale earlier this year, screened in absence of the helmers who were not allowed to leave the country. The movie shows women without mandatory hijabs, it lets them speak about their flirts, dreams and longing, and it even involves alcohol drinking and a burgeoning love affair between two people who were not destined to live that dream to the fullest, as well as an open rebellion against the morality police. Iranian authorities made a clumsy attempt at stopping the film of reaching the international audience, which luckily proved futile.”My Favourite Cake” was shot secretly amidst the wide-spread anti Government protests sparked by the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini, a young Iranian...
- 4/30/2024
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Iranian tragicomedy My Favourite Cake continues to sell strongly for Totem Films following its premiere in Berlinale competition last month.
The French sales agent has inked new deals for Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Taiwan (Swallow Wings), Indonesia (Falcon), Portugal (Alambique), Brazil (Imovision), Finland (Cinema Mondo), Bulgaria (Betafilm), Greece (Weird Wave), the Baltics (Kino Pavasaris) and former Yugoslavia (Demiurg).
Directed by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, the film sold to a slew of territories ahead of its Berlin premiere and during EFM including UK and Ireland (Curzon), Spain (A Contracorriente), Italy (Academy Two), Germany and Austria (Alamode), Norway (Arthaus), France...
The French sales agent has inked new deals for Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Taiwan (Swallow Wings), Indonesia (Falcon), Portugal (Alambique), Brazil (Imovision), Finland (Cinema Mondo), Bulgaria (Betafilm), Greece (Weird Wave), the Baltics (Kino Pavasaris) and former Yugoslavia (Demiurg).
Directed by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, the film sold to a slew of territories ahead of its Berlin premiere and during EFM including UK and Ireland (Curzon), Spain (A Contracorriente), Italy (Academy Two), Germany and Austria (Alamode), Norway (Arthaus), France...
- 3/12/2024
- ScreenDaily
Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s The Devil’s Bath and Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s My Favourite Cake have jointly topped Screen’s 2024 Berlin jury grid with an average score of 3.1.
See the final 2024 grid below.
The last three titles to land, Meryam Joobeur’s Who Do I Belong To?; Gustav Möller’s Sons; and Min Bahadur Bham’s Shambhala, could not unseat the duo after scoring 2.8, 2.1 and 2.4 respectively.
Who Do I Belong To? follows a Tunisian mother struggling to cope when her jihadist son returns from Syria. It earned two fours (excellent) from Die Zeit’s Katja Nicodemus and Meduza’s Anton Dolin,...
See the final 2024 grid below.
The last three titles to land, Meryam Joobeur’s Who Do I Belong To?; Gustav Möller’s Sons; and Min Bahadur Bham’s Shambhala, could not unseat the duo after scoring 2.8, 2.1 and 2.4 respectively.
Who Do I Belong To? follows a Tunisian mother struggling to cope when her jihadist son returns from Syria. It earned two fours (excellent) from Die Zeit’s Katja Nicodemus and Meduza’s Anton Dolin,...
- 2/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
When it comes to romance, everyone knows that you shouldn't wait too long... Don't let all of life go by, and have the courage to say hi to someone before it's too late. That's the wisdom explored in this delightful new film from Iran titled My Favourite Cake (labeled as Keyke mahboobe man in the Berlinale line-up). The film is both written & directed by the Iranian filmmakers Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, and premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival in the Main Competition section (though it didn't win any awards). Unfortunately the two filmmakers are being kept in Iran, as the government took their passports and imposed a travel ban. Nonetheless, this film stands out within the Berlinale line-up as an entertaining-for-everyone heartfelt story of romance. The best compliment I can give is that it has the vibe of an Iranian Before Sunrise telling a charming story about two 70-year-old single,...
- 2/26/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The independent juries of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival early Saturday unveiled their picks of the best movies at the 2024 Berlinale.
Matthias Glasner’s German family epic Sterben (Dying), and the Iranian feature My Favourite Cake from directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, both of which are considered frontrunners for the top prize at the official festival ceremony on Saturday night, received multiple awards for the indie juries, as did Dag Johan Haugerud’s Norwegian drama Sex, a critical favorite from this year’s Panorama sidebar.
Sterben, which follows a classical conductor (played by Lars Eidinger) and his very dysfunctional family, won the best film honor from the guild of German arthouse cinemas and the top prize awarded by the jury of Berliner Morgenpost readers representing the Berlin newspaper.
My Favourite Cake, a quiet drama about a 70-year-old widow who takes a chance on new love, won the Fipresci...
Matthias Glasner’s German family epic Sterben (Dying), and the Iranian feature My Favourite Cake from directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, both of which are considered frontrunners for the top prize at the official festival ceremony on Saturday night, received multiple awards for the indie juries, as did Dag Johan Haugerud’s Norwegian drama Sex, a critical favorite from this year’s Panorama sidebar.
Sterben, which follows a classical conductor (played by Lars Eidinger) and his very dysfunctional family, won the best film honor from the guild of German arthouse cinemas and the top prize awarded by the jury of Berliner Morgenpost readers representing the Berlin newspaper.
My Favourite Cake, a quiet drama about a 70-year-old widow who takes a chance on new love, won the Fipresci...
- 2/24/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The awards ceremony for the 74th Berlin International Film Festival kicks off Saturday night, where this year’s jury, headed by 12 Years a Slave and Black Panther actress Lupita Nyong’o, will hand out the coveted Gold and Silver Bears.
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s Iranian drama My Favourite Cake is being given good odds for an award this year. The drama, about a 70-year-old widow and her tentative attempts at romance with an age-appropriate taxi driver, was a critical fave. A win for the film would also send a political message after the Iranian government banned the directors from attending Berlin. If the jury picks out Cake for the Golden Bear it would be the third time in 10 years —following Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (2015) and There Is No Evil (2020) from Mohammad Rasoulof —that Berlin has given its top honor to Iranian directors in absentia. World sales for My...
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s Iranian drama My Favourite Cake is being given good odds for an award this year. The drama, about a 70-year-old widow and her tentative attempts at romance with an age-appropriate taxi driver, was a critical fave. A win for the film would also send a political message after the Iranian government banned the directors from attending Berlin. If the jury picks out Cake for the Golden Bear it would be the third time in 10 years —following Jafar Panahi’s Taxi (2015) and There Is No Evil (2020) from Mohammad Rasoulof —that Berlin has given its top honor to Iranian directors in absentia. World sales for My...
- 2/23/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Curzon Film has picked up Berlinale Competition title My Favourite Cake for UK and Ireland distribution.
France’s Totem Films is handling international sales on Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeh’s Iranian tragicomedy, which follows a widow living in solitude who decides one day to restart her love life.
My Favourite Cake is produced by Iran’s Filmsazan Javan, France’s Caractères Productions, Sweden’s Hobab, and Germany’s Watchmen Productions.
The film has already sold to a range of territories including A Contracorriente in Spain, Academy Two in Italy, Alamode for Germany and Austria, and Arthaus in Norway.
Premiering at the Berlinale last week,...
France’s Totem Films is handling international sales on Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeh’s Iranian tragicomedy, which follows a widow living in solitude who decides one day to restart her love life.
My Favourite Cake is produced by Iran’s Filmsazan Javan, France’s Caractères Productions, Sweden’s Hobab, and Germany’s Watchmen Productions.
The film has already sold to a range of territories including A Contracorriente in Spain, Academy Two in Italy, Alamode for Germany and Austria, and Arthaus in Norway.
Premiering at the Berlinale last week,...
- 2/22/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mahin’s friend Pouran likes talking about her ailments, real and imagined. More than that, she has something on her phone she is keen to show the ladies gathered for one of their regular lunches at Mahin’s place: the film she made of her colonoscopy. “That’s disgusting,” snorts Mahin (Lily Farhadpour). “I told her to marry! You wouldn’t be like this if you had!” Another of their wrinkly gang chips in. “What joy did our dead husbands ever bring us?” They all laugh, companionably.
They’re a lively lot in this warm Iranian drama, teasing each other about their incontinence and expired marriages. Mahin has little patience for such ailment talk, but she admits she sleeps badly. What she will not confess is that she wakes up and watches trashy soap operas. She even puts on make-up, all the better to empathise with the small-screen couples bewitch and betray each other.
They’re a lively lot in this warm Iranian drama, teasing each other about their incontinence and expired marriages. Mahin has little patience for such ailment talk, but she admits she sleeps badly. What she will not confess is that she wakes up and watches trashy soap operas. She even puts on make-up, all the better to empathise with the small-screen couples bewitch and betray each other.
- 2/20/2024
- by Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
France’s Totem Films has signed a slew of international deals at the EFM for Berlin competition title My Favourite Cake, directed by Iranian filmmakers Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha.
The Iranian tragicomedy follows a 70-year-old woman who breaks out of her solitary routine by trying to invigorate her love life. The film stars newcomer Lily Farhadpour alongside veteran Iranian actor Esmail Mehrabi.
It has sold to A Contracorriente in Spain, Academy Two in Italy, Alamode for Germany and Austria, and Arthaus in Norway.
The film took an early lead on Screen’s jury grid and had previously inked pre-sales...
The Iranian tragicomedy follows a 70-year-old woman who breaks out of her solitary routine by trying to invigorate her love life. The film stars newcomer Lily Farhadpour alongside veteran Iranian actor Esmail Mehrabi.
It has sold to A Contracorriente in Spain, Academy Two in Italy, Alamode for Germany and Austria, and Arthaus in Norway.
The film took an early lead on Screen’s jury grid and had previously inked pre-sales...
- 2/20/2024
- ScreenDaily
Ukrainian drama project Screaming Girl has scooped the top prize at the Berlinale Co-Production Market.
The feature won the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, worth €20,000, which went to Kyiv-based producers Forefilms.
Director Antonio Lukich is known for comedy-drama Luxembourg, Luxembourg, which screened in the Horizons strand of the Venice Film Festival in 2022. His debut was My Thoughts Are Silent, which won a special jury prize at Karlovy Vary in 2019.
Screaming Girl centres on a girl who, after the invasion of Ukraine, finds herself in Ireland and pursues her dream of becoming an actress. However, she begins to experience strange and fantastical events that disrupt her life,...
The feature won the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, worth €20,000, which went to Kyiv-based producers Forefilms.
Director Antonio Lukich is known for comedy-drama Luxembourg, Luxembourg, which screened in the Horizons strand of the Venice Film Festival in 2022. His debut was My Thoughts Are Silent, which won a special jury prize at Karlovy Vary in 2019.
Screaming Girl centres on a girl who, after the invasion of Ukraine, finds herself in Ireland and pursues her dream of becoming an actress. However, she begins to experience strange and fantastical events that disrupt her life,...
- 2/19/2024
- ScreenDaily
by Elisa Giudici
My Favourite Cake © Hamid Janipour
Three more movies from Berlinale to discuss including a great Iranian film, the latest from Olivier Assayas, and a World War II picture.
My Favourite Cake by Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadda
Once again, Iranian cinema, amidst the myriad challenges of filming in a hostile political environment, offers a memorable title. My Favourite Cake is a brilliant bittersweet romantic comedy, addressing universal themes with sudden, precise glimpses into Iranian reality...
My Favourite Cake © Hamid Janipour
Three more movies from Berlinale to discuss including a great Iranian film, the latest from Olivier Assayas, and a World War II picture.
My Favourite Cake by Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadda
Once again, Iranian cinema, amidst the myriad challenges of filming in a hostile political environment, offers a memorable title. My Favourite Cake is a brilliant bittersweet romantic comedy, addressing universal themes with sudden, precise glimpses into Iranian reality...
- 2/18/2024
- by Elisa Giudici
- FilmExperience
Iranian tragicomedy My Favourite Cake has taken the early lead on Screen international’ s 2024 Berlin competition jury grid, with scores for seven titles now in.
The latest from Iranian duo Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha follows a 70-year-old woman who breaks out of her solitary routine by trying to invigorate her love life. It scored a strong 3.1 average, including three fours (excellent) from Ahmed Shawkey (Egypt’s filfan.com), Rita Di Santo (UK’s Morning Star) and Screen’s own critic.
Click on the jury grid above for the most up-to-date version.
Currently in joint second on the grid with...
The latest from Iranian duo Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha follows a 70-year-old woman who breaks out of her solitary routine by trying to invigorate her love life. It scored a strong 3.1 average, including three fours (excellent) from Ahmed Shawkey (Egypt’s filfan.com), Rita Di Santo (UK’s Morning Star) and Screen’s own critic.
Click on the jury grid above for the most up-to-date version.
Currently in joint second on the grid with...
- 2/18/2024
- ScreenDaily
Layer Cake: Moghaddam & Sanaeeha Find Love in a Hopeless Place
If ever there were a film depicting how one cannot have their cake and eat it too, it would be My Favorite Cake, the second feature co-directed by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha. In essence, its narrative structure couldn’t be more simplified. A lonely widow in her seventies decides to search for love one afternoon and finds her energies reciprocated during one wine soaked, ultimately bittersweet evening. And yet, the film is also about so much more, as the ripple effects in Iran have already clearly shown by governmental sanction against the directors for daring to show an authentic experience of an Iranian woman.…...
If ever there were a film depicting how one cannot have their cake and eat it too, it would be My Favorite Cake, the second feature co-directed by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha. In essence, its narrative structure couldn’t be more simplified. A lonely widow in her seventies decides to search for love one afternoon and finds her energies reciprocated during one wine soaked, ultimately bittersweet evening. And yet, the film is also about so much more, as the ripple effects in Iran have already clearly shown by governmental sanction against the directors for daring to show an authentic experience of an Iranian woman.…...
- 2/17/2024
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Like taxis on a rainy night, you wait for ages for a great, bittersweet film about love in late middle age with a side helping of gastronomic lusciousness — and then two come along at once. Tehran-set but internationally-produced comedy-drama My Favourite Cake premiered at the Berlin Film Festival a day after Valentine’s Day. That day just so happened to overlap with the release of French drama The Taste of Things in several key territories. (Taste opened in the U.S. on Feb. 9.)
Of course, writer-directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha‘s Berlinale competitor is very different from Tran Anh Hung’s period study starring Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel, but the two films overlap in fascinating ways. Both remind viewers of the ephemeral nature of all things. Both are sublime portraits of complicated, older souls, one of whom is an excellent cook who expresses love through food. And in both,...
Of course, writer-directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha‘s Berlinale competitor is very different from Tran Anh Hung’s period study starring Juliette Binoche and Benoit Magimel, but the two films overlap in fascinating ways. Both remind viewers of the ephemeral nature of all things. Both are sublime portraits of complicated, older souls, one of whom is an excellent cook who expresses love through food. And in both,...
- 2/17/2024
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Heroine Mahin (Lily Farhadpour) is fiercely determined to revitalise her mundane existence and taste a better life
As well as everything else, this wonderfully sweet and funny film will contribute to the debate about whether repressive regimes are the nursery of artistic greatness. The Iranian government has prevented the film’s two directors, Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, from travelling to Berlin to attend their own premiere; six months ago, their production offices were raided and computers and hard drives confiscated. But, fortunately, the police couldn’t find the film itself, whose gentle humanity is a compelling rebuke to this fatuous, clumsy repression.
If I had to guess, I would say that the authorities had got wind of a particular scene in which the morality police drive self-importantly around a Tehran park in their van, intimidating young women who are allegedly not wearing their hijabs with enough modesty. The 70-year-old...
As well as everything else, this wonderfully sweet and funny film will contribute to the debate about whether repressive regimes are the nursery of artistic greatness. The Iranian government has prevented the film’s two directors, Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, from travelling to Berlin to attend their own premiere; six months ago, their production offices were raided and computers and hard drives confiscated. But, fortunately, the police couldn’t find the film itself, whose gentle humanity is a compelling rebuke to this fatuous, clumsy repression.
If I had to guess, I would say that the authorities had got wind of a particular scene in which the morality police drive self-importantly around a Tehran park in their van, intimidating young women who are allegedly not wearing their hijabs with enough modesty. The 70-year-old...
- 2/16/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
How late is too late? It’s a question that besets Mahin (Lily Farhadpour) a 70-year-old retired nurse who sleeps late, whose late husband is late by 30 years, and who is beginning to wonder if her loneliness might become untenable as late-life gets later still. But the question could also be asked of “My Favourite Cake” itself, which after leaning into Farhadpour’s ample charisma and the lovely, whimsical chemistry she strikes up with co-star Esmail Mehrabi, takes a strangely bitter turn in its home stretch, like a spongy confection whose dangerously high sucrose levels you are only just getting used to, when an unwelcome bit of grit chips a tooth.
The film’s writer-directors, Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, are returning to the Berlin Competition after their “Ballad of a White Cow” played to quite some acclaim here in 2021. Returning, that is, in spirit but not in person, as...
The film’s writer-directors, Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, are returning to the Berlin Competition after their “Ballad of a White Cow” played to quite some acclaim here in 2021. Returning, that is, in spirit but not in person, as...
- 2/16/2024
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Tim Mielants’ Berlinale opening film Small Things Like These is the first film to land on Screen’s Berlin 2024 Competition jury grid.
Cillian Murphy stars as a quiet man with a conscience in 1980s Ireland in this adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novella, which is produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Artists Equity.
Eight critics are taking part in this year’s jury grid and will mark all 20 films playing in competition.
Click on the jury grid above for the most up-to-date version.
The film divided critics, earning an average score of 2.4 overall. It received four two-star ratings...
Cillian Murphy stars as a quiet man with a conscience in 1980s Ireland in this adaptation of Claire Keegan’s novella, which is produced by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s Artists Equity.
Eight critics are taking part in this year’s jury grid and will mark all 20 films playing in competition.
Click on the jury grid above for the most up-to-date version.
The film divided critics, earning an average score of 2.4 overall. It received four two-star ratings...
- 2/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
Iranian filmmakers Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam’s new feature My Favourite Cake world premieres at the Berlinale on Friday but the directors are not at the festival having been slapped with a travel ban by Iran’s authoritarian Islamic Republic regime.
Their absence was marked at the press conference by two empty seats and a joint portrait, while lead actress Lily Farhadpour, who has been allowed to make the journey, read out a statement on their behalf.
“We feel like parents who are forbidden from even looking at their new-born child,” it read. “We’re sad and we’re tired, but we’re not alone. This is the magic of cinema. Cinema brings us together. It is a window which opens up a time and a place where we can meet.”
Their quirky comedy-drama stars Farhadpour as a lonely widow who seizes the moment and invites a taxi driver...
Their absence was marked at the press conference by two empty seats and a joint portrait, while lead actress Lily Farhadpour, who has been allowed to make the journey, read out a statement on their behalf.
“We feel like parents who are forbidden from even looking at their new-born child,” it read. “We’re sad and we’re tired, but we’re not alone. This is the magic of cinema. Cinema brings us together. It is a window which opens up a time and a place where we can meet.”
Their quirky comedy-drama stars Farhadpour as a lonely widow who seizes the moment and invites a taxi driver...
- 2/16/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Iranian directors of Keyke Mahboobe Man (My Favourite Cake) have pledged to push back against censorship back home after they were stopped by authorities in Tehran from traveling to Berlin in time for their world premiere Friday night.
“We’ve have decided to cross all of the restrictive red lines and accept the consequences of our choice to paint a real picture of Iranian women,” Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha said in a statement read to a press conference in Berlin on Friday. The directors were barred from leaving Iran to discuss their film about an elderly woman who wants a normal life.
“We feel like parents who are forbidden from even looking at their newborn child. We have not been allowed today to enjoy watching the film with you, a discerning audience at this film festival. We are sad and tired, but we are not alone,” the directors...
“We’ve have decided to cross all of the restrictive red lines and accept the consequences of our choice to paint a real picture of Iranian women,” Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha said in a statement read to a press conference in Berlin on Friday. The directors were barred from leaving Iran to discuss their film about an elderly woman who wants a normal life.
“We feel like parents who are forbidden from even looking at their newborn child. We have not been allowed today to enjoy watching the film with you, a discerning audience at this film festival. We are sad and tired, but we are not alone,” the directors...
- 2/16/2024
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha won’t be coming to Berlin. The Iranian directors, whose feature Ballad of a White Cow received a rapturous reception here in 2020, were set to attend the 74th Berlinale with their latest competition entry, My Favourite Cake.
“But then the police came, took our passports and told us were banned from traveling,” says Moghaddam, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter via Zoom from the couple’s home in Tehran. “We are now facing a court case because of the film.”
The Berlinale has called on Iran to release the directors, saying it was “shocked and dismayed” to hear of the couple’s fate.
My Favourite Cake follows 70-year-old Mahin (Ballad of a White Cow actress Lili Farhadpour) who, after decades of living alone, decides to revive her love life. On a whim, she propositions Faramarz, a solidarity cab driver (Esmaeel Mehrabi), and invites him to her house.
“But then the police came, took our passports and told us were banned from traveling,” says Moghaddam, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter via Zoom from the couple’s home in Tehran. “We are now facing a court case because of the film.”
The Berlinale has called on Iran to release the directors, saying it was “shocked and dismayed” to hear of the couple’s fate.
My Favourite Cake follows 70-year-old Mahin (Ballad of a White Cow actress Lili Farhadpour) who, after decades of living alone, decides to revive her love life. On a whim, she propositions Faramarz, a solidarity cab driver (Esmaeel Mehrabi), and invites him to her house.
- 2/16/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s My Favourite Cake in is screening in Competition at the Berlinale today (February 16) but the directors are unable to attend the festival, having been prevented from leaving Iran by its government.
“Six months ago security guards raided our editor’s office, and took all the computers, hard drives and copies of the film,” said Sanaeeha. “They told us there will be a court case, and because of that we can’t leave the country.”
The government still holds their passports and has tried to make them withdraw the film from Berlin. “It feels like...
“Six months ago security guards raided our editor’s office, and took all the computers, hard drives and copies of the film,” said Sanaeeha. “They told us there will be a court case, and because of that we can’t leave the country.”
The government still holds their passports and has tried to make them withdraw the film from Berlin. “It feels like...
- 2/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
After a week of protests, petitions, and even a call to boycott the Berlin International Film Festival, organizers had to be fearing the worst when the 74th Berlinale kicked off Thursday night.
But the only demonstration on the red carpet was a peaceful one. Several filmmakers gathered together next to Berlinale Directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian and, holding up their cell phones, with LEDs shining, called for “democracy, diversity and peaceful togetherness.”
It was worlds away from the PR disaster that could have been expected just a week ago when the news came out that the Berlinale had invited elected members of the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) to its opening ceremony. The invitations were standard protocol and AfD members had been invited to the festival for years. But this year was different. For weeks, hundreds of thousands of Germans have been marching in anti-AfD demonstrations across the country,...
But the only demonstration on the red carpet was a peaceful one. Several filmmakers gathered together next to Berlinale Directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian and, holding up their cell phones, with LEDs shining, called for “democracy, diversity and peaceful togetherness.”
It was worlds away from the PR disaster that could have been expected just a week ago when the news came out that the Berlinale had invited elected members of the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) to its opening ceremony. The invitations were standard protocol and AfD members had been invited to the festival for years. But this year was different. For weeks, hundreds of thousands of Germans have been marching in anti-AfD demonstrations across the country,...
- 2/15/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Iranian director duo Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha were recently banned by Iranian authorities from traveling to this year’s Berlin Film Festival, where their drama “My Favourite Cake” is premiering in competition.
The film is about a 70-year-old woman named Mahin who has been living alone in Tehran ever since her husband died and her daughter left for Europe. Suddenly an incident prompts Mahin to break her solitary routine and revitalize her love life. The directors have a history with the Berlinale, where their previous work, “Ballad of a White Cow,” premiered in 2021 with the directors in tow.
They spoke to Variety via Zoom from Tehran about the increased crackdown against filmmakers in their country.
What have Iranian authorities done to prevent you from coming to Berlin?
Behtash Sanaeeha: Actually, it all started six months ago when security guards raided our editor’s place. They took all the hard...
The film is about a 70-year-old woman named Mahin who has been living alone in Tehran ever since her husband died and her daughter left for Europe. Suddenly an incident prompts Mahin to break her solitary routine and revitalize her love life. The directors have a history with the Berlinale, where their previous work, “Ballad of a White Cow,” premiered in 2021 with the directors in tow.
They spoke to Variety via Zoom from Tehran about the increased crackdown against filmmakers in their country.
What have Iranian authorities done to prevent you from coming to Berlin?
Behtash Sanaeeha: Actually, it all started six months ago when security guards raided our editor’s place. They took all the hard...
- 2/15/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Jury members for the 74th Berlinale answered and avoided numerous political questions in a tense press conference ahead of the opening of the 2024 festival.
In a 40-minute conference, the seven-person jury fielded questions on the invitation then disinvitation of Germany right-wing party Alternative fur Deutschland; the ongoing crisis in Gaza; and the war in Ukraine.
Responding to a question about Gaza, German filmmaker Christian Petzold said, “I don’t want to answer this question here because it’s not really one that belongs in this press conference.
“I’m in favour of peace, in favour of discussing, talking, which I...
In a 40-minute conference, the seven-person jury fielded questions on the invitation then disinvitation of Germany right-wing party Alternative fur Deutschland; the ongoing crisis in Gaza; and the war in Ukraine.
Responding to a question about Gaza, German filmmaker Christian Petzold said, “I don’t want to answer this question here because it’s not really one that belongs in this press conference.
“I’m in favour of peace, in favour of discussing, talking, which I...
- 2/15/2024
- ScreenDaily
Paris-based sales and production outfit Totem Films has closed a slew of sales ahead of the Berlinale premieres of their Competition title “My Favourite Cake,” and the Panorama opening film “Crossing.”
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s “My Favourite Cake” sold to Cherry Pickers for Benelux, Camera for Denmark, Arizona for France, Triart for Sweden, Cineworx for Switzerland and Bir for Turkey.
Levan Akin’s “Crossing” sold to Imagine for Benelux, New Story for France, Lucky Red for Italy, Avalon for Spain and Cineworx for Switzerland. As announced previously, a multi-territory deal was also signed with Mubi.
Other territories are in discussion and Totem will continue selling the films at the European Film Market in Berlin.
Totem will also be launching sales in Berlin for “Queen Mom,” which is in post-production. The film is directed by Manele Labidi (“Arab Blues”) and stars Camélia Jordana, Sofiane Zermani, Damien Bonnard and Rim Monfort.
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s “My Favourite Cake” sold to Cherry Pickers for Benelux, Camera for Denmark, Arizona for France, Triart for Sweden, Cineworx for Switzerland and Bir for Turkey.
Levan Akin’s “Crossing” sold to Imagine for Benelux, New Story for France, Lucky Red for Italy, Avalon for Spain and Cineworx for Switzerland. As announced previously, a multi-territory deal was also signed with Mubi.
Other territories are in discussion and Totem will continue selling the films at the European Film Market in Berlin.
Totem will also be launching sales in Berlin for “Queen Mom,” which is in post-production. The film is directed by Manele Labidi (“Arab Blues”) and stars Camélia Jordana, Sofiane Zermani, Damien Bonnard and Rim Monfort.
- 2/12/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival has called on Iran to allow directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha to leave the country to attend the world premiere of their new film My Favorite Cake, which has been selected to screen in competition at the 74th Berlinale.
In a statement Thursday, the festival said that they have learned that Moghaddam and Sanaeeha have been banned from traveling, have had their passports confiscated by Iranian authorities, and face a court trial connected to their work as artists and filmmakers.
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha on the set of ‘My Favourite Cake’
“The Berlinale is a festival fundamentally committed to freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of the arts, for all people around the world and the festival is shocked and dismayed to learn that Moghaddam and Sanaeeha could be prevented from traveling to the festival to present their film and meet their audience in Berlin,...
In a statement Thursday, the festival said that they have learned that Moghaddam and Sanaeeha have been banned from traveling, have had their passports confiscated by Iranian authorities, and face a court trial connected to their work as artists and filmmakers.
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha on the set of ‘My Favourite Cake’
“The Berlinale is a festival fundamentally committed to freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of the arts, for all people around the world and the festival is shocked and dismayed to learn that Moghaddam and Sanaeeha could be prevented from traveling to the festival to present their film and meet their audience in Berlin,...
- 2/1/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Berlin Film Festival has put out a statement in support of Iranian filmmakers Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha, whose feature My Favourite Cake is due to compete for the Golden Bear at the 74th edition.
In a release bannered “Call for Freedom Of Movement, Freedom Of Expression for Competition Directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha”, the Berlinale said it had been informed the pair would not be allowed to leave Iran to attend the festival, running from February 15 to 25.
As previously reported by Deadline, the pair were banned last fall from travel and face a trial in Iran in relation to the film.
The pair discovered they were subject to a travel ban at Tehran airport at the end of September after their passports were confiscated as they went to catch a flight to Paris to work on post-production of My Favourite Cake.
The Berlinale said it was “shocked...
In a release bannered “Call for Freedom Of Movement, Freedom Of Expression for Competition Directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha”, the Berlinale said it had been informed the pair would not be allowed to leave Iran to attend the festival, running from February 15 to 25.
As previously reported by Deadline, the pair were banned last fall from travel and face a trial in Iran in relation to the film.
The pair discovered they were subject to a travel ban at Tehran airport at the end of September after their passports were confiscated as they went to catch a flight to Paris to work on post-production of My Favourite Cake.
The Berlinale said it was “shocked...
- 2/1/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Berlinale has issued a statement calling for Iranian authorities to allow “My Favourite Cake” directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha to travel to this year’s film festival.
“My Favourite Cake” is set to premiere in competition at the festival, which starts on Feb. 15. Since the announcement, Moghaddam and Sanaeeha have been banned from traveling by Iranian authorities and have had their passports confiscated, according to the Berlinale. They are also facing a court trial “in relation to their work as artists and filmmakers,” the fest said.
“The Berlinale is a festival fundamentally committed to freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of the arts, for all people around the world, and the festival is shocked and dismayed to learn that Moghaddam and Sanaeeha could be prevented from traveling to the festival to present their film and meet their audience in Berlin,” a press release from the festival stated.
“My Favourite Cake” is set to premiere in competition at the festival, which starts on Feb. 15. Since the announcement, Moghaddam and Sanaeeha have been banned from traveling by Iranian authorities and have had their passports confiscated, according to the Berlinale. They are also facing a court trial “in relation to their work as artists and filmmakers,” the fest said.
“The Berlinale is a festival fundamentally committed to freedom of speech, freedom of expression and freedom of the arts, for all people around the world, and the festival is shocked and dismayed to learn that Moghaddam and Sanaeeha could be prevented from traveling to the festival to present their film and meet their audience in Berlin,” a press release from the festival stated.
- 2/1/2024
- by Ellise Shafer
- Variety Film + TV
Totem Films, the Paris-based sales and production company known for arthouse breakouts such as “Compartment No. 6” and “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry,” has boarded sales on “My Favourite Cake” by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha. The Iranian writing-directing duo’s latest feature was just announced in competition at the upcoming Berlinale.
The film stars newcomer Lily Farhadpour as Mahin and renowned Iranian actor Esmail Mehrabi as Faramarz.
Seventy-year-old Mahin lives alone, until she decides to break her solitary routine and revitalize her love life. But as she opens up to romance, an unexpected encounter quickly evolves into an unforgettable evening.
Moghaddam and Sanaeeha said: “’My Favourite Cake’ is based on the reality of the everyday lives of middle-class women in Iran. The realities of women’s lives in Iran have hardly ever been told, yet this is a playful tale about hope and joy in life, as well as the absurdity of death.
The film stars newcomer Lily Farhadpour as Mahin and renowned Iranian actor Esmail Mehrabi as Faramarz.
Seventy-year-old Mahin lives alone, until she decides to break her solitary routine and revitalize her love life. But as she opens up to romance, an unexpected encounter quickly evolves into an unforgettable evening.
Moghaddam and Sanaeeha said: “’My Favourite Cake’ is based on the reality of the everyday lives of middle-class women in Iran. The realities of women’s lives in Iran have hardly ever been told, yet this is a playful tale about hope and joy in life, as well as the absurdity of death.
- 1/24/2024
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival on Monday unveiled the titles selected for its official competition and its sidebar Encounters competitive section.
A total of 20 films have been selected for the international competition, with highlights including La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruiz Palacios and starring Rooney Mara. The pic is described as a “kinetic and cinematic love story” set over a single day in a Times Square kitchen. French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop returns with Dahomey, a 60-minute doc about art repatriation and Hong Sangsoo plays in competition with A Traveler’s Needs, starring Isabelle Huppert. Scroll down for the full lineup.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 15-25.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon...
A total of 20 films have been selected for the international competition, with highlights including La Cocina, directed by Alonso Ruiz Palacios and starring Rooney Mara. The pic is described as a “kinetic and cinematic love story” set over a single day in a Times Square kitchen. French-Senegalese filmmaker Mati Diop returns with Dahomey, a 60-minute doc about art repatriation and Hong Sangsoo plays in competition with A Traveler’s Needs, starring Isabelle Huppert. Scroll down for the full lineup.
The Berlin Film Festival takes place February 15-25.
Organizers have already announced more than 100 titles across sidebars spanning Panorama, Forum, and Berlinale Special. Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, a feature documentary about influential British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger narrated by Killers of the Flower Moon...
- 1/22/2024
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Some 30 film organizations, festivals and professionals as well as freedom of speech NGOs have signed an open letter calling on Iranian authorities to immediately drop all charges against directors Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha as well as lift a travel ban.
The signatories include the Berlinale, the Amsterdam-based International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, and Pen America in New York.
The filmmakers, whose last collaboration Ballad Of A White Cow made waves on the festival circuit, have become caught in the crosshairs of their country’s hardline Islamist regime in relation to their upcoming film My Favourite Cake.
The pair were due to fly to Paris in September to complete post-production on the feature, exploring “life behind closed doors of an aging woman who dares to live her desires in a country where women’s rights are heavily restricted.”
Their passports were confiscated at Tehran airport, however, and they were...
The signatories include the Berlinale, the Amsterdam-based International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, and Pen America in New York.
The filmmakers, whose last collaboration Ballad Of A White Cow made waves on the festival circuit, have become caught in the crosshairs of their country’s hardline Islamist regime in relation to their upcoming film My Favourite Cake.
The pair were due to fly to Paris in September to complete post-production on the feature, exploring “life behind closed doors of an aging woman who dares to live her desires in a country where women’s rights are heavily restricted.”
Their passports were confiscated at Tehran airport, however, and they were...
- 12/20/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Iranian directors Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam, whose last collaboration Ballad Of A White Cow made waves on the festival circuit, have been banned from travel and face a trial in relation to their upcoming film My Favourite Cake.
The pair discovered they were subject to a travel ban at Tehran airport at the end of September after their passports were confiscated as they went to catch a flight to Paris to work on post-production of the new film.
They were subsequently told that they faced a trial related to the production.
Local media reported that Iranian security forces had raided the house of the film’s editor, seizing rushes and other materials related to the production.
The country’s hard-line Islamist authorities are believed to have been angered by the work, which according to the official logline, revolves around the “life behind closed doors of an aging woman who...
The pair discovered they were subject to a travel ban at Tehran airport at the end of September after their passports were confiscated as they went to catch a flight to Paris to work on post-production of the new film.
They were subsequently told that they faced a trial related to the production.
Local media reported that Iranian security forces had raided the house of the film’s editor, seizing rushes and other materials related to the production.
The country’s hard-line Islamist authorities are believed to have been angered by the work, which according to the official logline, revolves around the “life behind closed doors of an aging woman who...
- 11/27/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The industry programme at the Norwegian festival included a focus on UK projects.
Two veryr different projects from female directors have been the talk of the industry at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films market this week.
Amanda Kernell won the pitching prize after the Co-Production Market presentation of her third feature film, The Curse - A Love Story while Thea Hvistendahl’s work in progress Handling The Undead, which reunites Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie after The Worst Person in the World, hugely impressed buyers and festival programmers alike
The Curse will follow Kernell’s Venice 2016 premiere Sami Blood and Sundance 2020 selection Charter.
Two veryr different projects from female directors have been the talk of the industry at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films market this week.
Amanda Kernell won the pitching prize after the Co-Production Market presentation of her third feature film, The Curse - A Love Story while Thea Hvistendahl’s work in progress Handling The Undead, which reunites Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie after The Worst Person in the World, hugely impressed buyers and festival programmers alike
The Curse will follow Kernell’s Venice 2016 premiere Sami Blood and Sundance 2020 selection Charter.
- 8/25/2023
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Rome-based Intramovies has picked up sales rights to Swedish up-and-coming filmmaker Mika Gustafson’s “Sisters,” ahead of the film’s pitch as a work in progress at Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market, which runs Feb. 2-5.
The film is being produced by Nima Yousefi for Stockholm-based Hobab, behind the multi-awarded “Clara Sola” by Nathalie Álvarez Mesen.
European co-producers on board “Sisters” take in Italy s’ Intramovies, Denmark’s Toolbox Film and Finland’s Tuffi Films.
Intramovies’ head of acquisitions and production Marco Valerio Fusco said “being the Italian co-producers, we loved the project since its inception, and were very excited by the film’s potential, the impressive script and all talents involved.
“For the good of the film, we didn’t put any pre-emption on the title, leaving the door open to any other possible sales agent. Then when Nima offered us to come on board, we immediately accepted,” said...
The film is being produced by Nima Yousefi for Stockholm-based Hobab, behind the multi-awarded “Clara Sola” by Nathalie Álvarez Mesen.
European co-producers on board “Sisters” take in Italy s’ Intramovies, Denmark’s Toolbox Film and Finland’s Tuffi Films.
Intramovies’ head of acquisitions and production Marco Valerio Fusco said “being the Italian co-producers, we loved the project since its inception, and were very excited by the film’s potential, the impressive script and all talents involved.
“For the good of the film, we didn’t put any pre-emption on the title, leaving the door open to any other possible sales agent. Then when Nima offered us to come on board, we immediately accepted,” said...
- 1/19/2023
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
For the 20th edition 33 films projects from 26 countries will take part.
New features from Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan and German director Leonie Krippendorff are among those to be presented at the 20th Berliane Co-production Market (February 18 to 22), the first in-person edition since 2020.
The market will provide the opportunity for 33 projects from 26 countries to secure financing and get fired up as international co-productions in the next few years, with sales agents, broadcasters, funding bodies, streaming platforms, film distributors and other financing partners in attendance.
For the official project selection, 17 fiction feature projects with budgets between €600,000 and €5m and chosen from among 302 submissions will take part.
New features from Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan and German director Leonie Krippendorff are among those to be presented at the 20th Berliane Co-production Market (February 18 to 22), the first in-person edition since 2020.
The market will provide the opportunity for 33 projects from 26 countries to secure financing and get fired up as international co-productions in the next few years, with sales agents, broadcasters, funding bodies, streaming platforms, film distributors and other financing partners in attendance.
For the official project selection, 17 fiction feature projects with budgets between €600,000 and €5m and chosen from among 302 submissions will take part.
- 1/9/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin Film Festival has revealed a raft of titles across strands and also 33 film projects vying for coin at the coproduction market.
Selections for the topical Perspektive Deutsches Kino strand from emerging German talent include “Seven Winters in Tehran” by Steffi Niederzoll, “Elaha” by Milena Aboyan, “Ararat” by Engin Kundag, “The Kidnapping of the Bride” by Sophia Mocorrea, Fabian Stumm’s “Bones and Names,” “Long Long Kiss” by Lukas Röder, Tanja Egen’s “On Mothers and Daughters,” “Ash Wednesday,” by João Pedro Prado and Bárbara Santos, “Nuclear Nomads” by Kilian Armando Friedrich and Tizian Stromp Zargari and “Lonely Oaks” by Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl and Jens Mühlhoff.
All the selected films in the strand will compete for the Heiner Carow Prize and the Compass-Perspektive-Award, both of which are endowed with €5,000.
A 4K restoration of David Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” will open the Berlinale Classics section, which also includes Oliver Schmitz’ “Mapantsula,...
Selections for the topical Perspektive Deutsches Kino strand from emerging German talent include “Seven Winters in Tehran” by Steffi Niederzoll, “Elaha” by Milena Aboyan, “Ararat” by Engin Kundag, “The Kidnapping of the Bride” by Sophia Mocorrea, Fabian Stumm’s “Bones and Names,” “Long Long Kiss” by Lukas Röder, Tanja Egen’s “On Mothers and Daughters,” “Ash Wednesday,” by João Pedro Prado and Bárbara Santos, “Nuclear Nomads” by Kilian Armando Friedrich and Tizian Stromp Zargari and “Lonely Oaks” by Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl and Jens Mühlhoff.
All the selected films in the strand will compete for the Heiner Carow Prize and the Compass-Perspektive-Award, both of which are endowed with €5,000.
A 4K restoration of David Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” will open the Berlinale Classics section, which also includes Oliver Schmitz’ “Mapantsula,...
- 1/9/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival today unveiled the titles selected for its retrospective section chosen by a collection of international directors and actors, including Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Nadine Labaki, and Tilda Swinton.
This year the theme of the retrospective sidebar is “Coming of Age at the Movies,” and each invited artist was tasked with submitting their personal favorite film that either deals with “being young and growing up” or had a “decisive role in the evolution or development” of their own artistic practice. The retrospective section will also exclusively screen films that have been newly restored.
The full list of invited artists includes Maren Ade, Pedro Almodóvar, Wes Anderson, Juliette Binoche, Lav Diaz, Alice Diop, Ava DuVernay, Nora Fingscheidt, Luca Guadagnino, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, Ethan Hawke, Karoline Herfurth, Niki Karimi, Nadine Labaki, Nadav Lapid, Sergei Loznitsa, Mohammad Rasoulof, Céline Sciamma, Martin Scorsese, Aparna Sen, M. Night Shyamalan, Carla Simón, Abderrahmane Sissako,...
This year the theme of the retrospective sidebar is “Coming of Age at the Movies,” and each invited artist was tasked with submitting their personal favorite film that either deals with “being young and growing up” or had a “decisive role in the evolution or development” of their own artistic practice. The retrospective section will also exclusively screen films that have been newly restored.
The full list of invited artists includes Maren Ade, Pedro Almodóvar, Wes Anderson, Juliette Binoche, Lav Diaz, Alice Diop, Ava DuVernay, Nora Fingscheidt, Luca Guadagnino, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, Ethan Hawke, Karoline Herfurth, Niki Karimi, Nadine Labaki, Nadav Lapid, Sergei Loznitsa, Mohammad Rasoulof, Céline Sciamma, Martin Scorsese, Aparna Sen, M. Night Shyamalan, Carla Simón, Abderrahmane Sissako,...
- 1/9/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Four previously backed films are screening at Venice this year.
The Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund (Wcf) is to provide a combined €344,000 in finance to seven international projects.
In its latest funding round, the Wcf has recommended production funding for six projects from Burkina Faso, Chile, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and Colombia. The fund has also recommened providing distribution funding for the August 25 German release of Sudanese film You Will Die At Twenty.
The Berlinale’s funding initiative was set up in 2004 to help diversify German cinema and support projects from areas of the world with less filmmaking infrastructure.
The Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund (Wcf) is to provide a combined €344,000 in finance to seven international projects.
In its latest funding round, the Wcf has recommended production funding for six projects from Burkina Faso, Chile, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and Colombia. The fund has also recommened providing distribution funding for the August 25 German release of Sudanese film You Will Die At Twenty.
The Berlinale’s funding initiative was set up in 2004 to help diversify German cinema and support projects from areas of the world with less filmmaking infrastructure.
- 8/16/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
No filmmaker in Iran is immune to the pressures of censorship. Movies made in the country must gain approval from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance not only for distribution purposes but for shooting permits as well. For directors and producers with stories that violate government standards — say, a scene where a woman removes her traditional headscarf, or another violation of Islamic law — the options for maintaining creative freedom are simple: Submit a script with the offending scenes removed, then shoot them anyway. Or hit the road.
Panah Panahi took the second option for his acclaimed debut, but “Hit the Road” is hardly an anomaly. “In a sense the car becomes a second house for us Iranians,” Panahi said in a phone interview with IndieWire ahead of his movie’s U.S. release. “There is a level of security inside the car. That’s why you see so many road films.
Panah Panahi took the second option for his acclaimed debut, but “Hit the Road” is hardly an anomaly. “In a sense the car becomes a second house for us Iranians,” Panahi said in a phone interview with IndieWire ahead of his movie’s U.S. release. “There is a level of security inside the car. That’s why you see so many road films.
- 4/22/2022
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
’Girls Will Be Girls’ took home two prizes.
The Berlinale Co-Production Market has awarded its top prize to French-Iranian project My Favourite Cake.
The feature took home the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, worth €20,000. It centres on an aging woman who dares to live her desires against society’s expectations. Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha direct, with Caractères Productions and Honare Khiyal producing.
It is the third joint directing effort for Iranian filmmakers Moghaddam and Sanaeeha, whose previous film was 2021 Berlinale competition title Ballad Of A White Cow.
Shuchi Talati’s feature debut Girls Will Be Girls received two prizes. The...
The Berlinale Co-Production Market has awarded its top prize to French-Iranian project My Favourite Cake.
The feature took home the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, worth €20,000. It centres on an aging woman who dares to live her desires against society’s expectations. Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha direct, with Caractères Productions and Honare Khiyal producing.
It is the third joint directing effort for Iranian filmmakers Moghaddam and Sanaeeha, whose previous film was 2021 Berlinale competition title Ballad Of A White Cow.
Shuchi Talati’s feature debut Girls Will Be Girls received two prizes. The...
- 2/14/2022
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Projects from France-Iran and India were the big winners at this year’s Berlinale Co-Production Market, which is part of the European Film Market.
The Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, endowed with €20,000, went to the producers of Caractères Productions from France, and Honare Khiyal from Iran for their project “My Favourite Cake” by directors Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam.
The Vff Talent Highlight Award with prize money of €10,000 went to director Shuchi Talati’s “Girls Will Be Girls.” The film is to be produced by Pushing Buttons Studios, an outfit founded by Indian actors Ali Fazal (“Death on the Nile”) and Richa Chadha (“Gangs of Wasseypur”) and co-produced by Sanjay Gulati and Pooja Chauhan of Crawling Angel Films (2020 Berlinale selection “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs”) and Claire Chassagne of Dolce Vita Films (2019 Venice and Cairo winner “A Son”).
The award is presented annually by the Vff — Copyright Agency of...
The Eurimages Co-Production Development Award, endowed with €20,000, went to the producers of Caractères Productions from France, and Honare Khiyal from Iran for their project “My Favourite Cake” by directors Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam.
The Vff Talent Highlight Award with prize money of €10,000 went to director Shuchi Talati’s “Girls Will Be Girls.” The film is to be produced by Pushing Buttons Studios, an outfit founded by Indian actors Ali Fazal (“Death on the Nile”) and Richa Chadha (“Gangs of Wasseypur”) and co-produced by Sanjay Gulati and Pooja Chauhan of Crawling Angel Films (2020 Berlinale selection “The Shepherdess and the Seven Songs”) and Claire Chassagne of Dolce Vita Films (2019 Venice and Cairo winner “A Son”).
The award is presented annually by the Vff — Copyright Agency of...
- 2/14/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Ballad of a White Cow (Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam)
The cruelty of the Iranian justice system is in the spotlight again in Ballad of a White Cow, the compelling debut of directing team Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam that unfurled in competition at Berlin. Just last year, Mohamad Rasoulof won the festival’s top prize for his anti-capital punishment polemic There Is No Evil, a masterful weaving of four storylines that showed how a morally bankrupt state corrodes those forced to carry out its functions, a searing portrait of the banality of evil. – Ed F. (full review)
Where to Stream: Mubi (free for 30 days)
Bigbug (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Bigbug is set in the year 2045 and centers on a group of mismatched suburbanites who,...
Ballad of a White Cow (Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam)
The cruelty of the Iranian justice system is in the spotlight again in Ballad of a White Cow, the compelling debut of directing team Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghaddam that unfurled in competition at Berlin. Just last year, Mohamad Rasoulof won the festival’s top prize for his anti-capital punishment polemic There Is No Evil, a masterful weaving of four storylines that showed how a morally bankrupt state corrodes those forced to carry out its functions, a searing portrait of the banality of evil. – Ed F. (full review)
Where to Stream: Mubi (free for 30 days)
Bigbug (Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
Bigbug is set in the year 2045 and centers on a group of mismatched suburbanites who,...
- 2/11/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Kismet Kisses: Moghaddam & Sanaeeha Mine Intimate Vengeance in Rich Melodrama
The opening moments of Ballad of a White Cow evokes a quote from Al-Baqarah or The Surah of the Cow, the second and longest chapter of the Quran. Within this surah, more than one cow is featured, but the reference regards the slaughter of a cow as a message delivered by Allah to the Israelites through Moses, an action which will reveal who murdered a slain man. Caught in the middle, of course, is a poor, innocent cow.
While this is a rudimentary, and superficial starting point for examining the happenings of this tale of karmic vengeance, it’s the first narrative feature from directors Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who previously delivered the 2018 documentary The Invincible Diplomacy of Mr.…...
The opening moments of Ballad of a White Cow evokes a quote from Al-Baqarah or The Surah of the Cow, the second and longest chapter of the Quran. Within this surah, more than one cow is featured, but the reference regards the slaughter of a cow as a message delivered by Allah to the Israelites through Moses, an action which will reveal who murdered a slain man. Caught in the middle, of course, is a poor, innocent cow.
While this is a rudimentary, and superficial starting point for examining the happenings of this tale of karmic vengeance, it’s the first narrative feature from directors Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who previously delivered the 2018 documentary The Invincible Diplomacy of Mr.…...
- 2/10/2022
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha's Ballad of a White Cow is exclusively showing on Mubi in many countries starting February 10, 2022 in the series Viewfinder, as well as in Festival Focus: Berlinale.Photo by Hamid Janipour.It all started with a painful and bitter memory: an old wound which tormented our souls. With fear and hope, we told the story of our people’s enduring agony. The story of Mina’s anguish, longing for long-lost justice. The justice which had faded between the lines of a law. We wanted to tell a story about the victims and those that have suffered injustice. About people whose lives were fully transformed by the death of an innocent person. The story of many people around us, and definitely of many people in the world. The main characters are shaped and inspired by people we know. In the final credits of the film, we dedicate it to Mina,...
- 2/8/2022
- MUBI
Next month’s Mubi lineup for the U.S. has been unveiled and a number of our recent festival favorites that were awaiting distribution will be coming to the service, including Mr. Bachmann and His Class, Ballad of a White Cow, Madalena, Taste, The Monopoly of Violence, and For Lucio.
One of last year’s great films, Hong Sangsoo’s The Woman Who Ran, will also be arriving, alongside Abel Ferrara’s Ms. 45, the Safdies’ Heaven Knows What, Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz, and Leo McCarey’s Love Affair, with the latter two pairing for a Valentine’s Day double feature.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
February 1 | The Monopoly of Violence | David Dufresne | From France with Love
February 2 | Looking for Venera | Norika Sefa | Festival Focus: Rotterdam
February 3 | Madalena | Madiano Marcheti | Festival Focus: Rotterdam
February 4 | Honey Cigar | Kamir Aïnouz | From France with Love
February 5 | …and...
One of last year’s great films, Hong Sangsoo’s The Woman Who Ran, will also be arriving, alongside Abel Ferrara’s Ms. 45, the Safdies’ Heaven Knows What, Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz, and Leo McCarey’s Love Affair, with the latter two pairing for a Valentine’s Day double feature.
Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.
February 1 | The Monopoly of Violence | David Dufresne | From France with Love
February 2 | Looking for Venera | Norika Sefa | Festival Focus: Rotterdam
February 3 | Madalena | Madiano Marcheti | Festival Focus: Rotterdam
February 4 | Honey Cigar | Kamir Aïnouz | From France with Love
February 5 | …and...
- 1/20/2022
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The shortened in-person Berlin Film Festival (Feb. 10-16) has revealed a raft of high profile shows that will participate in keenly anticipated annual fixture Berlinale Series.
The strand opens with Amazon Prime Video Argentinian spy series “Yosi, the Regretful Spy” and also includes HBO Max Swedish friendship comedy series “Lust”; Lone Scherfig’s TV2 Danish maternity ward-set “The Shift”; Czech Television, Arte drama “Suspicion” from Czech Republic and France; British Sky supernatural thriller “The Rising”; Channel 2 Iceland police drama “Black Sand”; and from France’s Club illico, comedy-drama “Last Summers of the Raspberries.”
Films selected for the youth-focused Generation Kplus strand include “The Hill of Secrets” (South Korea); “Waters of Pastaza” (Portugal); “Moja Vesna” (Slovenia/Australia); “My Small Land” (Japan); “The Realm of God” (Mexico); “The Apple Day” (Iran); “Shabu” (Netherlands) and “Boney Piles” (Ukraine).
Films selected for the Generation 14plus strand include “Alis” (Colombia/Chile/Romania); “Bubble” (Japan...
The strand opens with Amazon Prime Video Argentinian spy series “Yosi, the Regretful Spy” and also includes HBO Max Swedish friendship comedy series “Lust”; Lone Scherfig’s TV2 Danish maternity ward-set “The Shift”; Czech Television, Arte drama “Suspicion” from Czech Republic and France; British Sky supernatural thriller “The Rising”; Channel 2 Iceland police drama “Black Sand”; and from France’s Club illico, comedy-drama “Last Summers of the Raspberries.”
Films selected for the youth-focused Generation Kplus strand include “The Hill of Secrets” (South Korea); “Waters of Pastaza” (Portugal); “Moja Vesna” (Slovenia/Australia); “My Small Land” (Japan); “The Realm of God” (Mexico); “The Apple Day” (Iran); “Shabu” (Netherlands) and “Boney Piles” (Ukraine).
Films selected for the Generation 14plus strand include “Alis” (Colombia/Chile/Romania); “Bubble” (Japan...
- 1/14/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Our second ever Best West Asian list is a bit smaller than the previous one, which included 20 films, but at least equal in terms of quality and diversity. In that fashion, and although Iran has the lion’s share, movies from Turkey, Georgia, Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Kazakhstan and Bangladesh are included in a list that also showcases (experimental) documentaries, dramas, comedies, action and everything between.
Without further ado, here are the best West Asian films of 2021, in random order. Some films may have premiered in 2020, but since they mostly circulated in 2021, we decided to include them.
15. Radiograph of A Family
“Radiograph of a Family” is a great documentary that manages to combine artfulness with a very interesting story and a parallel to the history of Iran, through a rather brave approach due to its intimacy. (Panos Kotzathanasis)
14. Hit the Road
Panahi directs his first feature with style and elegance, channeling...
Without further ado, here are the best West Asian films of 2021, in random order. Some films may have premiered in 2020, but since they mostly circulated in 2021, we decided to include them.
15. Radiograph of A Family
“Radiograph of a Family” is a great documentary that manages to combine artfulness with a very interesting story and a parallel to the history of Iran, through a rather brave approach due to its intimacy. (Panos Kotzathanasis)
14. Hit the Road
Panahi directs his first feature with style and elegance, channeling...
- 1/6/2022
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
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