Agnès Varda has been making movies for more than 60 years without any Oscars, so what would she need one for now? That’s the essence of the 89-year-old French filmmaker’s comments to the Associated Press about her dual nods from the Academy this year, one in the Best Documentary Feature category with her daughter Rosalie Varda and street artist JR for their film Faces Places, and one honorary Governors Award, which she received along with filmmaker Charles Burnett and actor Donald Sutherland last fall. And, well, it was nice—but nothing to base your self-esteem on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rKZcAiLHlY “There is nothing to be proud of, but happy,” she…
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.
Academy Awards announced the nominees for the Best Foreign Language Film Award: A Fantastic Woman (Chile), The Insult (Lebanon), Loveless (Russia), Body and Soul (Hungary) and The Square (Sweden). Good news is that The Insult, Winner of Cinema Without Borders’ Bridging The Borders Award is among the nominees. The big disappointment is that In The Fade,a masterpiece by Fatih Akin is missing from the list of nominees. Chile, A Fantastic Woman , Director: Sebastián Lelio A Fantastic Woman (Spanish: Una mujer fantástica) is a 2017 Chilean drama film directed by Sebastián Lelio. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section of…
A group of European theatre festival organizer who recently visited Iran have praised the Iranian theatre audiences saying these people are ‘wonderful’ in terms of their enthusiasm and reactions to what they see on the stage. During their 4-day stay in Tehran, seven European theatre festival organizers held talks with a number of Iranian theatrical figures and watched several Iranian plays. Ways to introduce Iranian theatre troupes to international festivals were discussed at the meetings. In addition, the delegation pledged to provide the grounds for some performances by European troupes in Iran. The European group visited Iran last month to…
Palm Springs – January 13, 2018— Today, at Palm Springs International Film Festival, Cinema Without Borders named Ziad Doueiri’s The Insult as the winner of 2018 HP Bridging the Borders Award offered by Cinema Without Borders. The prize for HP Bridging The Borders Award is an HP ZBook 15, a $3000 value. The prize was provided and sponsored by HP. The Bridging The Borders Award at the 2018 Palm Springs International Film Festival will be given to the most successful film in bringing the people of our world closer together. Neda Nobari, Founder and CEO of Neda Nobari Foundation, and Bijan…
January 7th, 2018 – Tonight In the Fade from Germany, directed by Fatih Akin, won the Best Foreign language Film Award. https://vimeo.com/250059059 In the Fade (German: Aus dem Nichts) is a 2017 German drama film directed by Fatih Akin. It was selected to compete for the Palme d’Or in the main competition section at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, Diane Kruger won the Best Actress award. It was selected as the German entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards. The film is named after a song by the American rock band Queens of…
A merican news and culture paper The Village Voice, has recently introduced a list of the best 25 feature films of 2017 on its website, where Iranian documentary ‘Starless Dreams’ by Mehrdad Oskouei ranks 7th. “In a rehab center, some girls – most of whom are there for drug-related offenses – gossip, pray, goof off and argue. But the real emotional dynamite comes in Oskouei’s individual interviews with the young inmates who reveal unfathomable depths of shame and self-loathing. We hear his patient voice and see his interactions with the girls; he even buys things for them on occasion,” the…
The 19th Scandinavian Film Festival L.A. (SFFLA) will be on January 14, 15, 21 and 22. To learn more about the festival we had an interview with festival’s director and founder James Koenig. James Koenig is someone whose voice is heard in various arts arenas. He graduated from Northwestern University with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in voice continuing studies in Italy, Germany, and California. As a classical singer he has sung in opera and concert venues around the United States and in Europe. He also enjoys teaching, directing, and writing. He is the founder/director of the eighteen-year-old Scandinavian Film Festival…
19th edition of Scandinavian Film Festival, Los Angeles opens on Saturday January 6th and continues on January 7th, 20th and 21st. Here is the complete program of the festival for its first weekend: Saturday, January 6 12:00 pm Kayayo, the Living Shopping Baskets (documentary) (Norway), 2016, 32 minutes, Mari Bakke Riise In the capital of Ghana, 10,000 girls from the ages of 6 work as real life shopping baskets – called Kayayo, carrying heavy loads on their head (from 130 to 220 pounds), earning very little and some end up in prostitution to make ends meet. This documentary is about…
In 2017, African directors and producers made movies and documentaries that explored brave new ways of production and challenged traditional narratives of storytelling. Whether focusing on toxic masculinity in South Africa, paying homage to Senegalese mythology, or addressing a crisis of faith in Egypt, these bold pictures collectively pushed the fold of creative filmmaking and offered a multidimensional narrative about the continent. One such avenue of progress is the arrival of virtual reality, and how it gave African filmmakers the opportunity to tell complex narratives. New Dimensions, a Pan-African VR collaborative project launched must-see VR productions that surveyed various themes including…
ÍRÁN:CI, the Festival of Iranian Films in Prague, Brno and Bratislava, is slated to bring a lineup of Iran titles to the Czech audience. The festival, which is also dubbed ‘Bringing Iranian Films to the Czech Audience: ÍRÁN:CI’, will open its seventh edition on Monday, January 8, 2018 at Bakala Foundation with the slogan of ‘Don’t be scared!’. Short Iranian films to be screened at the international event include Retouch directed by Kaveh Mazaheri, Soheil Amirsharifi’s Vision, A Girl In The Room by Karim Lakzadeh, Saerah Saghari’s Mr. Ahmadi And A Simple Journey, Animaldirected by Bahman and Bahram Ark, Gaze by Farnoush Samadi, Amir Toudeh Roosta’s Lay My Bed In…