Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2, 2024.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...
The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2, 2024.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...
- 9/23/2024
- ScreenDaily
Germany has picked The Seed of the Sacred Fig from Iranian dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof to represent the country at the 2025 Oscars in the best international feature category.
This is the first time an Iranian film has been put forward by Germany for the international Oscar race. Rasoulof qualified for the selection because the film is an Iranian-French-German co-production and because he is now a German resident, having fled Iran earlier this year to escape an eight-year prison sentence.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which won a special jury prize at Cannes, has been banned in Iran. Given Rasoulof’s outspoken attacks on the Tehran regime, the film would never have been submitted by the government for the Oscars.
Neon has North American rights for the film.
Both German and Iranian directors have a good record at the Academy Awards. Germany has won the best international feature trophy four times,...
This is the first time an Iranian film has been put forward by Germany for the international Oscar race. Rasoulof qualified for the selection because the film is an Iranian-French-German co-production and because he is now a German resident, having fled Iran earlier this year to escape an eight-year prison sentence.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which won a special jury prize at Cannes, has been banned in Iran. Given Rasoulof’s outspoken attacks on the Tehran regime, the film would never have been submitted by the government for the Oscars.
Neon has North American rights for the film.
Both German and Iranian directors have a good record at the Academy Awards. Germany has won the best international feature trophy four times,...
- 8/22/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Amazon Prime Video is the place to go for movies this month, with a plethora of original films as well as new library additions for just about every movie fan. The Emma Roberts-led original Space Cadet hits the streaming service aptly on the Fourth of July, for anyone looking for a fish-out-of-water style comedy. My Spy the Eternal City, the newest film in the Dave Bautista-led family action series also drops on July 18.
Action film fans are also in for a treat with recent films The Beekeeper and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning coming to Prime Video in July.
As far as TV shows go, the most notable addition this month is the adult animated series Sausage Party: Foodtopia, a continuation of the 2016 film Sausage Party.
Here’s everything coming to Prime Video and Freevee in July – Amazon originals are designated with an asterisk.
New on Amazon Prime Video...
Action film fans are also in for a treat with recent films The Beekeeper and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning coming to Prime Video in July.
As far as TV shows go, the most notable addition this month is the adult animated series Sausage Party: Foodtopia, a continuation of the 2016 film Sausage Party.
Here’s everything coming to Prime Video and Freevee in July – Amazon originals are designated with an asterisk.
New on Amazon Prime Video...
- 7/1/2024
- by Brynnaarens
- Den of Geek
This July, beat the heat with the latest additions at Prime Video and Freevee!
It’s a light month for original series, films, and specials as we head into the summer lull, but there is still plenty to watch throughout the month: over 140 classic films between the two Amazon streamers will be added this month, from horrors such as the genre-changing “The Silence Of The Lambs” and last year’s newest “Evil Dead” franchise installment “Evil Dead Rise,” the first five films of the “Rocky” franchise, and comedies like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Animal House,” “13 Going On 30,” and much, much more.
But after the majority of the film load drops on July 1, don’t forget to head back to the services’ additions throughout the month, including Season 2 of the critically acclaimed “Troppo,” the new “Legally Blonde“-like comedy “Space Cadet,” and a new documentary from award-winning documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter,...
It’s a light month for original series, films, and specials as we head into the summer lull, but there is still plenty to watch throughout the month: over 140 classic films between the two Amazon streamers will be added this month, from horrors such as the genre-changing “The Silence Of The Lambs” and last year’s newest “Evil Dead” franchise installment “Evil Dead Rise,” the first five films of the “Rocky” franchise, and comedies like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Animal House,” “13 Going On 30,” and much, much more.
But after the majority of the film load drops on July 1, don’t forget to head back to the services’ additions throughout the month, including Season 2 of the critically acclaimed “Troppo,” the new “Legally Blonde“-like comedy “Space Cadet,” and a new documentary from award-winning documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter,...
- 6/28/2024
- by Ashley Steves
- The Streamable
For more than two decades, Iman (Misagh Zare) has functioned as a civil servant, doing work that his kids — who represent Iran’s younger generation — would be ashamed of. Better to keep them in the dark. At last, for his loyalty, Iman has been given a promotion, not to judge (the job he wants) but to inspector (a job no one wants). Inspectors are the goons who interrogate students his daughters’ age when they’re arrested for protesting, the ones who sign off on death sentences for alleged dissidents. Iman doesn’t just work for the Iranian regime; he is the regime.
With livid, thinking-person’s thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” director Mohammad Rasoulof responds to his own imprisonment in 2022 by examining Iranian tensions within the context of a well-placed Tehran family. For most of this slow-boiling nearly-three-hour movie, the main character is not Iman but his submissive,...
With livid, thinking-person’s thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” director Mohammad Rasoulof responds to his own imprisonment in 2022 by examining Iranian tensions within the context of a well-placed Tehran family. For most of this slow-boiling nearly-three-hour movie, the main character is not Iman but his submissive,...
- 5/24/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Payman Maadi brings a fierce intelligence to his portrayal of a refugee seeking a secure new home for his family in Sweden
Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher from 2015 and Sean Durkin’s recent The Iron Claw show the sport of wrestling as deeply dysfunctional; wrestling fans might wonder if their favourite pastime is ever going to be depicted in the movies as vital and dramatic, like football, or even tragically noble and masculine, like boxing. Well … not in this film.
Motståndaran, or Opponent, is a tense, complex drama from Iranian-born and Denmark-based director Milad Alami, drawing on some of his own experiences as a refugee in northern Sweden. Payman Maadi (from Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation) plays Imam, a grizzled Iranian wrestling champ seeking asylum in Sweden with his pregnant wife Maryam (Marall Nasiri) and their two young daughters. He and his family left behind a good, prosperous life in Tehran,...
Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher from 2015 and Sean Durkin’s recent The Iron Claw show the sport of wrestling as deeply dysfunctional; wrestling fans might wonder if their favourite pastime is ever going to be depicted in the movies as vital and dramatic, like football, or even tragically noble and masculine, like boxing. Well … not in this film.
Motståndaran, or Opponent, is a tense, complex drama from Iranian-born and Denmark-based director Milad Alami, drawing on some of his own experiences as a refugee in northern Sweden. Payman Maadi (from Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation) plays Imam, a grizzled Iranian wrestling champ seeking asylum in Sweden with his pregnant wife Maryam (Marall Nasiri) and their two young daughters. He and his family left behind a good, prosperous life in Tehran,...
- 4/9/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Iranian authorities have rejected as “baseless” allegations that director Asghar Farhadi stole the idea for his acclaimed 2021 feature A Hero.
A former student of the two-time Oscar winner, director of A Separation and The Salesman, sued Farhadi for allegedly pilfering her premise for A Hero. Farhadi had always denied the allegations.
On Wednesday, a group of three professors at Tehran University specializing in copyright law, along with four official art experts, rejected the claims as invalid and baseless, clearing Farhadi of all blame.
The student, Azadeh Masihzadeh, claimed Farhadi plagiarized the story for A Hero from a documentary (titled All Winners, All Losers) she made for his class. Both the documentary and Farhadi’s fiction film share the same basic story of an inmate in debtors’ prison who, while on leave, finds a bag of gold coins and struggles with the decision to keep the money or return it. Masihzadeh...
A former student of the two-time Oscar winner, director of A Separation and The Salesman, sued Farhadi for allegedly pilfering her premise for A Hero. Farhadi had always denied the allegations.
On Wednesday, a group of three professors at Tehran University specializing in copyright law, along with four official art experts, rejected the claims as invalid and baseless, clearing Farhadi of all blame.
The student, Azadeh Masihzadeh, claimed Farhadi plagiarized the story for A Hero from a documentary (titled All Winners, All Losers) she made for his class. Both the documentary and Farhadi’s fiction film share the same basic story of an inmate in debtors’ prison who, while on leave, finds a bag of gold coins and struggles with the decision to keep the money or return it. Masihzadeh...
- 3/13/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2024 Oscars Predictions:
Best International Feature Wim Wenders’ ‘Perfect Days’
Weekly Commentary: The United Kingdom is poised to win its first Academy Award with Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” and what a deserved win it will be.
But while I have the floor: it’s time for the...
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys
2024 Oscars Predictions:
Best International Feature Wim Wenders’ ‘Perfect Days’
Weekly Commentary: The United Kingdom is poised to win its first Academy Award with Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” and what a deserved win it will be.
But while I have the floor: it’s time for the...
- 3/7/2024
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
The director Noora Niasari deeply understands the personal struggles of people who often go unnoticed by the mainstream flow of life. Her last short film, the 2020 thriller Tâm, about a Vietnamese woman trapped in a cataclysmic sexual encounter, is a haunting gut punch.
Noora and I are from different generations and cultures. Yet she lived in the same suburb of Melbourne that I grew up in, and we were both raised by isolated single mothers in predominantly female environments. So the moment I read Shayda — Noora’s first feature script...
Noora and I are from different generations and cultures. Yet she lived in the same suburb of Melbourne that I grew up in, and we were both raised by isolated single mothers in predominantly female environments. So the moment I read Shayda — Noora’s first feature script...
- 2/26/2024
- by Cate Blanchett
- Rollingstone.com
A cross-country journey in search of a mysterious treasure puts the nature of faith to the test in “The Great Yawn of History,” the feature debut of Iranian director Aliyar Rasti, which premieres Feb. 22 in the competitive Encounters section of the Berlin Film Festival.
The film tells the story of a man of wavering religious conviction who dreams of a box of gold hidden in a cave. Convinced he’s forbidden by Islamic law to claim the treasure himself, he turns to a non-believer to assist him, setting into motion an arduous journey of both physical and spiritual dimensions as the two men grapple with notions of faith in their pursuit of a miracle.
Written and directed by Rasti, “The Great Yawn of History” stars Mohammad Aghebati and Amirhossein Hosseini and is produced by Tehran-based Para-Doxa. Heretic is handling world sales.
A visual artist with no formal film schooling, Rasti...
The film tells the story of a man of wavering religious conviction who dreams of a box of gold hidden in a cave. Convinced he’s forbidden by Islamic law to claim the treasure himself, he turns to a non-believer to assist him, setting into motion an arduous journey of both physical and spiritual dimensions as the two men grapple with notions of faith in their pursuit of a miracle.
Written and directed by Rasti, “The Great Yawn of History” stars Mohammad Aghebati and Amirhossein Hosseini and is produced by Tehran-based Para-Doxa. Heretic is handling world sales.
A visual artist with no formal film schooling, Rasti...
- 2/19/2024
- by Christopher Vourlias
- 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
Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi first co-directed the short Solar Eclipse, and they have teamed up again for In the Land of Brothers, a feature debut for each. The film tells the story of three members of an Afghan family who flee to Iran as refugees and struggle to find acceptance and security. In The Land of Brothers‘ editor is Hayedeh Safiyari, who has edited many of contemporary Iran’s best-known filmmakers. Below, she discusses the novel challenges of editing a film with sharply delineated chapters and the importance of an editor connecting emotionally to the script. See […]
The post “The Turning Points of the Story are Painful and Challenging Moments”: Editor Hayedeh Safiyari on In The Land of Brothers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “The Turning Points of the Story are Painful and Challenging Moments”: Editor Hayedeh Safiyari on In The Land of Brothers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/22/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi first co-directed the short Solar Eclipse, and they have teamed up again for In the Land of Brothers, a feature debut for each. The film tells the story of three members of an Afghan family who flee to Iran as refugees and struggle to find acceptance and security. In The Land of Brothers‘ editor is Hayedeh Safiyari, who has edited many of contemporary Iran’s best-known filmmakers. Below, she discusses the novel challenges of editing a film with sharply delineated chapters and the importance of an editor connecting emotionally to the script. See […]
The post “The Turning Points of the Story are Painful and Challenging Moments”: Editor Hayedeh Safiyari on In The Land of Brothers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “The Turning Points of the Story are Painful and Challenging Moments”: Editor Hayedeh Safiyari on In The Land of Brothers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/22/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
“Slow,” Marija Kavtaradze’s delicate romance, won the Crystal Arrow at the 15th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival from a jury presided over by Oscar-nominated Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (“A Separation”).
Kavtaradze’s sophomore outing, “Slow” world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it won best director. The film revolves around the bond between Elena (Greta Grinevičiūtė), a contemporary dancer teaching to deaf youth, and Dovydas (Kęstutis Cicėnas), a sign language interpreter class.
“The Teachers’ Lounge,” meanwhile, won the jury prize. The satirical movie, directed Ilker Çatak, world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, in the Panorama section, and was just shortlisted in the Oscar’s international feature film race. Leonie Benesch stars an idealistic teacher who tries to uncover a thief within her school and sparks chaos in the process.
Dimitra Vlagopoulou won best actress for her performance as an entertainer at an all-inclusive Greek resort in...
Kavtaradze’s sophomore outing, “Slow” world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it won best director. The film revolves around the bond between Elena (Greta Grinevičiūtė), a contemporary dancer teaching to deaf youth, and Dovydas (Kęstutis Cicėnas), a sign language interpreter class.
“The Teachers’ Lounge,” meanwhile, won the jury prize. The satirical movie, directed Ilker Çatak, world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, in the Panorama section, and was just shortlisted in the Oscar’s international feature film race. Leonie Benesch stars an idealistic teacher who tries to uncover a thief within her school and sparks chaos in the process.
Dimitra Vlagopoulou won best actress for her performance as an entertainer at an all-inclusive Greek resort in...
- 12/23/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Danger is never very far away in Noora Niasari’s confident debut, a deeply personal tribute to a generation torn between tradition and modernity. Focusing on the title character, Shayda hangs on a vulnerable but powerful performance from Holy Spider’s Zar Amir Ebrahimi as an Iranian divorcée hiding out from her abusive ex, who may or may not be planning to smuggle their daughter Mona (Selina Zahednia) back to Iran.
This fear is played out in the jittery opening sequence, set in 1995, when Shayda and Joyce (Leah Purcell), a social worker of sorts, scope out an airport with Mona in tow. Both women impress upon Mona what to do if she should ever end up there against her will, noting repeatedly that blue uniforms equate with safety. Back at the women’s shelter, a shared hostel in a fiercely secret suburban location, Shayda wonders how she got to this...
This fear is played out in the jittery opening sequence, set in 1995, when Shayda and Joyce (Leah Purcell), a social worker of sorts, scope out an airport with Mona in tow. Both women impress upon Mona what to do if she should ever end up there against her will, noting repeatedly that blue uniforms equate with safety. Back at the women’s shelter, a shared hostel in a fiercely secret suburban location, Shayda wonders how she got to this...
- 12/16/2023
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
Asghar Farhadi has arguably been a household name in world cinema since his 2011 breakout “A Separation.” But despite winning a Best International Feature Film Oscar for that movie, and doing so again for 2016’s “A Salesman,” Farhadi’s earlier films have never received a North American release. Until now, that is.
Read More: Fall Film Preview: 60+ Most Anticipated Movies To Watch
Farhadi’s debut film, 2003’s “Dancing In The Dust,” gets its first-ever release in the US, Mexico, and Canada today.
Continue reading ‘Dancing In The Dust’ Trailer: Asghar Farhadi’s Debut Film Gets Its First-Ever North American Release Today at The Playlist.
Read More: Fall Film Preview: 60+ Most Anticipated Movies To Watch
Farhadi’s debut film, 2003’s “Dancing In The Dust,” gets its first-ever release in the US, Mexico, and Canada today.
Continue reading ‘Dancing In The Dust’ Trailer: Asghar Farhadi’s Debut Film Gets Its First-Ever North American Release Today at The Playlist.
- 9/29/2023
- by Ned Booth
- The Playlist
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.
Age Out (A.J. Edwards)
The only thing worse than never getting your happy ending is having it within grasp and realizing you cannot accept it. To see salvation and turn around knowing it would be a lie is the type of heartbreaking choice we often have to make in order to keep on going. It’s the decision that separates man from monster: an admission of remorse, guilt, and regret. Our actions cause ripples that affect countless others we haven’t met yet or never will and while that truth allows some to sleep at night, the rest wonder what nightmares the collateral damage of their deeds endure as a result. You could say that the only thing separating those two groups is love.
Age Out (A.J. Edwards)
The only thing worse than never getting your happy ending is having it within grasp and realizing you cannot accept it. To see salvation and turn around knowing it would be a lie is the type of heartbreaking choice we often have to make in order to keep on going. It’s the decision that separates man from monster: an admission of remorse, guilt, and regret. Our actions cause ripples that affect countless others we haven’t met yet or never will and while that truth allows some to sleep at night, the rest wonder what nightmares the collateral damage of their deeds endure as a result. You could say that the only thing separating those two groups is love.
- 9/29/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Thanks to the breakout success of his Oscar-winning drama A Separation back in 2011, Asghar Farhadi’s earlier films have received newfound recognition thanks to new restorations in the subsequent years. Following his Cannes prize winner A Hero, the latest to get restored is his 2003 drama Dancing in the Dust. Arriving this Friday in a director-approved 2K digital restoration courtesy of Film Movement Classics in what will be the film’s first-ever North American release, we’re pleased to premiere the exclusive new trailer.
Here’s the synopsis: “Shortly following their impulsive wedding, the naive, young Nazar is pressured by his family into divorcing his new wife, Reyhane, after rumors circulate of her mother’s possible sex-work. Still deeply in love, he insists on paying back Reyhane’s marriage dowry despite his insolvency. Nazar is soon on the run from creditors and finds himself hiding out in the desert where he...
Here’s the synopsis: “Shortly following their impulsive wedding, the naive, young Nazar is pressured by his family into divorcing his new wife, Reyhane, after rumors circulate of her mother’s possible sex-work. Still deeply in love, he insists on paying back Reyhane’s marriage dowry despite his insolvency. Nazar is soon on the run from creditors and finds himself hiding out in the desert where he...
- 9/26/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/21/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Dissident Iranian film professionals are calling on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to consider an alternative film to represent Iran in 2024 Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category rather than the one submitted this week as the country’s official entry.
Iran’s government-controlled Farabi Cinema Foundation said Tuesday that it had selected Reza Mirkarimi’s The Night Guardian as the country’s submission to the 96th Academy Awards.
The announcement comes just days after the first anniversary of the beginning of the Woman Life Freedom protests, provoked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022, after her police detention for not wearing her veil correctly.
More than 500 protestors have been killed by Iranian security forces over the past year and thousands have been injured. A number of directors including Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof and most recently Saeed Roustayi have wound up in jail in a related...
Iran’s government-controlled Farabi Cinema Foundation said Tuesday that it had selected Reza Mirkarimi’s The Night Guardian as the country’s submission to the 96th Academy Awards.
The announcement comes just days after the first anniversary of the beginning of the Woman Life Freedom protests, provoked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022, after her police detention for not wearing her veil correctly.
More than 500 protestors have been killed by Iranian security forces over the past year and thousands have been injured. A number of directors including Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof and most recently Saeed Roustayi have wound up in jail in a related...
- 9/20/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/20/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50%) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...
- 9/20/2023
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Iran has submitted Reza Mirkarimi’s The Night Guardian for Best International Film category at the 96th Academy Awards, in a move that will likely prompt pushback from the country’s dissident film community.
A press release announcing the selection said the film had been selected by the government-controlled Farabi Cinema Foundation from three short-listed titles which also included Omid Shams’s Conjugal Visit and Ali Hazrati’s The Town.
The drama stars Touraj Alvand as the story of a rural worker forced to move to the city where he ekes out a living on the streets.
The announcement coincides with the first anniversary of the Woman Life Freedom protests provoked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022 after being held in police custody for not wearing her veil correctly.
The country’s hardline Islamist regime ratcheted up a crackdown on the country’s creative community as well...
A press release announcing the selection said the film had been selected by the government-controlled Farabi Cinema Foundation from three short-listed titles which also included Omid Shams’s Conjugal Visit and Ali Hazrati’s The Town.
The drama stars Touraj Alvand as the story of a rural worker forced to move to the city where he ekes out a living on the streets.
The announcement coincides with the first anniversary of the Woman Life Freedom protests provoked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022 after being held in police custody for not wearing her veil correctly.
The country’s hardline Islamist regime ratcheted up a crackdown on the country’s creative community as well...
- 9/20/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
What will the people choose?
In its final stretch, on Sunday, the Toronto International Film Festival will announce the film chosen by the public for the People’s Choice Award of its 48th edition. After “Poor Things” took home the Golden Lion at Venice, we look to the Canadian awards season staple to boost a film in the hunt for best picture.
The top prize has become one of the most vital predictors of awards season success. In past years, best picture winners such as Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” (2018) and Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” (2020) made a winning stop at TIFF before getting Oscar glory. Other TIFF Audience Award recipients such as “The Fabelmans” (2022), “Belfast” (2021), “Jojo Rabbit” (2019), “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017) and “La La Land” (2016) are among the movies that went on to receive noms.
So, which movies are buzzing with support? The movie that wins at TIFF is...
In its final stretch, on Sunday, the Toronto International Film Festival will announce the film chosen by the public for the People’s Choice Award of its 48th edition. After “Poor Things” took home the Golden Lion at Venice, we look to the Canadian awards season staple to boost a film in the hunt for best picture.
The top prize has become one of the most vital predictors of awards season success. In past years, best picture winners such as Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” (2018) and Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” (2020) made a winning stop at TIFF before getting Oscar glory. Other TIFF Audience Award recipients such as “The Fabelmans” (2022), “Belfast” (2021), “Jojo Rabbit” (2019), “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017) and “La La Land” (2016) are among the movies that went on to receive noms.
So, which movies are buzzing with support? The movie that wins at TIFF is...
- 9/14/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Ze (Tergel Bold-Erdene) and Maralaa (Nomin-Erdene Ariunbyamba) in City Of Wind. Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir: 'For me, the film is also an attempt to kind of document this particular time and space that is modern day Mongolia' Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir’s feature debut City Of Wind has made a strong start to its festival run, screening at Venice and, soon, in Toronto. Set in Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar it is a coming-of-age tale about a young Shaman Ze (newcomer Tergel Bold-Erdene) as he considers his place in the world and navigates the conflicting pressures of being a Shaman and falling in love with fellow teenager Maralaa (Nomin-Erdene Ariunbyamba). We caught up with the director ahead of the Toronto screenings to chat about expressing Shamanism on film, modern Mongolia and the tip she got from A Separation Oscar-winner Asghar Farhadi.
A lot of people, if they like World Cinema, will have come to Mongolia via the countryside,...
A lot of people, if they like World Cinema, will have come to Mongolia via the countryside,...
- 9/6/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Have you heard of a new movie about a team of quantum physicists who build a revolutionary device that, once it’s set off, may change the course of the world forever?
In the case that you have, you’re probably not thinking of Aporia, a cleverly crafted sci-fi indie whose budget was only an infinitesimal fraction of the one used for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, but whose emotional repercussions are just as palpable, if not more so at times.
Written and directed by Jared Moshé (The Ballad of Lefty Brown), the high-concept and extremely low-fi feature follows a trio of Angelenos who utilize a homemade particle accelerator to kill people in the past, causing unpredictable fallout in the present. Subtly acted and deftly scripted, if a bit generic in its execution, the Well Go USA release should find a few cult followers in theaters and a bigger audience on streaming platforms.
In the case that you have, you’re probably not thinking of Aporia, a cleverly crafted sci-fi indie whose budget was only an infinitesimal fraction of the one used for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, but whose emotional repercussions are just as palpable, if not more so at times.
Written and directed by Jared Moshé (The Ballad of Lefty Brown), the high-concept and extremely low-fi feature follows a trio of Angelenos who utilize a homemade particle accelerator to kill people in the past, causing unpredictable fallout in the present. Subtly acted and deftly scripted, if a bit generic in its execution, the Well Go USA release should find a few cult followers in theaters and a bigger audience on streaming platforms.
- 8/3/2023
- by Jordan Mintzer
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The chance to undo a tragedy leads to time-bending sci-fi thrills in Aporia, and a new trailer unveiled today gives a glimpse of the emotional stakes and haunting morality choices made.
Aporia stars Judy Greer as a widow grappling with impossible choices when presented with a time machine.
The dramatic sci-fi thriller will make its world premiere at Fantasia Film Festival on July 27 ahead of the film’s August 11 US theatrical release from Well Go USA.
Aporia follows “Sophie (Greer), who since losing her husband Mal (Gathegi) in a drunk-driving accident, has struggled to manage crippling grief, a full-time job, and the demands of parenting her devastated teenage daughter (Herman). When her husband’s best friend (Maadi), a former physicist, reveals he has been building a time-bending machine that could restore her former life, Sophie will be faced with an impossible choice — and unforeseeable consequences, posing the question ‘If you...
Aporia stars Judy Greer as a widow grappling with impossible choices when presented with a time machine.
The dramatic sci-fi thriller will make its world premiere at Fantasia Film Festival on July 27 ahead of the film’s August 11 US theatrical release from Well Go USA.
Aporia follows “Sophie (Greer), who since losing her husband Mal (Gathegi) in a drunk-driving accident, has struggled to manage crippling grief, a full-time job, and the demands of parenting her devastated teenage daughter (Herman). When her husband’s best friend (Maadi), a former physicist, reveals he has been building a time-bending machine that could restore her former life, Sophie will be faced with an impossible choice — and unforeseeable consequences, posing the question ‘If you...
- 7/12/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda is a perceptive observer of families, keenly detecting the quirks that make an individual unique and the whole stronger and more complicated. 2018’s masterful Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters” was perhaps the finest display of Kore-eda’s skills and preoccupations as a minimalist artist of mysterious domestic rhythms, informed by social and financial realities.
His make-shift family in last year’s arguably more populist “Broker” didn’t hit a note as high, but “Monster,” the director’s return to this year’s Cannes competition, feels closer to the subtly multilayered tales we came to expect from him.
A sweet, unknowable and often purposely misleading red herring of a whodunit that morphs into an unexpected tale of friendship, “Monster” feels like a departure for Kore-eda, mostly because of its intricate structure that recounts the same event from three different viewpoints. An obvious (and quite accurate) association point...
His make-shift family in last year’s arguably more populist “Broker” didn’t hit a note as high, but “Monster,” the director’s return to this year’s Cannes competition, feels closer to the subtly multilayered tales we came to expect from him.
A sweet, unknowable and often purposely misleading red herring of a whodunit that morphs into an unexpected tale of friendship, “Monster” feels like a departure for Kore-eda, mostly because of its intricate structure that recounts the same event from three different viewpoints. An obvious (and quite accurate) association point...
- 5/17/2023
- by Tomris Laffly
- The Wrap
The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is set to run from from July 20th through August 9th at the Concordia Hall Cinema in Montreal, with additional screens at the Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée – and today the festival announced the first wave of titles that will be screening there this year! The festival runners promise this edition of the show will deliver “a whiplashing program of screenings, workshops, and launch events”, with a spotlight on South Korean cinema, a Canadian trailblazer Award being presented to Larry Kent, and World Premiere screenings of new films from the likes of Larry Fessenden, Xavier Gens, Jenn Wexler, The Adams Family, and Victor Ginzburg. They’ll also be hosting the International Premieres of Tsutomu Hanabusa’s blockbusters Tokyo Revengers 2 – Part 1 & 2.
2023 marks 60 years of diplomatic relations between Canada and the Republic of Korea, so Fantasia is teaming up with the Korean...
2023 marks 60 years of diplomatic relations between Canada and the Republic of Korea, so Fantasia is teaming up with the Korean...
- 5/11/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Aporia, a previously unannounced sci-fi thriller from Armian Pictures starring Judy Greer (Halloween Kills), Edi Gathegi (The Harder They Fall), Payman Maadi (A Separation) and Faithe Herman (Shazam!). The film, written and directed by Jared Moshé (The Ballad of Lefty Brown), is slated for release in theaters in August. (Check out the first still from it above.)
Aporia follows Sophie (Greer), who since losing her husband Mal (Gathegi) in a drunk-driving accident, has struggled to manage crippling grief, a full-time job, and the demands of parenting her devastated teenage daughter (Herman). When her husband’s best friend (Maadi), a former physicist, reveals he and Mal had been building a time-bending machine that could restore her former life, Sophie will be faced with an impossible choice — and unforeseeable consequences.
The film is produced by Neda Armian (Rachel Getting Married) and...
Aporia follows Sophie (Greer), who since losing her husband Mal (Gathegi) in a drunk-driving accident, has struggled to manage crippling grief, a full-time job, and the demands of parenting her devastated teenage daughter (Herman). When her husband’s best friend (Maadi), a former physicist, reveals he and Mal had been building a time-bending machine that could restore her former life, Sophie will be faced with an impossible choice — and unforeseeable consequences.
The film is produced by Neda Armian (Rachel Getting Married) and...
- 5/10/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Grandave Intl. has acquired worldwide sales rights for the drama mystery feature “Wild Berries,” starring Shahab Hosseini, best actor award winner at Cannes for “The Salesman,” and Sepideh Moafi, whose credits include “The Killing of Two Lovers” and “The L Word: Generation Q.”
In addition to his Cannes award, Hosseini received the Berlinale acting prize for his role in “A Separation.” Moafi stars in the Golden Globe nominated Apple TV+ series “Black Bird,” and the FX series “Class of 09.”
Grandave Intl. will be introducing “Wild Berries” to buyers at the Cannes Film Market, May 16-27.
The past, present, and future collide in this story of an immigrant Iranian couple’s annual road trip on their wedding anniversary, while a mysterious stranger is following them.
The screenplay, written and directed by Soudabeh Moradian, is adapted from “Language of Wild Berries,” written by the playwright Naghmeh Samini. The movie is being produced by Julie R. Snyder.
In addition to his Cannes award, Hosseini received the Berlinale acting prize for his role in “A Separation.” Moafi stars in the Golden Globe nominated Apple TV+ series “Black Bird,” and the FX series “Class of 09.”
Grandave Intl. will be introducing “Wild Berries” to buyers at the Cannes Film Market, May 16-27.
The past, present, and future collide in this story of an immigrant Iranian couple’s annual road trip on their wedding anniversary, while a mysterious stranger is following them.
The screenplay, written and directed by Soudabeh Moradian, is adapted from “Language of Wild Berries,” written by the playwright Naghmeh Samini. The movie is being produced by Julie R. Snyder.
- 5/10/2023
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
EFM project ‘Maria Montessori’ has also sold robustly.
Paris-based Indie Sales has sold Belgian filmmaker Zeno Graton’s Berlinale Generation film The Lost Boys to Dark Star Pictures in the US, Pecadillo Pictures in the UK/Ireland and to the Filmin platform in Spain.
The film stars Khalil Gharbia alongside Julien de Saint Jean in a story of two young men attempting to keep their burgeoning relationship under wraps at a tough juvenile detention centre. The Lost Boys is produced by France’s Silex Films and Belgium’s Tarantula and will be released in Belgium by O’Brother and in...
Paris-based Indie Sales has sold Belgian filmmaker Zeno Graton’s Berlinale Generation film The Lost Boys to Dark Star Pictures in the US, Pecadillo Pictures in the UK/Ireland and to the Filmin platform in Spain.
The film stars Khalil Gharbia alongside Julien de Saint Jean in a story of two young men attempting to keep their burgeoning relationship under wraps at a tough juvenile detention centre. The Lost Boys is produced by France’s Silex Films and Belgium’s Tarantula and will be released in Belgium by O’Brother and in...
- 5/4/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi, Iran’s best-known director, was at the Zurich Film Festival last September when protests following the death of Mahsa Amini erupted in his home country.
Since then, the auteur of “A Separation,” “The Salesman” and “A Hero” has not returned to Iran. He’s been working on a new film in Los Angeles and Europe. Interestingly, he says he plans to go back to his country before he shoots this film, even though he is not 100% sure they will let him out again. It’s clearly a risk that the enigmatic Farhadi is willing to take.
Farhadi was in Turin on Monday to give a masterclass at Italy’s National Museum of Cinema, where he also received a lifetime achievement award. In a rare interview, he took questions via e-mail from Variety.
Where are you living these days? I read that you are working on...
Since then, the auteur of “A Separation,” “The Salesman” and “A Hero” has not returned to Iran. He’s been working on a new film in Los Angeles and Europe. Interestingly, he says he plans to go back to his country before he shoots this film, even though he is not 100% sure they will let him out again. It’s clearly a risk that the enigmatic Farhadi is willing to take.
Farhadi was in Turin on Monday to give a masterclass at Italy’s National Museum of Cinema, where he also received a lifetime achievement award. In a rare interview, he took questions via e-mail from Variety.
Where are you living these days? I read that you are working on...
- 4/19/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Saeed Roustayi’s tense policier about a cop hunting a drug kingpin deftly mixes brutality and gallows farce
This increasingly nerve-jangling narco policier from Life and a Day writer-director Saeed Roustayi, who has since made the feted 2022 Palme d’Or contender Leila’s Brothers, was hailed as Iran’s highest-grossing non-comedic domestic film. Not that Law of Tehran (Aka Just 6.5), which won the audience award at Iran’s Fajr film festival back in 2019, is without a pointedly nihilistic streak of jet-black humour. For proof, check out the horrifyingly absurdist opening salvo: a drug bust that turns into a breakneck, on-foot chase sequence, climaxing in a lethal disappearing act that combines the vérité grit of The French Connection with the physical slapstick of Buster Keaton. Really. It’s a deliberately bewildering cocktail of brutal tragedy and gallows farce that runs throughout this very arresting feature.
Playing out amid the human...
This increasingly nerve-jangling narco policier from Life and a Day writer-director Saeed Roustayi, who has since made the feted 2022 Palme d’Or contender Leila’s Brothers, was hailed as Iran’s highest-grossing non-comedic domestic film. Not that Law of Tehran (Aka Just 6.5), which won the audience award at Iran’s Fajr film festival back in 2019, is without a pointedly nihilistic streak of jet-black humour. For proof, check out the horrifyingly absurdist opening salvo: a drug bust that turns into a breakneck, on-foot chase sequence, climaxing in a lethal disappearing act that combines the vérité grit of The French Connection with the physical slapstick of Buster Keaton. Really. It’s a deliberately bewildering cocktail of brutal tragedy and gallows farce that runs throughout this very arresting feature.
Playing out amid the human...
- 4/2/2023
- by Mark Kermode, Observer film criic
- The Guardian - Film News
A barnstorming – and ultimately gruesome – opening sequence sets the grisly action-packed tone, as a morally ambiguous cop takes on a powerful drug lord
If Michael Mann made a movie in Iran it might look like this: a ferocious drama-thriller in which a haunted, morally ambiguous cop faces off with a despairing drug lord. We begin with a barnstorming chase sequence in which an officer runs after a drug dealer holding a bag of heroin; the scene climaxes with a shockingly nasty end for the dealer, setting a gruesome tone for the rest of the film.
The director is Saeed Roustayi, whose Leila’s Brothers was in competition at Cannes last year; this is in fact his previous film. Payman Maadi (from Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation) is police officer Samad, who is losing the “war on drugs”; gangsters have murdered the son of his subordinate, so his team’s dedication to...
If Michael Mann made a movie in Iran it might look like this: a ferocious drama-thriller in which a haunted, morally ambiguous cop faces off with a despairing drug lord. We begin with a barnstorming chase sequence in which an officer runs after a drug dealer holding a bag of heroin; the scene climaxes with a shockingly nasty end for the dealer, setting a gruesome tone for the rest of the film.
The director is Saeed Roustayi, whose Leila’s Brothers was in competition at Cannes last year; this is in fact his previous film. Payman Maadi (from Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation) is police officer Samad, who is losing the “war on drugs”; gangsters have murdered the son of his subordinate, so his team’s dedication to...
- 3/29/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) comprises the annual pre-autumn festival circuit alongside Sundance, SXSW and Cannes. Though the competition isn’t exactly a pipeline to the Oscars, it has hosted premieres for past Best International Feature winners and nominees “A Fantastic Woman,” “On Body and Soul” and “A Separation.” Additionally, the festival launched “45 Years,” which earned Charlotte Rampling her first Academy Award nomination in 2016, and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which received nine bids and won four in 2015. The 73rd festival was held February 16 – 26.
This year’s jury was presided over by Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart. The slate includes new efforts from Christian Petzold, Angela Schanelec and Christoph Hochhäusler, all three of whom belong to the Berlin school of filmmaking that emerged in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. 2023’s Golden Bear went to Nicolas Philibert’s “On the Adamant,” a documentary about a health care facility in...
This year’s jury was presided over by Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart. The slate includes new efforts from Christian Petzold, Angela Schanelec and Christoph Hochhäusler, all three of whom belong to the Berlin school of filmmaking that emerged in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. 2023’s Golden Bear went to Nicolas Philibert’s “On the Adamant,” a documentary about a health care facility in...
- 3/14/2023
- by Ronald Meyer and Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
It’s striking how often the word “removal” comes up in various governments’ official policies regarding refugees and asylum seekers — a pointedly chosen term that conjures images of inanimate refuse or clutter awaiting collection, rather than human lives in desperate limbo. Fail to make your case to officials and you’ll be “removed,” a near-literally dehumanizing threat that hangs over Milad Alami’s tense, bristling social thriller “Opponent” like a pounding migraine. Following an Iranian wrestler and father whose urgent reasons for fleeing his homeland aren’t entirely what he claims them to be, this is a tightly wound affair that unravels an obscured past and an uncertain future neatly in tandem. Alami maintains suspense at both ends of his narrative without making a blank cypher of his protagonist, played with seething specificity by an electrifying Payman Maadi.
That galvanizing lead performance — by an actor who hasn’t attained quite...
That galvanizing lead performance — by an actor who hasn’t attained quite...
- 3/11/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) comprises the annual pre-autumn festival circuit alongside Sundance, SXSW and Cannes. Though the competition isn’t exactly a pipeline to the Oscars, it has hosted premieres for past Best International Feature winners and nominees “A Fantastic Woman,” “On Body and Soul” and “A Separation.” Additionally, the festival launched “45 Years,” which earned Charlotte Rampling her first Academy Award nomination in 2016, and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which received nine bids and won four in 2015. The 73rd festival was held February 16 – 26.
This year’s jury was presided over by Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart. The slate includes new efforts from Christian Petzold, Angela Schanelec and Christoph Hochhäusler, all three of whom belong to the Berlin school of filmmaking that emerged in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. 2023’s Golden Bear went to Nicolas Philibert’s “On the Adamant,” a documentary about a health care facility in...
This year’s jury was presided over by Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart. The slate includes new efforts from Christian Petzold, Angela Schanelec and Christoph Hochhäusler, all three of whom belong to the Berlin school of filmmaking that emerged in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. 2023’s Golden Bear went to Nicolas Philibert’s “On the Adamant,” a documentary about a health care facility in...
- 3/7/2023
- by Ronald Meyer and Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
Paris-based sales company Indie Sales has boarded Swedish-Iranian filmmaker Milad Alami ’s sophomore feature “Opponent” ahead of the film’s premiere at the Berlinale. The banner has unveiled the trailer (below) for the movie which will bow in the Panorama section.
“Opponent” is headlined by popular Iranian actor Payman Maadi, who previously starred in Asghar Farhadi’s films such as “A Separation” and “About Elly.” The movie shot in English and Farsi.
The film follows Iman and his family who have been forced to flee Iran in the aftermath of a devastating rumor. As refugees, they end up in a run-down hotel in Northern Sweden. Despite feeling powerless, Iman tries to maintain his role as the family patriarch. To increase their chances of asylum, he breaks a promise to his wife and joins the local wrestling club. As the rumours start to resurface, Iman’s fear and desperation begin to take a hold.
“Opponent” is headlined by popular Iranian actor Payman Maadi, who previously starred in Asghar Farhadi’s films such as “A Separation” and “About Elly.” The movie shot in English and Farsi.
The film follows Iman and his family who have been forced to flee Iran in the aftermath of a devastating rumor. As refugees, they end up in a run-down hotel in Northern Sweden. Despite feeling powerless, Iman tries to maintain his role as the family patriarch. To increase their chances of asylum, he breaks a promise to his wife and joins the local wrestling club. As the rumours start to resurface, Iman’s fear and desperation begin to take a hold.
- 1/18/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Motståndaren
For his sophomore feature, Iranian-Scandi (grew up in Sweden and currently lives in Denmark) filmmaker Milad Alami hits the mat tackling stereotypical images of Middle-Eastern men. Opponent (Motståndaren) is a psychological drama set in the wrestling community where masculinity, intimacy and violence are commonplace. The project won a post-production prize at Les Arcs Festival’s Work-In-Progress section. This was produced by Sweden’s Tangy and Norway’s Ape&Bjørn. Payman Maadi (from Farhadi’s A Separation) toplines.
Gist: The story is about a man who is forced to flee Iran because of rumours about him, who tries to settle his family in northern Sweden.…...
For his sophomore feature, Iranian-Scandi (grew up in Sweden and currently lives in Denmark) filmmaker Milad Alami hits the mat tackling stereotypical images of Middle-Eastern men. Opponent (Motståndaren) is a psychological drama set in the wrestling community where masculinity, intimacy and violence are commonplace. The project won a post-production prize at Les Arcs Festival’s Work-In-Progress section. This was produced by Sweden’s Tangy and Norway’s Ape&Bjørn. Payman Maadi (from Farhadi’s A Separation) toplines.
Gist: The story is about a man who is forced to flee Iran because of rumours about him, who tries to settle his family in northern Sweden.…...
- 1/10/2023
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Tarik Saleh’s “Cairo Conspiracy,” which is representing Sweden in the Oscar race, has become France’s biggest (non-English) foreign-language hit since Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite.” The thought-provoking movie – Saleh’s follow up to “The Nile Hilton Incident” — competed at Cannes and won the screenplay award.
A thriller in Arabic revolving around religion, “Cairo Conspiracy” wasn’t an easy sell on paper but it’s already grossed approximately €3.2 million from more than 460,000 tickets in France since its Oct. 26 bow. It was released by Memento Distribution on 207 screens, and was expanded to more 500 screens on its third week, worthy of a major French title.
“Cairo Conspiracy” currently ranks as France’s biggest (non-English) foreign-language movie since “Parasite” which had garnered over two million admissions. The performance of Saleh’s film has surpassed Park Chan-Wook’s “Decision to Leave” which also played at Cannes and came out in June; as well...
A thriller in Arabic revolving around religion, “Cairo Conspiracy” wasn’t an easy sell on paper but it’s already grossed approximately €3.2 million from more than 460,000 tickets in France since its Oct. 26 bow. It was released by Memento Distribution on 207 screens, and was expanded to more 500 screens on its third week, worthy of a major French title.
“Cairo Conspiracy” currently ranks as France’s biggest (non-English) foreign-language movie since “Parasite” which had garnered over two million admissions. The performance of Saleh’s film has surpassed Park Chan-Wook’s “Decision to Leave” which also played at Cannes and came out in June; as well...
- 12/6/2022
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
There’s one particular star whose career Brandon Perea says he’d love to emulate.
“I’m just a massive fan of her work for one, and the projects that she’s doing,” says the actor, who turned heads in Netflix’s The Oa, but really captured attention earlier this year as the bleached-haired tech salesman and UFO enthusiast Angel Torres in Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror, Nope, his first major film role. “So to be able to mirror that in the slightest sense would be incredible.”
Thankfully for the 27-year-old, he’s already about to mirror one early element of Florence Pugh’s career.
Alongside perhaps Tom Holland and Letitia Wright (all three, coincidentally, now major elements in the MCU), Pugh — prior to her dramatic ascent — was a graduate of BAFTA’s Breakthrough program, the initiative set up by the British Academy...
There’s one particular star whose career Brandon Perea says he’d love to emulate.
“I’m just a massive fan of her work for one, and the projects that she’s doing,” says the actor, who turned heads in Netflix’s The Oa, but really captured attention earlier this year as the bleached-haired tech salesman and UFO enthusiast Angel Torres in Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror, Nope, his first major film role. “So to be able to mirror that in the slightest sense would be incredible.”
Thankfully for the 27-year-old, he’s already about to mirror one early element of Florence Pugh’s career.
Alongside perhaps Tom Holland and Letitia Wright (all three, coincidentally, now major elements in the MCU), Pugh — prior to her dramatic ascent — was a graduate of BAFTA’s Breakthrough program, the initiative set up by the British Academy...
- 11/17/2022
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Marrakech – Compassion, understanding, not taking characters at face value. These are all philosophies that inform Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s sage, humanistic approach to drawing his characters, as discussed on stage Tuesday at the Atlas Workshops’ (14-17 November), the Marrakech Film Festival’s project, talent-and-mentoring forum.
For 75 minutes, Farhadi, the winner of this year’s Cannes Grand Prix for “A Hero” and one of Iran’s most acclaimed filmmakers, spoke about his what seems a unique approach to the art of script-writing; about how he draws characters, develops his scripts and whom he trusts to vet his ideas.
“I have a couple of people around me who are my first advisors. I share it with them. It’s not the advice they will give me but the look. The spark in their eyes,” he said.
A regular at top international festivals, Farhadi has won an Academy Award for international feature...
For 75 minutes, Farhadi, the winner of this year’s Cannes Grand Prix for “A Hero” and one of Iran’s most acclaimed filmmakers, spoke about his what seems a unique approach to the art of script-writing; about how he draws characters, develops his scripts and whom he trusts to vet his ideas.
“I have a couple of people around me who are my first advisors. I share it with them. It’s not the advice they will give me but the look. The spark in their eyes,” he said.
A regular at top international festivals, Farhadi has won an Academy Award for international feature...
- 11/15/2022
- by Liza Foreman
- Variety Film + TV
Editor’s note: IndieWire obtained a statement from Asghar Farhadi’s attorney via representatives in response to the piece published in The New Yorker on Monday, October 31. The full statement can be found at the bottom of this story.
Updated November 3: A New Yorker spokesperson shared this statement of IndieWire supporting Rachel Aviv’s piece following Farhadi’s attorney’s claims: “Rachel Aviv wrote a fair and factual account, supported by numerous on-the-record sources and confirmed by our fact checkers. She spoke extensively with Mr. Farhadi — more than a dozen hours worth of interviews — and the article examines his perspective at length and reflects his substantial input. The New Yorker stands by the story.”
Published November 1: Asghar Farhadi is currently awaiting a final decision in the plagiarism lawsuit filed against him by his former student Azadeh Masihzadeh, who claims that his film “A Hero” was based on a...
Updated November 3: A New Yorker spokesperson shared this statement of IndieWire supporting Rachel Aviv’s piece following Farhadi’s attorney’s claims: “Rachel Aviv wrote a fair and factual account, supported by numerous on-the-record sources and confirmed by our fact checkers. She spoke extensively with Mr. Farhadi — more than a dozen hours worth of interviews — and the article examines his perspective at length and reflects his substantial input. The New Yorker stands by the story.”
Published November 1: Asghar Farhadi is currently awaiting a final decision in the plagiarism lawsuit filed against him by his former student Azadeh Masihzadeh, who claims that his film “A Hero” was based on a...
- 11/3/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Click here to read the full article.
The 2022 Marrakech Film Festival will pay tribute to talents from four continents this year, with Scottish actor Tilda Swinton, U.S. director James Gray, Bollywood superstar Ranveer Singh and pioneering Moroccan filmmaker Farida Benlyazid all receiving the festival’s Étoile d’or, or Golden Star, honor for their contributions to cinema.
Swinton, an Oscar winner for Michael Clayton (2007), most recently appeared in a doppelgänger performance as a filmmaker and her elderly mother in Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter, her third film with the British director. In a statement, Swinton called the Étoile d’or honor “truly touching. To return [to Marrakech] to celebrate with my friends this exceptional forum for world cinema and the perpetual global fellowship of film love with the beautiful audience there will be a pure joy for which I am deeply grateful.”
Tilda Swinton in ‘The Eternal Daughter’
Veteran filmmaker Gray,...
The 2022 Marrakech Film Festival will pay tribute to talents from four continents this year, with Scottish actor Tilda Swinton, U.S. director James Gray, Bollywood superstar Ranveer Singh and pioneering Moroccan filmmaker Farida Benlyazid all receiving the festival’s Étoile d’or, or Golden Star, honor for their contributions to cinema.
Swinton, an Oscar winner for Michael Clayton (2007), most recently appeared in a doppelgänger performance as a filmmaker and her elderly mother in Joanna Hogg’s The Eternal Daughter, her third film with the British director. In a statement, Swinton called the Étoile d’or honor “truly touching. To return [to Marrakech] to celebrate with my friends this exceptional forum for world cinema and the perpetual global fellowship of film love with the beautiful audience there will be a pure joy for which I am deeply grateful.”
Tilda Swinton in ‘The Eternal Daughter’
Veteran filmmaker Gray,...
- 10/27/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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Sideshow and Janus Films have picked up all U.S. rights to No Bears, the latest film from Iranian dissident director Jafar Panahi. The drama premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won a special jury prize. We Like has acquired all Canadian rights .The deal was negotiated by Celluloid Dreams on behalf of the filmmakers with Sideshow and Janus Films.
Sideshow and Janus will do a US theatrical release for the film and said they are planning a best director Oscar campaign for Panahi, who has become a face of the resistance to the Iranian regime. The acclaimed director of Taxi, The Circle and This is Not a Film is currently in prison, serving a 6-year sentence for his protesting the government in Tehran. The sentence was originally handed down in 2010, when Panahi also received a 20-year filmmaking ban. He, however,...
Sideshow and Janus Films have picked up all U.S. rights to No Bears, the latest film from Iranian dissident director Jafar Panahi. The drama premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where it won a special jury prize. We Like has acquired all Canadian rights .The deal was negotiated by Celluloid Dreams on behalf of the filmmakers with Sideshow and Janus Films.
Sideshow and Janus will do a US theatrical release for the film and said they are planning a best director Oscar campaign for Panahi, who has become a face of the resistance to the Iranian regime. The acclaimed director of Taxi, The Circle and This is Not a Film is currently in prison, serving a 6-year sentence for his protesting the government in Tehran. The sentence was originally handed down in 2010, when Panahi also received a 20-year filmmaking ban. He, however,...
- 9/28/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is imploring everyone worldwide to unite “in solidarity” with protesters following the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s morality police.
In a video message on Instagram, Farhadi said, “You must have heard recent news from Iran and seen images of progressive and courageous women leading protests for their human rights alongside men. They are looking for simple yet fundamental rights that the state has denied them for years. This society, especially these women, has traveled a harsh and painful path to this point, and now they have clearly reached a landmark.”
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets since last week’s death of the 22-year-old Amini, who was taken into custody in Tehran, allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly. At least 41 people have died in the protests, according to state television.
Farhadi continued: “I saw them closely these nights.
In a video message on Instagram, Farhadi said, “You must have heard recent news from Iran and seen images of progressive and courageous women leading protests for their human rights alongside men. They are looking for simple yet fundamental rights that the state has denied them for years. This society, especially these women, has traveled a harsh and painful path to this point, and now they have clearly reached a landmark.”
Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets since last week’s death of the 22-year-old Amini, who was taken into custody in Tehran, allegedly for not wearing her hijab properly. At least 41 people have died in the protests, according to state television.
Farhadi continued: “I saw them closely these nights.
- 9/25/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
As protests continue to erupt in Iran and around the world sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini – the young Iranian woman who died last week while being held in custody by morality police for allegedly wearing a loose headscarf – the country’s film community is intensely engaged and keenly aware that their voices are now even more at risk of being quashed.
Two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (“A Separation”), who is currently presiding over the Zurich Film Festival jury, has issued a statement and a video appeal urging artists around the world to proclaim their solidarity with the Iranian people who are protesting against the death of Amini.
Iran’s morality police arrested Amini, who was 22, on Sept. 13 in Tehran. She died at a police station three days later. The police say she died of a heart attack, but she had no history of a cardiac condition.
In...
Two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (“A Separation”), who is currently presiding over the Zurich Film Festival jury, has issued a statement and a video appeal urging artists around the world to proclaim their solidarity with the Iranian people who are protesting against the death of Amini.
Iran’s morality police arrested Amini, who was 22, on Sept. 13 in Tehran. She died at a police station three days later. The police say she died of a heart attack, but she had no history of a cardiac condition.
In...
- 9/25/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.
Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry
An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.
Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.
A shortlist of 15 finalists is...
- 9/21/2022
- by Screen staff
- ScreenDaily
Houman Seyyedi’s darkly comic drama World War III has been named as Iran’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, set for March 12 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. See the full list of entries by country below.
The film chosen “unanimously” by Iran’s Oscars committee follows the day laborer Shakib (Mohsen Tanabandeh), who after being cast in a movie, must secretly shelter his lover on the set or risk losing her and all that movie stardom has promised him.
Seyyedi, Arian Vazirdaftari and Azad Jafarian scripted the pic, which world premiered in the Horizons section of this year’s Venice Film Festival and went on to win the section’s prizes for Best Film and Best Actor (Tanabandeh). Its cast also includes Neda Jebreili, Mahsa Hejazi and Navid Nosrati.
Parviz Sheikh Tadi, the speaker and a member of the committee in...
The film chosen “unanimously” by Iran’s Oscars committee follows the day laborer Shakib (Mohsen Tanabandeh), who after being cast in a movie, must secretly shelter his lover on the set or risk losing her and all that movie stardom has promised him.
Seyyedi, Arian Vazirdaftari and Azad Jafarian scripted the pic, which world premiered in the Horizons section of this year’s Venice Film Festival and went on to win the section’s prizes for Best Film and Best Actor (Tanabandeh). Its cast also includes Neda Jebreili, Mahsa Hejazi and Navid Nosrati.
Parviz Sheikh Tadi, the speaker and a member of the committee in...
- 9/19/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
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