Author: World Cinema Reports' Editors

The imaginative world of a 9-year-old girl is superbly captured in writer-director Narges Abyar’s meandering but fascinating Breath (Nafas), which takes its place among memorable Iranian films about childhood from masters like Kiarostami, Panahi, Naderi and Majidi. Here an insightful woman director’s POV is a welcome plus, along with an astonishing performance by first-timer Sareh Nour Mousavi in the emotion-packed main role of the motherless Bahar. As Iran’s submission for consideration in the Academy Awards’ foreign-language film category, the pic comes with some impressive credentials, having won best director prizes at Tallinn Black Nights and the Vancouver Women’s Film Festival…

It’s the summer of 1983 when a doctorate student named Oliver (Armie Hammer) arrives in the northern Italy town of Crema to intern for Professor Perlman (Michael Stuhlbarg), an eminent researcher of Greco-Roman culture and history. The charming Oliver is also greeted at the Perlman villa by the professor’s wife Annella (Amira Casar) and their 17-year-old son Elio (Timothèe Chalamet), the latter of which Oliver strikes up a close friendship…and then something more. Over the course of that one sun-baked summer, Oliver and Elio — seemingly unfettered by the time and place — come to realizations about themselves and each…

Armenia’s foreign-language film submission to the Academy Awards for this year invites viewers to imagine a world without war, according to its director, The Associated Press says in an article. Anahit Abad, the director of “Yeva”, said at the Iranian premiere of her debut movie on Thursday, November 23, “The world without any war is much more beautiful, even for warmongers.” The film tells the story of a young woman who escapes her influential in-laws with her daughter, Nareh, after her husband’s tragic death and takes refuge in a village in the Karabakh region. Criticizing war, Abad said its consequences…

‘Disappearance’ the first feature film of Iranian director Ali Asgari, was a huge step in the direction of feature films after having seven short films to his credit. And even more challenging was the fact that he made a film based on a true incident, as he was quite excellent at making films in fiction. “This is a true incident that happened to one of the friends of my co-writer. It wasn’t exact the same one; we’ve added a little fiction. However, the basic story is a true incident.” ‘Disappearance’ is the story of a young couple in modern Tehran.…

Ishwaku’s winter seems cursed. Pushpendra Singh’s Ashwatthama, an allusive narrative that is finding much appreciation in the film festival circuit, follows the childhood mysteries and discoveries of Ishwaku, a nine-year boy who visits a relative’s village after his mother was killed by dacoits. Pushpendra says his child protagonist inherits a lot of his own experiences and he is fascinated by myths that shape our daily lives and how they are constructed even out of contemporary events. “Child as a subject always inspired me and my love for child protagonist goes back to Victor Erice’s Spirit of Beehive, Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali, François Truffaut’s 400…

SINGAPORE – Chinese writer-producer Vivian Qu, producer Sean Chen and actress Zhou Meijun from the dark drama Angels Wear White graced the opening of the 28th Singapore International Film Festival at the Marina Bay Sands Grand Theatre on Nov 23 night. In the opening film, which is about female objectification and corruption, the sexual assault of two 12-year-old girls in a small coastal town sets off a harrowing chain of events. https://youtu.be/z-t0YbdzKdw The Chinese-French collaboration has been nominated for three Golden Horse Awards – Best Feature Film, Best Director and Best Leading Actress for Vicky Chen, who plays Mia, an…

The African Diaspora International Film Festival (ADIFF) marks another milestone with its 25th annual feast of films celebrating the world of images that depict the human experience of people of color worldwide. These Black communities are in Europe, Latin American, Africa as well as North America. Festival directors Reinaldo B. Spech and Diarah N’ Daw-Spech agree that, “Many creative and visionary films lay languid, collecting dust without the light of a screening due to the lack of distribution structures or movie theaters in the hands of more sensitive programmers.” This year’s festival of 64 narrative and documentaries from 31 countries…

A group of seasonal agitators who seem to surface every time there is a film relating to Rajputs. A filmmaker with a grandiose vision of making yet another historical spectacle. Two men in sharp suits who sit in TV studios and pass judgment on the nationalist credentials of the vast mass who sits outside breathing less hallowed air. And a ministry of information and broadcasting and a central board of certification which plays mute witness to ugly and rancid threats of mutilation and decapitation. The result? One of the most seasoned filmmakers in the country and one of the biggest…

Matt Spicer’s bitter comedy of the absurd follows Ingrid Thorburn (Aubrey Plaza, deadpan but with a manic edge), a depressed twentysomething who inherits $60,000 from her mother and uses the money to move to California, inspired by Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen), an Instagram influencer she read about in Elle. Taylor’s bio is a sincere string of platitudes: “Treasure hunter. Castle builder. Proud Angeleno.” Ingrid pilfers tips on how to curate the right kind of cool from Taylor’s social media feeds and it’s not long before the young women become “BEST friends”, shopping for artisanal lamps and alternating margaritas with lines of…

TORONTO—Despite persistent foreign aggression against their country, Iran still has a flourishing cultural environment. Its films are recognized the world over for their deep humanism and artistic accomplishment. When Asghar Farhahi won his second Oscar Award for Best Foreign Language Film this year for his brilliant drama The Salesman (the first was A Separation), he refused to attend because of Trump’s cruelly imposed “Muslim ban.” His powerful statement was read onstage: “I’m sorry I am not with you tonight,” the letter read. “My absence is out of respect for those in my country and those in the six nations who have been disrespected by…