Author: CWB News Department

Asghar Farhadi, Iranian film director and writer and two times Oscar winner, is one of the Cannes jury members. The Cannes Film Festival has set Vincent Lindon as its jury president for the 75th edition, which kicks off next month. The Frenchman, who won the 2015 Best Actor award at Cannes for The Measure of a Man, starred in last year’s Palme d’Or winner Titane. Joining jury this year are: actor-director-writer Rebecca Hall; Swedish star Noomi Rapace; director-screenwriter Jeff Nichols; Iranian director-writer Asghar Farhadi; India’s Deepika Padukone; Italian actor-director Jasmine Trinca; French director-writer-actor Ladj Ly; and Norwegian helmer Joachim Trier.…

At 2022 Palm Springs International Film Festival, festival programmers had nominated seven films for the MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award offered by Cinema Without Borders and sponsored by MOZAIL Philanthropy. CWB’s jury selected Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero as the winner of the MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award for the 2022 Palm Springs International Film Festival. The Cinema Without Borders Foundation presented the award to Mr. Farhadi in a private ceremony held at the Woodland Hills Hilton, while keeping Covid protocols in mind. Three of the CWB jury members– Bijan Tehrani, Susan Morgan Cooper and Bambadjan Bamba–welcomed Mr. Farhadi. At the…

Film Movement Classics has acquired North American rights to 2K digital restorations of Asghar Farhadi’s first two features Dancing in the Dust and Beautiful City, which have been signed off on by the two-time Oscar winner himself. Both restored dramas will be released theatrically this year, with a release on all heading home entertainment and digital platforms to follow. In Farhadi’s 2003 feature directorial debut Dancing in the Dust, Nazar (Yousef Khodaparast) is pressured into divorcing his wife (Baran Kosari) because of her family’s bad reputation. This leads to money problems, and before long, he’s on the run due to…

The Dress, directed by Tadeusz Łysiak and the winner of 2020 Bridging The Borders Award at the 21th edition of Polish Film Festival, LA has been nominated by Academy Awards for the Best Live Action Short Film Oscar. The Dress is a film that bravely shines a light on the cruelty of our world towards those whose physical appearance is different. This well-crafted film tells the story of Julia, a maid at a roadside motel who has lived a lonely life, accustomed to scorn for being ‘a little person’. When she is asked on a date, the filmmakers masterfully demonstrate…

SIMA, the non-profit impact media agency that celebrates, curates and distributes documentaries and creative media projects that advance positive social change, has announced their 2022 festival winners. Chosen from 40 finalists spanning 25 countries, the SIMA 2022 winners leverage the transformative art of storytelling and the ever-evolving power of media in profound and remarkable ways… DOCUMENTARY FEATURES Best Documentary SOFTIE Director: Sam Soko Producer: Toni Kamau, Sam Soko 82 min | Kenya https://youtu.be/NBD8A8SAiTU Synopsis: Boniface Mwangi is daring and audacious, and recognized as Kenya’s most provocative photojournalist. But as a father of three young children, these qualities create tremendous turmoil…

The 15th edition of the International Exile Film Festival will be held in Sweden from 12 to 18 of November 2021. Hossein Mahini Creative Director of The Exile Film Festival explains the goals of 2021 Exile Film Festival in a press release: “I’m in exile Because I still have hope.” – The message to the Exile Film Festival from the legendary Greek filmmaker, poet and philosopher Theo Angelopoulos, Believing in “Hope” has been the driving force throughout the 30 years of our festival’s heartfelt activity in supporting exiled filmmakers and trying to broaden public viewings of their films. Even now,…

ENEMIES OF THE STATE is a documentary thriller that investigates the strange case of Matt DeHart, an alleged hacker and whistleblower, and his former Cold War spy parents who believe they are at the center of a government conspiracy and are ready to do anything to save their son from prison. This stranger-than-fiction story takes audiences on a wild ride of unexpected plot twists and bizarre discoveries in an artistic and cinematic documentary that blurs the line between reality and paranoia. With extraordinary access to all lead characters and key sources, this film presents many contradicting viewpoints as it attempts…

“Sun Children” opens with a series of striking shots. A montage rifles through images of swanky car hoods as a band of pint-size carjackers try to find their pick in a garage; a boy runs through Tehran, the streets rippling around him like water; kids frolic in a circular pool that, shot from above, sparkles like a blue sun. Majid Majidi’s latest feature doesn’t lack in style or charm, using a child’s perspective — a staple in Iranian cinema — to locate beauty and hope in a cynical world. As is often the case with the director’s work, however, precious…

The 74th Cannes Film Festival has unveiled its jury which includes five women; a majority in the nine-person group including President Spike Lee. The jury includes French-Senegalese actor-director Mati Diop whose 2019 movie Atlantics took home the Grand Prix from the festival; Crazy Heart Oscar nominated actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, French Inglorious Basterds actress Mélanie Laurent, Austrian filmmaker Jessica Hausner and French singer Mylène Farmer. Rounding out the jury are French actor and recent Golden Globe and BAFTA nominated The Mauritanian actor Tahar Rahim, Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho and South Korean actor Song Kang-Ho who starred in the 2019 Cannes…

The Palm Springs International Film Society annual Palm Springs ShortFest becomes the first film festival in the state to hold all of its screenings in-theatre in 2021. The event returns to the Camelot Theatres (Palm Springs Cultural Center) from June 22-28. To learn more about the ShortFest 2021, we had  video interview with Liliana Rodriguez, Artistic Director of Palm Springs International Film Society: https://vimeo.com/566200766 ShortFest Forum will return with virtual classes and panels featuring industry representatives, filmmakers and additional guests to maximize audience participation and connect with international filmmakers unable to attend. Accredited industry guests will have virtual access to the…