Universal Language, directed by Matthew Rankin, has been selected as Canada’s entry for the Best International Film Award at the Oscars. Given Canada’s rich cinematic history, this choice is both surprising and disappointing. In order to be fair in our judgment, we have also posted a positive review of this film, published at Hollywood Reporter Rankin, known for his amazing experimental approach to filmmaking, seems to have ventured into the realm of absurdist comedy with this film. However, unlike the works of master filmmakers such as Jacques Tati, whose humor is infused with wit and charm, Universal Language falls flat…
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.
From Ground Zero, Palestinian Oscar Entey now Shortlisted for the International Film Oscar, is going to be released on January 3rd in select theaters in the US and is being distributed by Watermelon Pictures. 22 Palestinian filmmakers living through war, capture their lives in Gaza over the past year, revealing stories beyond the headlines. Their work offers a striking view of life’s fragility and the resilience of love in the face of devastation. Palestinian filmmakers participated in Ground Zero are; Reema Mahmoud, Muhammad Al Sharif, Ahmed Hassouna, Islam Al Zeriei, Mustafa Kolab, Nidal Damo, Khamis Masharawi, Bashar Al Balbisi, Tamer…
Ar Cinema Without Borders (thanks to our friend, Shahriar Shafiei Najafabadi, a great Iranian/Austrian composer), we had the opportunity of interviewing the internationally known Austrian filmmaker, the great Marvin Kren on camera. https://vimeo.com/1032641345 Marvin also told us: I have a funny story. I always was fascinated by the life of crooks and criminals. Since I was a little boy. I was fascinated by them. There are people who do forbidden things, which does not mean that I’m glorifying them, it’s just a matter of fascination. My father, who was a very honorable man, a businessman, always made fun of me about…
As an advocate for free speech, I’ve witnessed numerous filmmakers courageously defending this principle by creating films that critique the social and political landscapes of their countries. Unfortunately, many of these filmmakers face dire consequences, such as imprisonment, execution, or exile, as seen in the case of Mohammad Rasoulof. It’s disheartening to observe these recurring injustices in today’s world. However, as a critic, it is essential to continue highlighting the shortcomings in films, even those made by filmmakers under such oppressive circumstances. I was surprised to learn that Germany’s Oscar Committee selected Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”…
The opening/award ceremony of 2024 Hungarian Film Festival of Los Angeles was held on November 1st, 2024 CWB’s Bridging The Borders Award, Sponserd by 360 MEDIA, for the Best Feature Film went to ANYONE CAN DIE, directed by Andras Surany & Ildiko Gaal. In ANYONE CAN DIE, the Writer (Róbert Koltai) knows more about the world, women, and the essence of relationships than all of us put together. He doesn’t want to die without passing on this secret. So he’s looking for someone to whom he can pass on the “essence of being a bluebeard”. And he finds it, in…
Julie Keeps Quiet (Dutch: Julie zwijgt) is a 2024 psychological drama film, directed by Leonardo Van Dijl (in his directorial debut) and written by Van Dijl and Ruth Becquart. It stars Tessa Van den Broeck, Ruth Becquart, Koen De Bouw, Claire Bodson and Laurent Caron. It had its world premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in the Critics’ Week section on 18 May 2024, where it won the Gan Foundation Award for Distribution and SACD Award. The film was chosen as the Belgian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards. https://vimeo.com/1024981569 At an elite tennis academy, star player, Julie’s tennis coach falls under investigation and is suspended, all of the team…
Five years in the making, BORDERLAND | The Line Within, from Award-Winning Director Pamela Yates, exposes the war waged on immigrants daily in the United States through a massive system of surveillance and a militarized border industrial complex. This well documented large scale human rights crisis is setting the stage for an entire class of people to live in fear of a carceral system that treats them as criminals. But the film’s protagonists, all immigrants themselves, are quietly building strength, their leadership emerging in the shadow of this border-industrial complex. https://vimeo.com/1014505218 The film begins south of the U.S. border, following…
Formerly known as the International Kids Film Festival (IKFF), over 8 million students from more than 30,000 schools, participated in the film festival LXL Foundation presented the 7th edition of the School Cinema International Film Festival (SCIFF). In Delhi, SCIFF was screened at almost 3000 schools and saw participation from more than 10 lakh students. Formerly known as the International Kids Film Festival (IKFF), over 8 million students from more than 30,000 schools, which includes 25,000+ government schools participated in the PAN India film festival, mentioned the press release. This year’s event brought together 80+ films in 15+ languages from…
The United States border is not just a geographic location. The border is everywhere. It lies within every undocumented immigrant family with the threat that at any moment they can be captured, incarcerated, deported; their lives destroyed. BORDERLAND | The Line Within not only exposes the profitable business of immigration and its human cost, but weaves together the stories of immigrant heroines and heroes resisting and showing a way forward, intent on building a movement in the shadow of the border industrial complex, recognizing the human rights of all. To learn more about BORDERLAND | The Line Within, we had…
Cinema Without Borders has announced its jury members to decide on the winner of 2024 Bridging The Borders Award at the LUCAS International Festival for Young Film Lover in Germany. LUCAS programmers have also announced the nominees for the Cinema Without Borders’ Bridging The Borders Award sponsored by 360 Media. A jury of six, formed by CWB will decide on the winning films at the closing night of the festival. Keely Badger, Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of 360 MEDIAn Consulting , the sponsor of the Bridging The Borders Award, will announce the winning film in a video message that will be…