Author: Bijan Tehrani

Born and raised in the United States, Ramin Bahrani studied film at Columbia University in New York City before moving to his parents’ homeland of Iran, where he lived for three years. After spending time in Paris, he eventually returned to the United States to begin work on his first feature film, MAN PUSH CART (2005). The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival (2005) and was selected for the Sundance Film Festival (2006) before being released theatrically to critical acclaim. His second feature film, CHOP SHOP (2007) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and screened next at The Toronto…

The sight of a dark-suited municipal employee doling out parking violations stirs a primal hate in all but the most enlightened souls. And the heroine of EXPIRED, the meter maid Claire, knows it. The film revolves around Claire, a kind soul who resents having to enforce the law at all times, and Jay, an angry Traffic Officer who loves his job, it being the perfect outlet for his anger and frustrations. Coming both from a place of despair and loneliness, Claire and Jay meet and engage in a tumultuous and twisted relationship, which will eventually teach them that love can…

Christian Gaines was born in Brussels, Belgium to American parents and educated in British boarding schools until he came to the United States in 1984 to attend Vassar College, where he earned a B.A. in English.In 1988, Christian helped to start The American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival, a communication and hospitality center for the American film community attending the Cannes Film Festival. In 1990, he went to work for the Hawaii International Film Festival as Administrator, and then served as Film Coordinator and Film Programmer in Hawaii from 1992 until 1994, dividing his time between Honolulu, Los Angeles…

In addition to writing and directing Verboten, Martin Keegan plays Mike Gorman, the fierce single father of a troubled teenager. Keegan has just signed to write the screenplay adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery. With New York Times Washington D.C. bureau chief Carl Hulse, Keegan is also co-writing Secret Service, the true story of William Wood, a James Bond-like character who created the Secret Service under President Lincoln. His film has been won Best Dramatic Film at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival. Keegan hosts the pop culture talk show Hollywood Babble-On at social broadcasting site NowLive.com, where he…

Stuart Litman joined Film Movement in 2003 as its Company CEO. Since his arrival, Film Movement has focused on new distribution channels including securing new relationships with television, video on demand, home video partners such as Amazon/Createspace, Netflix rental and electronic delivery, Blockbuster, and also Continental Airlines Inflight Entertainment. Meghan Wurtz is Vice President of Business Development at Film Movement. Ms. Wurtz Prior to joining Film Movement, she worked for European Film Promotion (EFP), an initiative aimed at raising industry awareness of European film and assisting in the further distribution and promotion of European films in North America, where she…

Sandra Hebron is the Artistic Director, BFI Film Festivals, responsible for the Times BFI London Film Festival and the London Lesbian and Gay Festival, two of Europe’s leading public film festivals. This is her fourth year as Artistic Director of the Times BFI London Film Festival.She began her working life in academia, researching in the fields of sociology and cultural studies at Sheffield Hallam University, and published books on women’s magazines and women’s leisure. She has worked in independent cinema for over fifteen years, including a time as the Film and Photography Development officer at Yorkshire and Humberside Arts. Her…

Cinema Without Borders: Please tell us about the motivations behind arranging the Vancouver Pan-African Film & Arts Festival and your involvement with it.Ms. U. Ebony Johnson (Founder/Executive Director of Vancouver Pan-African Film Festival): Thank you for the opportunity of sharing some background on the inaugural Vancouver Pan African Film & Arts Festival (VPAFF) 2007. The story is a fascinating one, born from an honest desire to spotlight African/”Black” contributions in society.British Columbia as a colony was established by “Black” people (see Canadian Heritage website) and the founding father of the Province, Sir James Douglas was a bi-racial Caribbean brother but…

Born and raised in the United States, Ramin Bahrani studied film at Columbia University in New York City before moving to his parents’ homeland of Iran, where he lived for three years. After spending time in Paris, he eventually returned to the United States to begin work on his first feature film, MAN PUSH CART (2005). The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival (2005) and was selected for the Sundance Film Festival (2006) before being released theatrically to critical acclaim. His second feature film, CHOP SHOP (2007) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Bahrani is currently finishing his third…

Cynthia Wade is a NYC-based documentary filmmaker. Her short documentary “Freeheld” won a Special Jury Prize at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival, and seven other film awards in major cities such as New York, Boston, Los Angeles, Seattle and Denver. Wade’s five-time award winning HBO documentary “Shelter Dogs” was broadcast in seven countries. Wade directed the 1999 Cinemax Reel Life documentary “Grist For The Mill”, which The Hollywood Reporter called “a delight…full of quirky moments and clever humor” and Variety called “a jewel … extremely comical.” She was co-producer and principal verite cinematographer for the 1998 PBS documentary “Taken In:…

Written by Drew Pillsbury and Directed by Alan White, the film also has performances from Linda Hamilton, Tess Harper and Jake Busey. BROKEN, produced by Jerry Wayne and Brian Etting and financed by Jerry Wayne’s Walk on the Beach Productions, reveals an episode in the life of Hope, a young transplant to Los Angeles from the Midwest. We learn that after a steady stream of rejection and the sinking realization that her singing career is fast going nowhere, Hope finds solace in the arms of Will; a handsome, charming bad boy. They fall madly in love and quickly become each…