OPINION: Iran’s Role in Protests Against ‘The Lady of Heaven’ Movie
By Potkin Azarmehr
The cinema chain Cineworld canceled the screening of “The Lady of Heaven” after Muslim activists living in the UK protested outside its theaters last week.
https://youtu.be/1MaDAW0jRYM
Threats by angry Muslim mobs and the absence...
Halloween with a Persian Twist
By Fred Parvaneh
Halloween is a quintessentially American celebration – yet one that countless Iranians around the globe happily partake in.
Halloween relives the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in), which originated in Ireland, the...
The Shah’s Dying Days: Interview with Filmmaker Bobak Kalhor
By Fred Parvaneh
"A Dying King” is a documentary by first-time filmmaker Bobak Kalhor that examines the untold medical story of the late Shah of Iran and the truth behind his death in July 1980.
The...
Venice Festival May Screen Jafar Panahi’s Documentary on Iran Flood Victims
A documentary film by the award-winning Iranian director Jafar Panahi and the veteran actress Pouri Banayi on the plight of people in the southern flood-stricken provinces of Khuzestan and Lorestan could be screened at...
Jafar Panahi Among Contenders for the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or
The Cannes Film Festival announced its lineup late last week, and said the Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi -- who is not allowed to leave Iran or to make movies -- was a contender for...
Antonio Banderas Co-Stars With Golshifteh Farahani, Discovers Prehistoric Site
By Ahmad Rafat
Cinemas all over Spain this year have been showing a new movie called Altamira, with Antonio Banderas in the title role. Mr. Banderas, one of the best-known faces in world cinema, plays Marcelino Sanz...
Iranian Director Ghanizadeh Dedicates Award to Slain Protester Pooya Bakhtiari
By Azadeh Karimi
Iranian film and stage director Homayoun Ghanizadeh, whose 2019 film “The Clown” won the top prize in the “Exceptional Talent and Creative” section of the “13th Gathering of Screenwriters and Film Critics”,...
‘The Night,’ First U.S.-Made Film To Be Released in Iran, Impresses U.S. Film Critics
By Tim Cornwell
Sometime this year, an Iranian-American movie will make history. “The Night” -- a hallucinatory horror film by the young director Kourosh Ahari -- will be the first U.S.-produced movie to show in...
Shirin Neshat Presents Movie in Venice, Opens Photography Show in London
By Nazanine Nouri
Shirin Neshat -- who in 2009 won the Venice Film Festival’s Silver Lion best-director award for “Women Without Men” -- was back at this year’s festival for the premiere of a movie...
Iranian Filmmakers, Actresses Defy Regime In Aftermath of Protests
By Ahmad Rafat and Firouzeh Nordstrom
Since the start of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement in 2022, Iranian cinema has entered a new phase unparalleled in the past four and a half decades. Independent filmmakers...
