Author: World Cinema Reports' Editors

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past nine months, chances are you’re probably familiar with the films Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians. It’s equally likely that you’ve read and heard all about how these two films are transforming Hollywood and the movie industry, breaking down racial boundaries for actors and actresses, combating the hateful tides of racism, and empowering minority youths all around the world. That certainly sounds impressive, but the impact that these films have had is severely over hyped. Now don’t get me wrong: both movies were engaging and fun to watch, and they both have excellent…

In this interview with indianexpress.com, Nandita Das talks about her globally acclaimed film Manto and tells us why the writer is so relevant even today. Das also shares her thoughts on why it is important for her to own the tag of being a ‘woman director’. Q. What made you take up this biopic? I had read Manto in college, but it was only in 2012 that I started reading his essays when the centenary celebrations started and a lot more came out about him. That’s when I realized that he is so relevant today. Whether it was about identity,…

Two upcoming film festivals, one new and one established, highlight independent black filmmakers who amplify black narratives that are often untold, forgotten, or simply ignored. While Afrofuturism is widely associated with George Clinton and his Parliament-Funkadelic collective, its connection to music can be traced back to Sun Ra, an American jazz visionary, and found in today’s hip-hop and pop. The ancestral relationship of Afrofuturism and multiple genres of music is examined in Aural Futures, a new film festival at Duke University. Aural Futures started with Ingrid LaFleur, a recent Afrofuturist mayoral candidate in Detroit. Beginning September 12, the festival consists of…

When Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation became the first Iranian film to win the Oscar for Best Foreign-Language Film of 2012, it gave the world a look at the work not only of one of Iran’s most acclaimed writer-directors but also of an Iranian cinematographer whose skills have contributed to dozens of important films of Iran’s post-Revolutionary cinema. Born in 1951, Mahmoud Kalari started in the 1970s studying photography, and later became a renowned news photographer whose images of Ayatollah Khomeini and other figures of Iran’s Revolutionary era appeared in magazines around the world. After turning to cinematography during the mid-’80s revival of…

The ways we watch TV and movies have evolved, and it’s time for the talent in front of and behind the camera to do the same. Film Forward speaks on the initiatives to diversify the film industry and the stories it tells. New articles premiere every second Thursday of — and throughout — the month. The importance of an open dialogue about mental health cannot be overstated, and one avenue for encouraging such a conversation is through popular culture. As a number of celebrities speak candidly about their own real-life experiences with mental health concerns, it’s also vital to represent these types of experiences honestly and…

Michelangelo Antonioni’s films are landmarks in modern cinema; an honorary Oscar, Palme d’Or, Golden Lion and Golden Bear recipient, he is among the most revered directors of the 20th century. Born in northern Italy, an early talent for drawing developed into an interest in storytelling, and by the mid-1930s, he was writing about film for a local newspaper. During World War II, Antonioni did some work as a screenwriter and assistant director before he began making his own shorts with 1943’s “Gente del Po.” If these initial efforts resemble the neorealism of Rossellini and De Sica, Antonioni began to stake…

When an American anthropologist is kidnapped in Baghdad by seemingly ruthless fundamentalists, an exchange of ideas with his captors evolves into a spiritual quest for the meaning of faith. The Whitefire Theatre presents the world premiere of Infidel by Christopher Vened. The playwright directs for a Sept. 1 opening at the Whitefire Theatre, where performances will continue though Oct. 7. A suspense thriller that explores religious superstition and terrorism in the name of Islam versus unscrupulous Western imperialism and war mongering, Infidel stars Ted Monte (Circus Kane, The Young and the Restless) as John Norton, a specialist in early literature…

The Green Lens Film Series returns 7 p.m. Sept. 13 to the Egyptian Theatre, 135 N. Second St., with a collection of films that address environmental and political issues. The screenings are free to the public and will take place every Thursday for five weeks, according to a news release from DeKalb Stands. https://youtu.be/6zrn4-FfbXw The first film, “Plastic Ocean,” follows journalist and director Craig Leeson, who came across an immense amount of plastic waste in the ocean while researching blue whales. He teams up with a group of international scientists and researchers to investigate plastic pollution and its effects on…

Peter Soleimanipour, the legendary Iranian saxophone and trumpet player and film music composer passed away in Tehran at the age of 50 and after years of fighting cancer. With no doubt Peter Soleimanipour,was among the top saxophone and trumpet players in the world and beside composing film music, he composed over 150 musical pieces. https://youtu.be/mALalyT9_hc Ahmad Kiarostami, an Iranian/American artist and filmmaker and a friend of Peter Soleimanipour wrote a very moving post in Facebook about his friendship with him and his work as an artist:: “Peter was a friend from my teenage years. He was different from the rest of us. During the…

Last year, now-infamous producer Harvey Weinstein was still attending the Toronto International Film Festival. This year, making its world premiere at the festival he once frequented is “This Changes Everything,” a documentary highlighting the systemic sexism that has permeated Hollywood for the past century. In the year since a report by the New York Times alleged decades of abuse by Weinstein, he’s pled not guilty to sex-crime charges, including rape, and an array of powerful men have been similarly accused of various forms of misconduct. While it was hoped the ensuing uproar might give Hollywood a chance to shed it’s…