Author: Bijan Tehrani

In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, few powers in the world have intervened in the political and military affairs of other nations as frequently as the United States. These interventions have taken many forms: direct wars, covert coups, intelligence operations, and economic pressure. Official narratives have often framed such actions with phrases like “defending freedom,” “fighting dictatorship,” “combating terrorism,” or “protecting global security.” Yet when history is viewed from the perspective of the people living in the countries affected by these interventions, a different picture often emerges—one of governments overthrown, fragile democracies destroyed, and populations forced to bear the human…

On a night when the global film industry gathers to celebrate artistic achievement, glamour, and the mythology of cinema, the 2026 Academy Awards unfolded with their usual spectacle: red carpets, emotional speeches, orchestral swells, and carefully rehearsed gratitude. The ceremony once again confirmed what the Oscars have always been extraordinarily good at doing—celebrating the dream factory of Hollywood while remaining curiously detached from the waking nightmare unfolding in the real world. This year that detachment felt particularly stark. Across the globe, nations tremble under the weight of war, displacement, economic collapse, and the erosion of democratic institutions. Millions of people wake…

Not many years ago, when the series Yellowstone first aired, many critics and viewers felt that American television had once again managed to create a work rooted in the old myths of the Western while also telling a contemporary human drama. Yellowstone was not merely the story of a large ranch in Montana; it was the story of the collision of two worlds: the world of capital and ruthless development on one side, and the world of tradition, family, and land on the other. The character of John Dutton, played by Kevin Costner, was a figure who, despite his toughness…

Death Before Birth in Anti-War Cinema and in the Reality of Wars In every war, the number of victims is not limited to those who are killed on the battlefield or those who die beneath the rubble of destroyed cities. War has other victims as well—victims who rarely appear in any official statistics: children who never have the chance to be born. They have no names in cemeteries, no place in military reports, and no role in the heroic narratives of war. Yet the truth is that every war, before it takes the lives of the living, destroys a future…

From Hitler to the Commanders of Apocalypse If one day a major film is made about the war that was waged against Iran, it would not be surprising if cinema once again followed a pattern that has appeared repeatedly in twentieth-century war films: the transformation of war-seeking leaders into the devilish figures of the narrative. In such a film, some of the political leaders who decided to initiate that war would likely be portrayed as characters issuing orders for attack from a safe distance, while the real victims of those decisions were ordinary people and civilians. In a cinematic narrative…

In times of political tension, governments have often relied on a familiar tactic: framing a people or an entire nation as the enemy in order to mobilize fear and resentment among the public. This mechanism of creating a threatening “other” is not new. It has appeared repeatedly throughout modern history, and cultural narratives—including cinema—have sometimes played a role in reinforcing such perceptions. The early mythology of the American West, as portrayed in Hollywood films, offers a revealing example of how images and stories can shape attitudes toward entire communities. In the history of American cinema, few names are as closely…

Some films remain films. Others become something else entirely. They become mirrors in which we see not only the past but also the painful truths of the present. Vittorio De Sica’s Two Women is one of those rare films. It was made in 1960, in the aftermath of the Second World War, yet each time I watch it I feel as though it speaks directly to the world we are living in today. The film may belong to another era, but the human suffering it depicts is timeless. The story itself is simple: Cesira, a widowed mother, flees Rome with…

These days, from thousands of miles away in the United States, as I follow the news and images of the devastation of my homeland, Iran, words have taken on a different taste for me. For years I have been a film critic; I have made films; I have written with passion and conviction about aesthetics, mise-en-scène, narrative, rhythm, light, and silence. Cinema was a home for me, a place where I sought refuge. But today, when I hear the news of children in my country being killed, when I read that a school has been targeted or that a house…

An Exclusive, Insightful Conversation with Shahab Hosseini My first encounter with Shahab Hosseini dates back to February four years ago, at the home of my dear friend Shirin Jahed, one of Iran’s most accomplished television directors—an artist to whom many well-known figures in Iranian cinema and media owe a great deal for her talent, mentorship, and refined taste. Thanks to Ms. Jahed’s thoughtfulness, we celebrated Shahab Hosseini’s birthday—along with that of my close friend and companion Abbas Yari and myself, all born in the month of Bahman—with a cake and a handful of candles. From that very first meeting, I…

Vertigo Doctors say the cause of my vertigo is a disorder of the inner ear. But I know perfectly well that the real culprits are Hitchcock, Parviz Davayi(1), Sepid o Siah magazine(2), and Kim Novak’s beautiful shoulders. They are the reasons I have watched Vertigo two hundred and sixty-five times. Hitchcock, with the magic of his images; Parviz Davayi, with that enchanted, romantic series of essays he wrote about the film; Sepid o Siah, the weekly everyone read from back to front, whose final word always belonged to Davayi; and Kim Novak, whose shoulders were signs of a kind of…