Cesar Must Die, Italia’s 2013 Oscar entry opening scene is in a theater in Rome’s Rebibbia Prison. A performance of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar has just ended amidst much applause. The lights dim on the actors and they become prisoners once again as they are accompanied back to their cells.Then we go to six months earlier, when the warden and a theater director speak to the inmates about a new project, the staging of Julius Caesar in the prison. The first step is casting. The second step is exploration of the text. Shakespeare’s universal language helps the inmates-actors to identify with…
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.
The story of WHITE TIGER, Russia’s 2013 Oscar Entry happens when World War II is drawing to a close and furious and prolonged fighting is exhausting both the Soviet and the fascist troops. The more decisive the advance of the Soviet army, the more often White Tiger, a huge, indestructible fascist tank, appears in the battlefield. It relentlessly emerges from the smoke of combat, ruthlessly destroys the adversary and swiftly vanishes. No one can either verify or refute its existence. However, the Soviet military command decides to build an extraordinary tank – a special version of the T-34.The crew of…
MULBERRY CHILD is based on Jian Ping’s book Mulberry Child: A Memoir of China, the history of her coming-of-age under the brutality of Mao’s repressive Cultural Revolution. Told with the help of never-before-seen film footage inside the Cultural Revolution, MULBERRY CHILD, more than a journal of individual survival and family principles, is a lucid account of a dramatic period in China’s history. Susan Morgan Cooper was inspired to make her first documentary Mirjana… One Girl’s Journey, about a young Croatian girl displaced by The Balkan War. Her last documentary, the award winning An Unlikely Weapon was the story of photographer Eddie Adams who won a Pulitzer …
In 2013 Palm Springs International Film Festival Cinema Without Borders will present HP’s Bridging The Borders Award to a film that helps to bring people of our world closer together. The prize of the winning film will be a HP Elitebook 8770W mobile workstation. The following is our interview with Ray Gilmartin , the Worldwide Market Segment Manager for HP Workstations (focused on the Media & Entertainment market segment).Prior to joining HP, Ray spent over a decade in Product Management at Avid Technology. Ray’s prior experience includes Product Management roles in Interactive TV technology as well as hands-on production and…
STARLET explores the unlikely friendship between 21 year-‐old aspiring actress Jane (Dree Hemingway) and elderly widow Sadie (Besedka Johnson), after their worlds collide in California’s San Fernando Valley. Jane spends her time getting high with her dysfunctional roommates and taking care of her Chihuahua Starlet, while Sadie passes her days alone, tending to her garden. After a confrontation at a yard sale, Jane finds something unexpected in a relic from Sadie’s past. Her curiosity piqued, she tries to befriend the caustic older woman. Secrets emerge as their relationship grows, revealing that nothing is ever as it seems. Director Sean…
The first annual Baja International Film Festival, to be held November 14-17 in Los Cabos, Mexico, to learn more about this festival we had a chance to speak to Sean Cross one of the festival organizers.Sean Cross is co-founder and co-director of the Vail Film Festival and the Colorado Film Institute, along with his twin brother Scott. He is also Co-President and owner of IndieProducer.Sean served as artistic director and communications director of the Vail Film Festival, and was instrumental in establishing relationships and partnerships to build and strengthen the Vail Film Festival brand, including partnerships with Brillstein Entertainment, Creative…
The 2012 edition of the Cinema Italian Style festival will take place November 13-18, 2012. The six-day celebration of Italian cinema will be held at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, and at the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles, and showcase classic Italian films and contemporary productions, including several U.S. premieres. The following is our interview with Director of the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles, Mr. Alberto Di Mauro, about this event. Bijan Tehrani: Please tell us a little bit about the 2012 Italian Film festival.Alberto Di Mauro: It’s every year, like an…
AFI 2012 has been opened by showing 80 features and 56 shorts, chosen from 3,400 submissions. The World Cinema program will include Oscar foreign-language entries from Denmark “A Royal Affair”, Austria “Amour”, Germany “Barbara”, Romania “Beyond the Hills”, Portugal “Blood of My Blood”, Italy- directors Paolo & Vittorio Taviani’s “Caesar Must Die”, Norway “Kon-Tiki”, Belgium “Our Children”, South Korea Kim Ki-duk’s Venice Golden Lion winner “Pieta” and Canada “War Witch” (“Rebelle”) dir: Kim Nguyen. To learn more about the presence of world cinema at AFIFEST 2012 we have interviewed Jacqueline Lyanga, director of the festival. Bijan Tehrani: Please tell us…
This Mother’s Life reads like a deeply personal account of a year in a woman’s life. But it is, in fact, fiction. It reveals the passion, commitment, and daily challenges in the life of every mother, professional woman and citizen. This Mother’s Life (Infinity Publishing) is written as a daily journal, exploring topics as wide-ranging as politics, religion, relationships and divorce.Nina Mohadjer chose to write a novel instead of an autobiography because in many ways, the life she chose to portray is one common to every working mom. “This character doesn’t have a name because I would like to have…
The Golden Age is a feature length musical rock/mockumentary about a pop star named Maya O’Malley, who gets dropped from his major record label for his outspoken comments on religion and corporate greed. We follow his journey towards redemption through the gorgeous and idiosyncratic music he created. Justin Connor, a New England native, is most known for his work as an actor and musician on numerous films, TV shows and commercials over the last decade or so. He released his full length debut album, Kaliyuga, to rave reviews for it’s spacy, sonic tones and Beatles-esque pop songs. His latest project,…