Author: Bijan Tehrani

14th Edition of Polish Film Festival, Los Angeles opens on October 8 and continues until October 17. In order to learn more about 2013 the Polish Film Festival, Los Angele, we had the opportunity of talking to Vladek Juszkiewicz director and founder of the festival. Bijan Tehrani: Please tell us about Polish Film Festival , LA and what will be new in 2013 edition of the festival?Vladek Juszkiewicz : This is the 14th edition of the Festival. We will be screening 56 features, shorts, documentaries and animations.For the first time ever we will be screening films at two different locations,…

WADJDA is a movie of firsts. This first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia is the story of a young girl living in a suburb of Riyadh determined to raise enough money to buy a bike in a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl’s virtue. Even more impressive, WADJDA is the first feature film made by a female Saudi filmmaker. In a country where cinemas are banned and women cannot drive or vote, writer- director Haifaa Al Mansour has broken many barriers with her new film.WADJDA had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival, was…

Last week and during the HP Workstations Global Launch event in New York, I had the opportunity of speaking to two new HP customers on camera. Mark Russell, Director/Visual Effect Supervisor and Henric Larsson, founder and CEO of Chimney, they both had switched from using Apple computers to use HP workstations. Mark Russell. Director/Visual Effect SupervisorAfter attending the University of Southern California, Mark began his career in film production in Los Angeles, working on groundbreaking films such as Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, and Hellboy. Since moving to New York, he has supervised the visual effects in independent projects like…

Terraferma happens on a tiny, remote Sicilian island, where a local woman and an immigrant find themselves at odds with each other and yet are united by the same dream: a better future for their children, their very own Terraferma. Terraferma is not only a navigator’s point of arrival; it is also an island with deeply rooted traditions which appear to have stopped in time. And it is the issue of time standing still that is creating upheaval in the Pucillo family. Ernesto is 70 years old; he hates change and doesn’t want his fishing boat to be scrapped. His…

At Siggraph 2013 HP announced the first professional monitors of the new Z Display family as well as new entry-level Z Workstations that offer reliable and flexible workstation performance at PC-like prices. HP is continuing to drive innovation across an evolving workplace with the introduction of the HP Z22i, Z23i and Z24i IPS Displays. Offering outstanding image accuracy and mission-critical reliability, the HP Z Displays are optimized for use with HP Z Workstations. HP Z Displays are ideal for engineers, architects, designers and photographers who require image accuracy at an affordable price. Building upon HP’s award-winning Z series of workstations,…

In a hotel on the west coast of Sicily a group of international jazz artists are rehearsing and getting ready to go on tour. As they are preparing, two women from the favelas of Rio show up. The women tell the musicians that Darcy, a famous percussionist and old friend of the bandleader has gone missing and they believe that a witchdoctor, paid by drug smugglers, is responsible. One thing is clear: Darcy must be found. The musicians finally figure out, after much consideration, what to do; and the bandleader and an actor set out in search of the Candomblé…

This weekend is the 51st Anniversary of Marilyn Monroe’s passing and in celebration The Hollywood Museum is hosting several events. Marilyn: The Exhibit is the largest exhibit of authentic items, costumes and personal memorabilia in the United States and the backdrop of the Marilyn weekend events.In order to learn more about this event we interviewed Donelle Dadigan Founder and President of the Hollywood Museum.Bijan Tehrani: Can you tell us a little bit about the event this weekend at the Hollywood Museum.Donelle Dadigan: We are thrilled because the event marks the anniversary of the 51st year since Marilyn Monroe’s passing. ON…

The Patience Stone captures the reality of everyday life for an intelligent woman under the oppressive weight of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan.Somewhere, in Afghanistan or elsewhere, in a country torn apart by a war… A beautiful woman in her thirties watches over her husband who has fallen into a coma. After ten years of living under his control, with no voice of her own, she finally has the upper hand. And with that, the safety to reveal to him her deepest desires, pains and secrets, stories she could never share with anyone for fear of retribution. And it is…

A unique documentary-style science fiction thriller, EUROPA REPORT follows a contemporary mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa to investigate the possible existence of alien life within our solar system. When unmanned probes suggest that a hidden ocean could exist underneath Europa’s icy surface and may contain single-celled life, Europa Ventures, a privately funded space exploration company, sends six of the best astronauts from around the world to confirm the data and explore the revolutionary discoveries that may lie in the Europan ocean. After a near-catastrophic technical failure that leads to loss of communication with Earth and the tragic death of a…

It was very late when we all came back from the film screening and after party of the Palm Springs ShortFest Film Festival. There were about eight film directors from five different countries gathered in the lobby of the hotel. Everyone was surfing the web on their laptops or tablets, and some where hanging on their phones. It wasn’t long before the throng was speaking out about the extremely slow internet connection provided by the hotel. Speeds were so slow that I couldn’t even load my email. When several of us went to the front desk, we were told to…