Author: Bijan Tehrani

The cargo ship MV Rozen is heading for harbor when it is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Amongst the men on board are the ship’s cook Mikkel (Pilou Asbæk) and the engineer Jan (Roland Møller), who along with the rest of the seamen are taken hostage in a cynical game of life and death. With the demand for a ransom of millions of dollars a psychological drama unfolds between the CEO of the shipping company (Søren Malling) and the Somali pirates.Tobias Lindholm, director of A HIJACKING, has written several episodes for the DR TV-series THE SUMMERS (2008)…

Recently HP teamed with Adobe to offer workstation solutions specifically designed and configured for creative digital filmmaking professionals looking to maximize performance using Adobe Creative Cloud. Tested and recommended by Adobe for use on HP Z and EliteBook Mobile Workstations, a simple monthly membership to Creative Cloud gives the users entire collection of Adobe creative tools, including Adobe Premiere Pro CC, After Effects CC and Photoshop CC plus access to new services. To learn more about this collaboration between HP and Adobe we spoke to Ray Gilmartin* , the Worldwide Market Segment Manager for HP Workstations (focused on the Media…

Just Like a Woman tells the poignant tale of two women, barely more than casual acquaintances, who escape the prisons of their unhappy marriages and embark on a revealing journey of self-discovery that leads them to the importance—and true meaning—of friendship.Rachid Bouchareb, director of Just Like a Woman, was born in Paris to an Algerian immigrant family. Themes of cultural identity and clash pervade his body of work, beginning with his first film, Baton Rouge (1985). In 1987, the director and his friend Jean Bréhat co-founded production company 3B, which produced all his subsequent films as well as those of…

1976: Berberian Sound Studio is one of the cheapest, sleaziest post-production studios in Italy. Only the most sordid horror films have their sound processed and sharpened in this studio. Gilderoy, a naive and introverted sound engineer from England is hired to orchestrate the sound mix for the latest film by horror maestro, Santini. Thrown from the innocent world of local documentaries into a foreign environment fuelled by exploitation, Gilderoy soon finds himself caught up in a forbidding world of bitter actresses, capricious technicians and confounding bureaucracy. Obliged to work with the hot-headed producer Francesco, whose tempestuous relationships with certain members…

XARA is an innovative developer of image editing and web design solutions. To learn more about Xara products we spoke to Charles Moir.Charles, founder of Xara in 1981 was responsible for creating the early successful products such as Wordwise one of the earliest and most popular word processors for Microcomputers.His company developed a wide range of innovative products throughout the history of the personal computer. Charles has been responsible for many industry firsts, from the world’s first spell check-as-you-type in the 1980s, to many of the industry standard features found in modern graphics software. It was from the rewards of…

This weekend, June 21-23, at the American Cinematheque Egyptian and Aero Theaters, Los Angeles film lovers will have a chance to see an interesting review of recent Croatian cinema. We have talked to Kino Croatia producer Matko B. Malinger. Bijan Tehrani: Please tell us about the Kick-off party of Kino Croatia and how it went.Matko B. Malinger: We had the Kino Croatia 2013 Kick-Off party at the DOMA Restaurant in Beverly Hills. They have a very charming loft upstairs – a dream place for special events. You can screen films there and have 70 – 80 people seated at the tables.…

Amin Jaafari (Ali Suliman, Paradise Now) is an Israeli Palestinian surgeon, fully assimilated into Tel Aviv society. He has a loving wife, an exemplary career, and many Jewish friends. But his picture perfect life is turned upside down after a suicide bombing in a restaurant leaves nineteen dead, and the Israeli police inform him that his wife, Sihem (Reymonde Amsellem, Lebanon) who also died in the explosion, was responsible. Convinced of her innocence, Amin abandons the relative security of his adopted homeland and enters the Palestinian territories in pursuit of the truth. Once there, he finds himself in ever more…

Californian pianist Soheil Nasseri performs regularly in some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls, including Alice Tully Hall (Lincoln Center), Weill Recital Hall (Carnegie Hall) and the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, Berlin’s Philharmonie Kammermusiksaal and Konzerthaus, London’s Purcell Room, Tokyo’s Musashino Center, Théâtre Fémina in Bordeaux, Florence’s Teatro Comunale, St. Petersburg’s Philharmonia, and Palermo’s Teatro Politeama. As concerto soloist Mr. Nasseri has appeared with 10 different conductors and as a recording artist he released 6 solo discs on Naxos, Centaur, Mahoor, and 21CCC. Mr. Nasseri has premiered 25 new works and 9 composers have written pieces specifically…

TRIAL BY FIRE: Lives Re-forged celebrates the courage and strength of burn survivors as they reclaim their lives after the devastation of fire. The film follows the journeys of ordinary people who rise above their injuries to discover unexpected insights and a transformed worldview. Through extraordinary courage, grit, and determination, all re-forge their destinies by first embracing – and then achieving – new dreams. These powerful stories are framed and given insight by U.S. veteran, actor, and speaker, J.R. Martinez.When metal is forged with fire it becomes stronger. It turns out the same is true of the human spirit.Bijan Tehrani: …

This Sunday, in the picturesque loft of Doma Restaurant, overlooking the charming streets of Beverly Hills, Kino Croatia – Croatian Film series at American Cinematheque – will have a Kick-off party for its 2013 year edition, which is taking place June 21-23 at the Egyptian and Aero Theatres. The central part of this event is Los Angeles premier of 30 minutes documentary “Cooking for Hollywood” featuring John Woo, Adam Beach, John Travolta, Christian Slater, Peter Stormare and many other big names – and starring Tony Kerum. Who is Tony Kerum? – We asked that question Matko B. Malinger, the creator…