Author: Bijan Tehrani

To find out what Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 offers filmmakers and film editors we had an interview with Karl Soule. Karl is a Technical Evangelist for Adobe Systems that promotes the use of Adobe’s video and audio tools to creative professionals, schools, and businesses in North America. You’ll find Karl on AdobeTV in the show “Short & Suite,” and at http://blogs.adobe.com/VideoRoad. Karl has recently started exploring DSLR filmmaking, and has a separate blog to discuss the Canon Rebel T2i and similar cameras. Karl can also be found on Twitter under KarlSoule.Bijan Tehrani: Is there any major difference between the 64-bit…

Los Angeles Greek Film Festival opens on June 11, 2010 and runs until June 13th. International Film fans find a unique opportunity to see the best films of Greek cinema and meet a few of the Greek film directors during the Festival. To learn more about Los Angeles Greek Film Festival, we spoke to Ersi Danou Festival Co-Founder and Matt Bolish, Director of Programming of the Festival.Bijan Tehrani: Please tell us a little bit about the background of the Festival and you involvement in it.Ersi Danou: The Festival started in 2007, we felt that there was no Greek Film presence…

Nina Paley is the writer, director, animator, and producer of the highly acclaimed animated feature film, Sita Sings the Blues. At one point, her film was illegal due to copyright laws; sharing it with audiences was technically a Federal crime. The film is now legal, and free to share (see sitasingstheblues.com). Nina is now artist-in-residence at Free Culture advocacy nonprofit QuestionCopyright.Org. Prior to her feature film debut, Nina was a syndicated cartoonist. A 2006 Guggenheim Fellow, Nina is currently producing a series of animated shorts about intellectual freedom called Minute Memes. Bijan Tehrani: Could you tell us a little bit…

The Father of my Children is the story of Paris-based film producer Grégoire Canvel (Louis-Do de Lencquesaing) that has it all — a wife and three daughters he adores and a stimulating job that he’s devoted to. On the surface he seems invincible, maintaining humor and charm as he tirelessly juggles the never-ending demands of his production company with his domestic responsibilities. But when Grégoire’s reserves — both financial and emotional — reach a dramatic breaking point, his wife Sylvia (Chiara Caselli) and children are forced to cope with the profound repercussions.Cinema came into Mia Hansen-Løve’s life when she was…

Beijing Taxi is a feature-length documentary that portrays the ancient capital of China undergoing a profound transformation. The intimate lives of three taxi drivers are seen as they navigate a quickly morphing city, confronting modern issues and changing values. BeijingTaxi communicates a visceral sense of the common citizens’ persistent attempts to grasp the elusive. The 2008 Summer Olympic Games serve as the backdrop for Beijing Taxi’s story, a coming out party for a rising nation and a metaphor for Chinese society and its struggles to reconcile enormous contradictions while adjusting to a new capitalist system that can seem foreign to…

Set against the dramatic island backdrop of Hawaii and based on the inspiring true story, Princess Kaiulani is a romance about an unlikely heroine and her unwavering fight to defend the independence of her people. In 1888, Hawaii was a paradise teetering on the brink of civil unrest. The tide had turned against the long-incumbent royal family, under the malevolent influence of a rebel party with links to the American government. Within months, the Palace was overthrown, and the royals exiled. Among them was Princess Kaiulani. Scarcely 13 years old, she was separated from her family and her homeland and…

“9:06” is the story of a police inspector in Ljubljana who investigates an unusual case. His investigation turns into an obsession as he secretly moves into the apartment of the deceased, delving deeper into the man’s life and gradually assuming his identity. 9.06 will be screened at South East European Film Festival, Los Angeles.Igor Sterk, director of “9:06,” was born in 1968 and graduated at Ljubljana Film Academy. In 1989 he crossed the Atlantic Ocean with his father in a sail-boat just over 6 meters long. He directed his first feature film Express, express in 1997. The film received 15…

Modern technology and globalization have made the world a much smaller place and caused us to be more interconnected as people, yet cultural misconceptions persist. Through a celebration of culture and comedy, Just Like Us uproots the widely held misconception that Arabs have no sense of humor – when in fact they laugh, and are, just like us.This documentary features Egyptian-American comedian Ahmed Ahmed, in his directorial debut, along with a host of critically acclaimed international stand-up comedians. Presented by Cross Cultural Entertainment and Cross Cultural Productions, Just Like Us exemplifies their goal of reintroducing socially relevant issues to the…

No one Knows About Persian Cats is the story of two young musicians that have recently been released from prison and decide to form a band. Together they search the underworld of contemporary Tehran for other players. Forbidden by the authorities to play in Iran, they plan to escape from their clandestine existence, and dream of performing in Europe. But with no money and no passports, it won’t be easy…Bahman Ghobadi, director of No One Knows About Persian Cats, was born on February 1st, 1969, in Baneh, a city near the Iran-Iraq border, in the province of Kurdistan, Iran. After…

In My Sleep, Marcus struggles with parasomnia, a rare sleepwalking disorder. After Marcus wakes up with blood on his hands and a knife at his side, he is startled to hear that a close friend has been found stabbed to death. Marcus frantically tries to put the pieces together – could he have murdered his friend in his sleep to hide a dark secret between them?The police close in as Marcus investigates his own nocturnal activities, desperate to figure out what happens after he goes to sleep. His journey to uncover the truth leads him to a shocking revelation. Allen…