Noticias

On January 8, 2020, a Ukraine International Airlines flight heading from Tehran to Kyiv was shot down shortly after departure by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, killing all 176 people on board. That in itself is tragic enough, but the families of the victims of Flight 752 have since been faced with prolonged pain and grief at the hands of Iran's current regime, whose excuses ranged from denial, to feigned grief, to outright pride. The events gripped the Iranian community around the world, and the Iranian-Canadian community in particular, as the majority of those on board were bound for Canada. There is never any sense in a tragedy like this of course, but whether closure can be found is the subject of Babak Payami's heartbreaking documentary 752 Is Not A Number.

Amir Naderi’s 1984 “The Runner” is often lauded as the first movie to emerge from post-revolutionary Iran and for having one of the best child performances of all time with Madjid Niroumand. It’s now receiving a new restoration that will debut at Film Forum on October 28 and run through November 10, with Naderi and Niroumand appearing in person for screenings. It will then make its way around the country. Exclusively on IndieWire, watch the new trailer below.

In “The Runner,” an illiterate 11-year-old orphan (Niroumand), living alone in an abandoned tanker in the Iranian port city of Abadan, survives by shining shoes, selling water, and diving for deposit bottles, while being bullied by both adults and competing older kids. But he finds solace by dreaming about departing cargo ships and airplanes and by running — seemingly to nowhere.

The movie has echoes of Vittorio De Sica’s “Shoeshine” and “The Bicycle Thief,...

Canada’s Riceboy Sleeps wins Platform Prize.

Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans has bolstered its awards season prospects by winning the TIFF People’s Choice Award on Sunday (September 18).

The award is a highly reliable bellwether of Academy voter attention. In the last ten years every TIFF audience award winner has earned a best picture Oscar nomination and three have gone on to win awards season’s top prize: Nomadland in 2021, Green Book in 2019, and 12 Years A Slave in 2014.

The Fabelmans earned a rapturous reception at its world premiere on September 10 and immediately announced itself in the awards race,...

Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” has won the 2022 TIFF People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF organizers announced at an awards breakfast on Sunday in Toronto.

Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” took the first runner-up slot, while Rian Johnson’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” was the second runner-up.

The People’s Choice Documentary award went to Hubert Davis’ hockey doc “Black Ice,” while the Midnight Madness award was won by Eric Appel’s entirely fake rock biopic “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”

Also Read:

‘The Fabelmans’ Film Review: Steven Spielberg’s Sweet Memory Piece Picks Up Steam as It Goes

In a year with an abundance of high-profile, crowd-pleasing movies in the TIFF lineup, other films in competition for the award included Martin McDonagh’s “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” Florian Zeller’s “The Son,” Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,...

Updated, 9:45 Am with Steven Spielberg statement:

Here is Steven Spielberg’s full statement upon winning the Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice award for The Fabelmans.

“As I said on stage the other night, ‘Above all, I’m glad I brought this film to Toronto!.’ This is the most personal film I’ve ever made, and the warm reception from everyone in Toronto made my first visit to TIFF so intimate and personal for me and my entire Fabelman family. Thank you to Cameron Bailey and the incredible staff at TIFF; thank you to Universal Pictures; and a very special thank you to all the movie fans in Toronto who have made this past weekend one I’ll never forget.”

Previously: The People’s Choice Award from the just-wrapped 2022 Toronto Film Festival has gone to Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. First Runner Up is Canada’s own Sarah Polley’s Women Talking.

Includes new work from Blackfish director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Werner Herzog and Klaus Hӓrӧ.

New work from Blackfish director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, Werner Herzog and Klaus Hӓrӧ are among TIFF Docs and Contemporary World Cinema line-ups announced on Wednesday (August 17).

In TIFF Docs, Cowperthwaite’s The Grab exposes the systematic acquisition of food and water resources by international governments and private companies. Herzog returns to the fray with Theatre Of Thought, in which he explores the cutting edge of brain research.

The selection includes Mark Fletcher’s nature documentary Patrick And The Whale (pictured) and opens with Sacha Jenkins’ Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues.

When a vampire wants information, they have a few different ways to acquire it—some of them more sinister than others. With Manhattan Undying coming out on VOD, DVD, and digital platforms beginning June 6th, Momentum Pictures has provided us with an exclusive clip from the film in which Vivian (Sarah Roemer) uses her chilling charms as a vampire to find out what she desires, while almost taking more than just information from her potential victim.

"Max is a talented young painter with a cult following for his hyper-realist style. Frustrated, he is squandering his life with drugs and excess until he learns that he has only weeks to live with advanced lung cancer. He decides to work on one last masterpiece instead of clinging to life with rigorous medical treatment. Vivian is a beautiful vampire preying on men who objectify women. She yearns to see her herself and understand the infatuation of her victims.

They thought they knew the score, but a group of thieves get more than they bargained for when they kidnap a girl possessed by a demon in House on Willow Street, coming to Blu-ray and DVD from Scream Factory this August. Today's Horror Highlights also includes a DVD contest for Glenn Douglas Packard's Pitchfork and release details and a trailer for Manhattan Undying.

House on Willow Street Blu-ray & DVD: From Scream Factory: "We are pleased to announce that we have a new IFC Midnight film planned for release on Blu-ray & DVD this August!

The House On Willow Street – The perfect kidnapping goes gruesomely awry in this shock-a-minute, supernatural wild ride. When a band of desperate criminals, led by the tough-as nails Hazel (Sharni Vinson, You're Next), abduct Katherine (Carlyn Burchell), the daughter of an ultra-wealthy family, they are certain they've found themselves an easy target for ransom. What...

Luke Grimes and Sarah Roemer are headlining indie vampire pic, “Manhattan Undying“. Two television actors hoping to sink their teeth into the big screen, Variety reports that Grimes and Roemer begin production on the film, to be directed by Babak Payami, this week. The script from Matt Deller follows a beautiful vampire (Roemer), “who commissions [...]

The post TV actors Luke Grimes and Sarah Roemer topline indie vampire film “Manhattan Undying” appeared first on Up and Comers.

With the popularity of vampires at the box office once again waning, a new flick is getting set to try and prove that the bloodsuckers still have some cash making bite left in them. Read on for the latest on Manhattan Undying.

Variety reports that Luke Grimes and Sarah Roemer (pictured right) are toplining indie vampire drama with Iranian filmmaker Babak Payami directing. Payami is also producing the film through his Payam Films banner along with Charles Wachsberg, co-owner of Payam Films. Production launched this week.

The screenplay by Matt Deller concerns a beautiful vampire who commissions an artist to paint her so she can see herself for the first time. She is unaware that the artist is dying and desperately working to create his last masterpiece that will give him artistic immortality. Yeah, I think we can see where this one is going.

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There's another new vampire picture in the works entitled Manhattan Undying.  Directed by Babak Payami, the film concerns a vampire who seeks out an artist to paint her a portrait so that she can see her image for the first time.  Variety adds that "she is unaware that the artist is dying and desperately working to create his last masterpiece that will give him artistic immortality."

Luke Grimes, who began his career with All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, signed to the project a bit ago, however, Variety says a female lead has been found to play opposite him.

Read more...

Babak Payami's Manhattan Undying has cast Luke Grimes and Sarah Roemer in the independent vampire drama written by Matt Deller According to Variety, Iranian filmmaker Payami is also producing via Payam Films with Charles Wachsberg, and production started this week. In Manhattan Undying, a stunning vampire hires an artist to paint her so she can have a look at what she looks like for the very first time. Bummer about the mirror. That said, it makes you wonder how all these vamps sports such clean cut hairdos for the most part. Do they get their own neck-biting stylists? In the film, Roemer's character is unaware that the artist who's painting her is dying, and this is his last attempt to create a masterpiece that will carve him into artistic immortality.

Babak Payami's Manhattan Undying has cast Luke Grimes and Sarah Roemer in the independent vampire drama written by Matt Deller According to Variety, Iranian filmmaker Payami is also producing via Payam Films with Charles Wachsberg, and production started this week. In Manhattan Undying, a stunning vampire hires an artist to paint her so she can have a look at what she looks like for the very first time. Bummer about the mirror. That said, it makes you wonder how all these vamps sports such clean cut hairdos for the most part. Do they get their own neck-biting stylists? In the film, Roemer's character is unaware that the artist who's painting her is dying, and this is his last attempt to create a masterpiece that will carve him into artistic immortality.

New Delhi, Nov 27: Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar has been invited to join the international jury at the Cairo International Film Festival that starts Tuesday.

"I am delighted to be a part of the international jury for the 35th edition of Cairo International Film Festival. I love the theme that they have 'positive thinking, revolution and freedom'. This is an honour, which I humbly accept," Bhandarkar said in a statement.

The filmmaker will judge the international competition category of the film festival along with actor−producer Khaled Abol Naga (Egypt), director Babak Payami (Canada), actress Menna Chalabi (Egypt),.

Sobini Films and Payam Films' Manhattan Undying vampire movie may land Babak Payami. Babak Payami will direct Manhattan Undying, which starts production this fall, reports Variety. Payami is also set to produce through his Payam Films with Sobini's Mark Amin, Cami Winikoff and David Higgins. Matt Deller wrote the script which follows a beautiful vampire who hires a painter with a wish to see herself for the first time. She's however unaware that the painter's dying, and wants to create his final masterpiece to cement himself into artistic immortality...

Sobini Films and Payam Films' Manhattan Undying vampire movie may land Babak Payami. Babak Payami will direct Manhattan Undying, which starts production this fall, reports Variety. Payami is also set to produce through his Payam Films with Sobini's Mark Amin, Cami Winikoff and David Higgins. Matt Deller wrote the script which follows a beautiful vampire who hires a painter with a wish to see herself for the first time. She's however unaware that the painter's dying, and wants to create his final masterpiece to cement himself into artistic immortality...

Sobini Films and Payam Films' Manhattan Undying vampire movie may land Babak Payami. Babak Payami will direct Manhattan Undying, which starts production this fall, reports Variety. Payami is also set to produce through his Payam Films with Sobini's Mark Amin, Cami Winikoff and David Higgins. Matt Deller wrote the script which follows a beautiful vampire who hires a painter with a wish to see herself for the first time. She's however unaware that the painter's dying, and wants to create his final masterpiece to cement himself into artistic immortality...

LONDON -- "Silence Between Two Thoughts", Babak Payami's haunting ode to freedom, was an official 2003 selection at the Venice International Film Festival, and it's likely that the festival circuit and occasional art house will be the extent of its exposure. The Iranian director, who was arrested in his homeland and had his negative confiscated, left the country to assemble what he could of "Silence" from film and video.

The result has the very slow pace associated with much Iranian filmmaking, but that's appropriate for a small story that has such enormous implications. It tells of an unquestioning soldier in a desolate village who follows the orders of the local religious strongman. That means he sits with his rifle as, one by one, condemned women are placed before him for execution.

Suddenly, one young woman is spared because she's a virgin. An executed virgin will go to heaven, he is told, and convicts must go to hell. The executioner does not escape, however, as he is then ordered to marry the woman. The consequences are hellish to contemplate.

Payami uses his sympathetic leads -- Maryam Moghaddam as the virgin and Kamal Naroui as the executioner -- as symbols of hope and despair as they perform the simple tasks of daily survival under inexpressible repression. Unhurried and understated, Payami's film gives poignant testimony to the way ordinary souls deal with unimaginable terror.

LONDON -- "Silence Between Two Thoughts", Babak Payami's haunting ode to freedom, was an official 2003 selection at the Venice International Film Festival, and it's likely that the festival circuit and occasional art house will be the extent of its exposure. The Iranian director, who was arrested in his homeland and had his negative confiscated, left the country to assemble what he could of "Silence" from film and video.

The result has the very slow pace associated with much Iranian filmmaking, but that's appropriate for a small story that has such enormous implications. It tells of an unquestioning soldier in a desolate village who follows the orders of the local religious strongman. That means he sits with his rifle as, one by one, condemned women are placed before him for execution.

Suddenly, one young woman is spared because she's a virgin. An executed virgin will go to heaven, he is told, and convicts must go to hell. The executioner does not escape, however, as he is then ordered to marry the woman. The consequences are hellish to contemplate.

Payami uses his sympathetic leads -- Maryam Moghaddam as the virgin and Kamal Naroui as the executioner -- as symbols of hope and despair as they perform the simple tasks of daily survival under inexpressible repression. Unhurried and understated, Payami's film gives poignant testimony to the way ordinary souls deal with unimaginable terror.

SEOUL, South Korea -- "Possible Changes", the debut film by Min Byung-guk, and Achero Manas' "November" will bookend the fifth annual Jeonju International Film Festival. Under the banner "Freedom, Independence, Communication," organizers here Wednesday announced a selection of 220 films from 30 countries for the festival, which runs April 23-May 2. This year's JIFF will focus on independent films and cinematographers from around the world, including Italy's Michelangelo Frammartino, with "The Gift"; Iran's Babak Payami, with "Silence Between Two Thoughts"; and the United States' Jake Mahaffy, with "War".

VENICE, Italy -- Italian independent producer Marco Muller -- who co-produced this year's foreign-film Oscar winner "No Man's Land" -- has established a new expanded production company, called Downtown Pictures, which RAI Cinema will finance. Under a two-year non-exclusive agreement between Downtown Pictures and RAI Cinema announced over the weekend, state broadcaster RAI's film unit will provide funding for development and production of up to five Downtown projects per year with budgets up to $5 million, but mostly in the $2 million range, Muller said. "This means that out of five projects, three will be shot on digital video." Muller will continue to work with clothesmaker Benetton's Fabrica Cinema production unit, which he set up in 1977 and with which he shepherded a slew of prize-winning pictures, many of which have been co-produced by RAI Cinema, including Iranian director Babak Payami's "Secret Ballot," winner of last year's best director prize in Venice.

An airplane streaks across the sky at dawn. A wooden crate parachutes onto a remote island. A soldier at his seaside post pulls from the crate a ballot box and instructions to accompany an election official in the collection of votes. The official arrives by boat: To the soldier's horror, it's a young woman. Thus begins writer-director Babak Payami's "Secret Ballot", an award-winning and surprisingly comic meditation on contemporary Iranian society, the illusions of democracy and the necessity of giving citizens a voice in their own fate and governance.

Opening in Los Angeles and New York after a successful swing through the festival circuit, this Sony Pictures Classics release will amuse and provoke adventurous adults in specialty venues. This is yet another remarkably assured work out of Iran, featuring a nonpro cast yet unique in that several of collaborators in this Iranian-Italian-Canadian-Swiss co-production are Westerners.

"Ballot" is a classic road picture. In a beaten-up jeep, the idealistic woman (Nassim Abdi), determined to pursue every single vote, and her reluctant guard (Cyrus Ab) tour the island, collecting votes from puzzled and sometimes resistant inhabitants. Each encounter has a comic undertone, beginning with the initial confrontation -- with a running man whom the guard naturally assumes is a criminal -- to a worker who doesn't shut off his machinery to listen to the earnest vote collector.

Payami has an eye for the absurd. The guard stops at a red traffic light in the middle of a vast, uninhabited stretch of desert. The woman looks under a rock for votes left by villagers only to realize they left them four years earlier. Many encounters offer trenchant commentary on the role of women in modern Iranian society. A girl asks why she can get married at 12 but not vote.

In the give-and-take between the official and the guard, the woman presses the case for the importance of voting, while the guard sees no purpose in an exercise that seemingly has no connection to his life. She is liberal-minded, while he is suspicious and clings to duty.

In the reactions of islanders to voting for their government, Payami emphasizes the need for communication and understanding over the absurdity of voting when no one knows the candidates and many voters are not literate.

The movie at times moves excessively slowly. Payami loves long single takes from a nearly static camera. But this quibble is more than offset by his sense of humor and Farzad Jodat's simple yet elegant cinematography.

SECRET BALLOT

Sony Pictures Classics

Payam Films in association Fabrica Cinema and Sharm Shir

Credits:

Screenwriter-director: Babak Payami

Producers: Marco Muller, Babak Payami

Executive producer: Hooshangh Payami

Director of photography: Farzad Jodat

Music: Michael Galasso

Editor: Babak Karimi

Cast:

Woman: Nassim Abdi

Soldier: Cyrus Ab

Running time -- 105 minutes

MPAA rating: G...