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…
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 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,…
Falcon Theatre has I Ought To Be In Pictures written by Neil Simon and directed by Gregg W. Brevoort on stage now and the show will continue in Falcon theatre until November 11. This classic family tale told with Neil Simon’s signature comedic wit stars Kelly Hare (Franklin & Bash, The New Adventures of Old Christine), Genevieve Joy (Sensing Murder, My HBO Special) and Robert Wuhl (Arli$$, Assume the Position with Mr. Wuhl, Batman). It’s 1980 and struggling screenwriter Herbert Tucker suddenly finds his estranged 19-year-old daughter Libby has hitchhiked to Hollywood and landed on his doorstep. After sixteen years…
2012 Polish Film Festival, Los Angeles was a great success, it run for ten days with screening of new films from Polish films including 80 Million, Poland’s Oscar submission and The Mill and the Cross a masterpiece by Lech Majewski.After the festival we had an interview with Vladek Juszkiewicz director and founder of the Polish Film Festival, Los Angeles, looking back at 2012 festival. Bijan Tehrani: Looking back at the 2012 Los Angeles Polish Film Festival, how happy are you with the outcome?Vladek Juszkiewicz: I am happy, the program was very good, people liked it. There was a very nice…
Pusher is based on the edgy and explosive series by visionary director Nicolas Winding Refn (DRIVE), PUSHER stars Richard Coyle as a drug dealer who grows increasingly desperate over the course of a week after a botched deal lands him in the merciless clutches of a ruthless crime lord. The more desperate his behavior, the more isolated he becomes until there is nothing left standing between him and the bullet his debtors intend to fire his way.Agyness Deyn that plays the part of the Flo in Pusher, first came to prominence when she featured on the front cover of Italian…
Arnon Goldfinger’s THE FLAT, a meticulously researched and immensely entertaining film that is a remarkable journey through history which gives a truly unique look at the way different generations viewed the Holocaust. At age 98, filmmaker Goldfinger’s grandmother passed away, leaving him the task of clearing out the Tel Aviv flat that she and her husband shared for decades since immigrating from Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Sifting through a dense mountain of photos, letters, files, and objects, Goldfinger begins to uncover clues that seem to point to a greater mystery and soon a complicated family history unfolds before his…