Author: Bijan Tehrani

The 2012 Palm Springs International ShortFest & Film Market, was opened yesterday, June 19th. Festival will continue until June 25th and total of 323 films, selected from more than 3,000 worldwide entries will be screened. Now in its 18th year, ShortFest will showcase 50 World Premieres, 63 North American Premieres and 21 U.S. Premieres. The selection of films for screening and competition features star-studded casts and award-winning films from 52 countries around the world. All selections are structured into 53 themed programs, which will screen at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs; with all Festival submissions available in the ShortFest…

The 23rd annual Human Rights Watch Film Festival returns to New York from June 14 to 28 with a program of powerful human stories of oppression, injustice, and resilience from across the globe. To learn more about the 2012 festival we had an interview with Andrea Holley, Deputy Director of the Human Rights Watch film festival. Bijan Tehrani: Can you please tell me how you first got involved with the festival?Andrea Holley: I help select the films for the festival as well as produce the festival in a number of different cities with New York being our flagship festival. BT:…

Unforgivable is the story of Francis (Andre Dussolier, Micmacs, Tell No One) is a successful crime writer who moves to Venice to work on his next novel. When he meets model-turned-real-estate-agent Judith (Carole Bouquet), he is instantly infatuated. Francis and Judith eventually marry and move to a remote house on Torcello Island but Francis’ newfound happiness hinders his writing. Obsessing over what Judith does while at work, he hires a young ex-convict to investigate. As Judith’s sexual past is revealed both men become increasing fixated on the mysterious woman. Set against the beautiful backdrop of Venice, Unforgivable examines the consequences…

Virgin Tales is about evangelical Christians are calling out for a second sexual revolution: chastity! As a counter-movement to the attitudes and practices of today’s culture, today one in eight girls in the US has vowed to remain “unsoiled” until marriage. But the seven children of the Wilson family, founders of the Purity Ball, take this concept of purity of body and mind one step further; even their first kiss will be at the altar. For two years the filmmakers follow the Wilson’s as some of their children prepare for their fairytale vision of romance and marriage and seek out…

Named as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s ’25 New Faces of Independent Film’ and a fellow of IFP’s Emerging Visions symposium, Danielle Lurie is a New York City based writer and director. She graduated Stanford University in 2000 with a BA in Philosophy. Danielle’s short film, In the Morning, premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, and has won nine film festivals. Danielle has co-directed a documentary in Uganda and a feature length documentary following Sheryl Crow’s Global Warming tour. Danielle has written screenplay adaptations of Jamaica Kincaid’s novel, Lucy, to star Zoe Saldana, as well as an excerpt of Nicholas…

As the Diaspora of Greeks throughout the world share the pain and in many ways the immense challenges currently being faced by the courageous people of Greece—and as America continues to wrestle with its own views on immigration—the programming team of the 2012 Los Angeles Greek Film Festival has chosen to open their sixth annual event with a story of experience, strength and hope that challenges people to rise in the face of adversity, and inspires them to find new and different ways to live lives infused with integrity and grace while making the world a better place.Key Sponsors of…

Set in the 1970s, Mighty Fine is the story of Joe Fine (Chazz Palminteri) a charismatic, high spirited man, who relocates his family—wife Stella (Andie MacDowell), daughters Natalie (Jodelle Ferland) and Maddie (Rainey Qualley)—from Brooklyn to New Orleans, in search of a better life. Joe’s devotion to his family knows no bounds, and he seeks to provide them with the ultimate in the good life, from a lavish home to a steady string of extravagant gifts.Unfortunately, Joe’s spending spree is wildly out of touch with reality, as his apparel business is teetering on the brink of collapse, a fact he…

Finding Mabel is a gripping documentary that follows a young woman’s journey to Argentina, to piece together the enigmatic disappearance of the woman she was named after, one of the 30,000 people who disappeared during Argentina’s last military dictatorship. Part scavenger hunt, part self-discovery, Finding Mabel intelligently weaves Argentina’s recent dark past with today’s polarizing struggle for justice.Eileen Reardon is a first generation Argentine American who holds a BA in Philosophy from UCLA, and an MFA from The New School for Drama in New York. She is a proud life member of The Actors Studio (LA & NYC) and was…

The first annual Czech Filmfest 2012 will take place at the Cinefamily Theater in Hollywood between May 16 to May 24, 2012. The festival will introduce both new and classic Czech movies to film audiences in Los Angeles, and several successful directors and actors will be present to promote their films. The 2012 Czech Filmfest has been organized by the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angeles and the Czech Film Center in Prague in cooperation with the Cinefamily in Hollywood and the Czech Center in New York, with support of Milk & Honey Films, Prague Studios, the…

My Way, an epic telling of a WWII story that no one has ever heard before, is the latest film from Korea’s game-changing Director Jegyu Kang After emerging as bitter rivals and enemies as young marathon runners, Korean native Kim Jun-shik and Japanese aristocrat Tatsuo Hasegawa both find themselves in the Japanese army, fighting the Chinese and Soviets in a bloody battle. Jun-shik is there under duress, while Tatsuo is a powerful colonel. After both are taken prisoner by the Soviets, their mutual hatred and mistrust boils over into a violence that is only stopped by the continuing horror of…