It is almost over three years that I had the privilege of meeting Mark Pellington in person and interview him for his amazing body of work in narrative feature filmmaking and creating many of the best music videos of our time. Mark is a very kind and humble artist and human being. (Bijan Tehrani) I asked Mark, if he wants to pick his top 5 music videos which ones he may choose: https://vimeo.com/431371957 Mark Pellington is an American filmmaker, photographer, and artist. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Bill Pellington, a linebacker who played football with the…
Author: Bijan Tehrani
Bijan Tehrani
Bijan (Hassan) Tehrani Founder and Editor in Chief of Cinema Without Borders, is a film director, writer, and a film critic, his first article appeared in a weekly film publication in Iran 45 years ago. Bijan founded Cinema Without Borders, an online publication dedicated to promotion of international cinema in the US and around the globe, eighteen years ago and still works as its editor in chief. Bijan is has also been a columnist and film critic for the Iranian monthly film related medias for 45 years and during the past 5 years he has been a permanent columnist and film reviewer for Film Emrooz (Film Today), a popular Iranian monthly print film magazine. Bijan has won several awards in international film festivals and book fairs for his short films and children's books as well as for his services to the international cinema. Bijan is a member of Iranian Film Writers Critics Society and International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI). He is also an 82nd Golden Globe Awards voter.
Palm Springs International SHORTFEST has announced The Present, from Palestine, directed by Farah Nabulsi, as the winner of GoE’s 2020 Bridging the Borders Award, presented by Cinema Without Borders and sponsored by Go Energistics . The winner received a cash award of $2500 courtesy of Go Energistics. Palm Springs International ShortFest 2020 was held online do to the Corona virus pandemic. The 15 nominees for the 2019 GoE Bridging The Borders Award were: Call Center Blues (USA/Mexico) Director: Geeta Gandbhir, Container (Greece/USA) Director: Daphne Maziariaki, Dear Joel (Greece/France) Director: Thanasis Trouboukis, Deserter (Czech Republic/Ukraine) Director: Sasha Stelchenko, Fabiu (Austria) Director: Stefan…
Burbank, CA – June 10th, 2020: Today, Cinema Without Borders announced jury members for GoE Bridging The Borders Award at the 2020 Palm Springs International ShortFest Film Festival. The Bridging The Borders Award at the 2020 Palm ShortFest will be given to the most successful film in bringing the people of our world closer together. GoE Bridging The Borders Award is presented by Cinema Borders and award sponsored and prize provided by GoEnergistics. The winner of Bridging the Borders Award will receive a cash prize of $2500. Cinema Without Borders’ jury members to decide the 2020 winner of the GoE…
The Human Rights Watch Film Festival presents its first full digital edition of bold new films that will be available nationwide, in response to this time of crisis. The film festival will feature in-depth online discussions with filmmakers, film subjects, and Human Rights Watch researchers. This first Digital Edition of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival will run from June 11 to 20, 2020. To learn more about the 2020 festival we had a phone interview with John Biaggi is the Director of the Human Rights Watch Film Festival: https://soundcloud.com/user-222526075/an-interview-with-john-biaggi John Biaggi is the Director of the Human Rights Watch…
Tribeca Enterprises and YouTube announced today the programming slate for We Are One: A Global Film Festival, which will feature over 100 films co-curated by 21 prolific festivals, hailing from 35 countries, in addition to talks, VR content and musical performances. The 10day digital event will celebrate global voices, elevate films that have the power to create change and bring audiences from around the world together to create meaningful connections. Assembling some of the world’s most talented artists, storytellers and curators around a central effort to provide entertainment and offer relief in the form of supporting organizations responding to the…
In January this year and at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, I had the opportunity of meeting Eline Farideh Koning , the main character in Finding Farideh, Iranian documentary film, in person. Eline Farideh was quite enthusiastic about being part of making this important documentary, representing Iran in 2020 Oscars. After a successful and full house screening of Finding Farideh, I interviewed Eline Farideh on camera: https://vimeo.com/422546627 “Finding Farideh” is a feature-length documentary about an Iranian girl named Farideh, who had been abandoned in a holy shrine in Iran when she was 6 months old in 1976, and then…
Living in quarantine has changed the way filmmakers are working and communicating with others. Mark Pellington is one of the pioneers of music videos with a long list of credits in both feature films and music videos. Mark, a legendary of his field, is a humble and wonderful artist and a great human being. In the following video Marks Pellington tells us about living and working in quarantine. https://vimeo.com/416076460 Mark Pellington was born in 1962. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1984, which he attended on an athletic scholarship, playing attack on the lacrosse team. He worked at MTV from 1984–1990, winning awards as a…
Working Man is not only one of the best American films I have seen in recent years. An honest film that deals with an ordinary life of a middle aged man that all he knows from life is working for a factory, a tragic life that Hollywood never deals with. the simple, but well thought and beautiful structure of the Working Man reminds me the good Italian New Realist films. I had the opportunity of speaking to Robert Jury, writer and director of the Working Man on camera (Bijan Tehrani): https://vimeo.com/415824445 Somewhere in the Rust Belt of America another factory is…
When I interviewed Nancy Kelly last week, it was like talking to a friend that I knew for centuries. She is full of his hearth talking to you and supper modest and generous in sharing her interesting and exciting stories about making of Thousand pieces of gold. I have watched Thousand pieces of gold a few times since last week (I can not believe that I missed it thirty years ago when it was released for the first time!) and it’s one of those movies that is like a breathtaking scenery, regardless of how many times you have seen it, it…
Did You Know? More than 1 in 6 U.S. healthcare workers are immigrants. In the states hardest hit by the coronavirus, California and New York, more than a third of all healthcare workers are immigrants. Also there are other immigrant Essential Workers on the front lines making sacrifices in order to save lives and keep the country running in the brutal battle against the Coronavirus. Essential Workers have not been able to work from home during the shutdown, but rather have continued to go to their normal jobs, bringing them into contact on a daily basis with COVID-19 patients or…