Author: CWB News Department

San Francisco: ‘Iranian Film Festival – San Francisco’ is pleased to announce its 5th annual program set for September 8 & 9 at the San Francisco Art Institute.This year’s tribute is to legendary composer, Esfandiar Monfaredzadeh, who wrote and composed such memorable films as: Dash Akol, Gheisar, Baluch, Reza Motoori…Esfandiar Monfaredzadeh, was born in 1941 in Tehran. He grew up with friends like Masoud Kimiaii (director) and Faramarz Gharibian (actor) in the same neighborhood. He learned the musical instruments at the early age at school, joined Radio Iran, then went to the University of Tehran to study music but quit…

The José Iturbi Foundation (JIF) supports the Los Angeles Philharmonic as the sponsor for the Dudamel & Domingo! concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Sunday, August 19. Plácido Domingo, considered the world’s greatest tenor, joins conductor Gustavo Dudamel for the first time in concert for an unforgettable evening of Latin songs and operatic arias. This concert benefits the LA Phil’s Musicians Pension Fund. The Hollywood Bowl and the José Iturbi Foundation have a significant relationship as legendary musician José Iturbi was a premiere performer at the Hollywood Bowl more than 50 years ago, which brings a historical Hollywood perspective to…

LOS ANGELES – On loan from the Capitoline Museums in Rome, the spectacular Lion Attacking a Horse will be on view at the Getty Villa from August 10, 2012 to February 4, 2013. Presented for the first time outside Rome, where it has not been on public view since 1925, the sculpture will be the centerpiece of a special installation that traces its history from antiquity to the modern era and showcases recent conservation work undertaken in Rome. Part of “The Dream of Rome,” a project initiated by the Mayor of Rome Giovanni Alemanno to exhibit timeless masterpieces from the…

On Saturday, August 11th, 2012 The Seyhoun Gallery in West Hollywood will feature the Photographic work of Sarama Esmaili entitled ” Magical desert garden and red city: Abyaneh – Kashan” The city of Kashan, in the province of Isfahan, Iran is known for its magical gardens and architecture resides as one of these fascinating locations for filmmakers and photographers alike. Its lush beauty is contrasted by its neighboring village of Abyaneh with it striking red clay structures and Desert. Abyaneh, by itself, draws thousands of university students every year to take advantage of what it has to offer for their…

The International Festival of Movies of Sax (FICS) closes its VII edition with a successful public outdoor airing in the House (Casa) Alberto Sols (CEAHM). The journalist Ramón Bernabeu as showman enlivened the gala with black humor with the spectacular movies Jazz de Cine concert Sound Live Music accompanied by a film carried out by Sofía Herrero. Besides the awards ceremony of the festival and the projection of the winning short films, there was a presentation of Alberto Sols, ciencia y vida of Paco Amat that yields homage to the illustrious scientific natural one of Sax, Premio Príncipe of Asturias. The closure…

Sridevi’s big screen comeback English Vinglish will make its world premiere at the 37th Toronto international film festival along with Mira Nair’s Reluctant Fundamentalist and Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children. Directed by debutante Gauri Shinde, the film marks Sridevi’s return to the screen after fifteen-year. It is a funny and touching story about an Indian woman who struggles to learn the English to help provide for her family. Produced by R Balki and also starring French actor Mehdi Nebbou, Adil Hussain and Priya Anand, the film releases on September 21. TIIF will have some 10 films from Mumbai as part of its ‘City-to-City’ program.…

Award winning writer/director Anne Émond exposes the dark side of modern life by pulling it inside out. Nuit #1 is essentially a dialogue of what in normal everyday life goes unspoken—a dialogue of subliminal fantasies, thoughts, urges, insults, confessions, harsh criticisms and observations, the stuff most of us don’t admit to ourselves or even have awareness of. It begins with a 12 minute sex scene. Clara (Catherine de Léan) and Nikolaï (Dimitri Storoge) arrive at Nikolaï’s “crappy little apartment,” sweaty and over-stimulated from the rave where they just met. They go at each other with all the animality and clumsiness…

Indonesia is a paradise of possibilities when it comes to filmmaking. Boasting rich cultural traditions, centuries of fascinating history and a dynamic political landscape, the country seems an ideal environment for spawning world-class films.With local wonder “The Raid: Redemption” on its way to racking up more than $4 million at the North American market, one can only wonder what took Indonesia so long to reach a commercial international breakthrough on this scale.Indonesian and international filmmakers attempted to answer this question and others in a recent workshop in Jakarta, titled “Bringing Indonesian Films to the International Market.” The event was a…

IBNLive – Mumbai: Whenever Bollywood stars indulge in philanthropy, they raise doubts of a personal motive. But actor-producer Ajay Devgn is emphatic that his short film on the burning issue of female foeticide has no commercial purpose. Ajay has teamed with his actress wife Kajol for the social message-based short, which is yet to be titled. “The film on female feoticide is not for commercial purposes. It is to create awareness. I think it’s our responsibility to do something that will create awareness about the issue of girl child and female feoticide,” Ajay told IANS in an interview. “I will do whatever I…

The Iranian star Leila Hatami won the Best Actress Award for her role in “The Last Step” at the closing ceremony of the 47th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in Czech Republic on Saturday. She received the award for her portrayal of a beautiful and gifted Iranian film star named Leila in “The Last Step”, which has been directed by her husband Ali Mosaffa. The movie focuses on Leila’s recently deceased husband who becomes the somewhat unreliable narrator of a playful and delicately ironic story about a complicated but loving marital relationship. The film also won the festival’s Award of…