In THE ANIMAL KINGDOM, a visionary new thriller that drops viewers into an extraordinary world where mutations in human genetics cause people to transform into hybrid creatures, François (Roman Duris) does everything he can to save his wife, who is affected by this mysterious condition. As some of the creatures disappear into a nearby forest, François embarks with Emile (Paul Kircher), their 16-year-old son, on a quest to find her with help from a local police officer (Adèle Exarchopoulos). From acclaimed director Thomas Cailley, the film world premiered as the opening night selection of Cannes Un Certain Regard. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWAJXTcEEOU The…
Author: Bijan Tehrani
Our choice for Movie of the Month is FAMILIA, a wonderful and masterfully made movie directed by Rodrigo Garcia. We introduce our picks for Movie of the Week through a video presentation of the film. https://vimeo.com/916833373?share=copy Leo owns an olive ranch in the Guadalupe Valley. He also has four children: Rebeca, Julia, Mariana, and Benny. Each month he brings the family together for a catch-up, but this time, there is another more important reason to meet. We will discover the secrets, memories, dreams, and motivations of each member of the family, as we delve deeper into the most private and…
In Blaga’s Lessons, Bulgaria’s Oscar Entry, directed by Stephan Komandarev, when a retired, recently widowed teacher falls prey to a phone scam, she’s left robbed of her life savings. Desperate to pull through, she accepts an alluring yet suspicious offer for work that will turn her life upside down and force her to make a decision beyond her principles. https://youtu.be/8Xb7i3m6jbU?si=EDP_CQRJju8LzPTp The following is our interview with Stephan Komandarev, director of Blaga’s Lessons: Bijan Tehrani: Blaga’s Lesson deals with elderly abuse by making them victims of fraud crimes, what motivated you to make it? Also please tell us about the trilogy that…
The award winning documentary film director and producer, Susan Morgan Cooper, grew up in a tiny village in Wales where her parents produced plays to raise money for charity. Shortly after arriving in America, she landed a small role in a Clint Eastwood film, but found film editing more fascinating than acting. In 1991, when Susan met a 16-year-old girl from Croatia, displaced by The Balkan War, she felt compelled to make her first documentary, Mirjana- One Girl’s Journey. She went on to produce and direct a documentary television series called Heroes and Sheroes about ordinary people doing extraordinary things…
In BAD LIVING, Portuguese Oscar entry directed by João Canijo in a family-run hotel, by the Portuguese northern shore, lives a group of women from different generations of the same family, whose relationships with each other have grown poisoned by bitterness. They try to survive in the declining hotel, as the unexpected arrival of a granddaughter to this oppressive space stirs trouble, reviving latent hatred and piled-up resentments. https://vimeo.com/876337272 Cinema Without Borders: What motivated you to make BAD LIVING? João Canijo: Mostly the need to expose something about my deeper concerns. I had to stop wandering around themes disguising my…
VERA Austrian Oscar Entry directed by Tizza Covi and Rainer Frimmel, is about the actress Vera Gemma who lives in the shadow of her famous late father, the Italo-Western actor Giuliano Gemma. She drifts through Roman high society, tired of countless plastic surgeries and superficial relationships. When, after a car accident, she takes the injured son of a working-class family to her heart, a moral parable unfolds that is as fascinating as it is tragic, trying once again to unite the rich with the poor, the lost with the found. The fact that contradictions are not only admitted but embraced…
The opening/award ceremony of 2023 Hungarian Film Festival of Los Angeles was held at Laemmle’s Monica Film Center. Bijan Tehrani , jury members, announced the winner of MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award for The Best Feature Film. CWB jury statement: At Cinema Without Borders, we have had the honor of offering our Bridging the Borders Award to the Best Feature Film at the Hungarian Film Festival of Los Angeles since 2014. MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award is offered by Cinema Without Borders and sponsored by MOZAIK Philanthropy. For this year we amazing films to choose the winner from. The winner…
In Marry My Dead Body, Taiwan’s Oscar Entry, directed by Cheng Wei-Hao, one day a police officer finds a red wedding envelope, only to find out that the owner of the red envelope is in fact a ghost from the other side asking for the officer’s hand in marriage before reincarnation. What will happen when a human and a ghost form a special bond? Closing film to the 2022 Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, the largest and the longest-running film festival in Taiwan, MARRY MY DEAD BODY transcends the boundaries of both death and gender! https://youtu.be/BCFyt7GkOmY?si=EsOc6a8alZZLY-tJ Cinema Without Borders: What…
Lily Afshar’s internationally admired Iranian/American musician and a professor of music passed away at the age of 63. She will be buried in her birthplace, city of Tonekabon in Iran. Lily Afshar personal story began in her native land Iran. Born in Tehran to a family with ancient roots in the northern region of Azerbaijan, at ten years of age she first encountered the guitar while visiting a cousin who was taking lessons. She told her father she loved the guitar; the next day he presented her with her first instrument and arranged for lessons. Her prodigious skill and love…
Last week at the 2023 Lucas International Festival for Young Film Lovers in Germany, the Cinema Without Borders jury announced the winners of the MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award, as well as their Honorable Mention . TOTEM from Netherlands / Luxemburg / Germany, directed by Sander Burger won 2023 MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award and THE WORST ONES – (Les Pires) from France, directed by Lise Akoka and Romane Gueret received jury’s Honorable Mention. MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award is offered by Cinema Without Borders Foundation and sponsored by MOZAIK Philanthropy. Chale Nafus, one of the jury members announced the winner…