Angels Die in the Soil is the story of an Iraqi-Kurdish girl who earns a living for her ill father by selling the bones of Iranian soldiers martyred during the Iran-Iraq war. One day she stumbles on a terrorist incident involving an American soldier on her way back home, and she decides to try to help him.Babak Amini , director of the Angels Die in the Soil, was born in 1978 in the Kurdestan province of Iran. He went to school in Tehran and graduated with a degree in philosophy. Babak worked for 10 years as assistant to director Bahman…
Browsing: Conversations
Approaching their tenth anniversary, Billy and Breda Farrell seem to have the ideal marriage. But at night behind closed doors, Breda knows that their intimate bond is slowly unravelling: she tells a friend can’t remember how long it’s been since they’ve made love, as Billy seems to have lost interest. In fact, Billy has also become fascinated with Imelda Egan, the vivacious daughter of a colleague. His brief social exchanges with her leading to unexpected thoughts that distract him from Breda. Breda hopes that the upcoming anniversary will provide the couple a chance to relive their earlier, carefree days together.…
Born in Hong Kong, Wayne Wang is an accomplished director of American cinema best known for exploring the issues of East Asian diasporic identity in films like The Joy Luck Club, but he is also the director of Smoke, Last Holiday, and Maid in Manhattan. His new film, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers was released in the US September 19, 2008 after premiering at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. Bijan Tehrani: Your film, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, is a film that contains many different layers. How did you come up with the idea of this film? Is…
The Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela tells the story of Raquela, a transsexual – or “lady-boy” – from the Philippines who dreams of escaping the streets of Cebu City for a fairy tale life in Paris. In order to make her dreams come true, she turns from prostitution toward the more lucrative business of Internet porn. Her success as a porn star brings new friends, including Valerie, a transexual in Iceland, and Michael, the owner of the website Raquela works for. Valerie helps Raquela get as far as Iceland. From there, Michael offers her a rendezvous in Paris. Olaf de…
Filmmaker, college professor, wife and mother, Yael Katzir was born in Tel Aviv in 1942. Studied at Hebrew University, Jerusalem and at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA received her Doctoral Degree in History. She completed a Masters at Boston University MFA in Broadcasting and Film.(Cum Laude) Director of Beit Berl College: Communal Cable Television Center Broadcasting regularly on Israel Cable TV Channel 98, country wide.Prof. of film and history at the Art School. Independent Documentary filmmaker director and producer; she is also a published author.Her Award winning films are: Company Jasmine, Shivah for My Mother, A place for everyone. A glimpse…
The last two presidential elections both came down to a relatively small number of votes, and in both elections the integrity of the voting process has been called into question. With the upcoming election looking to be similarlyclose, the time has come to ask the questions: what happened in 2000 and 2004; what has changed since; and what can be done to ensure a fair and honest tabulation of votes in 2008?STEALING AMERICA: Vote by Vote brings together behind-the-scenes perspectives from the U.S. presidential election of 2004 – plus startling stories from key races in 1996, 2000, 2002 and 2006.…
While the Duplass Brothers were shooting their last feature film The Puffy Chair, a crew member raised the question “what’s the scariest thing you can think of?” Someone immediately said “a guy with a bag on his head staring into your window.” Some agreed, but some thought it was downright ridiculous and, if anything, funny (but definitely not scary). Thus, BAGHEAD was born, an attempt to take the absurdly low-concept idea of a “guy with a bag on his head” and make a funny, truthful, endearing film that, maybe, just maybe, was a little bit scary, too.MARK AND JAY DUPLASS…
Eight Miles High tells the incredible true story of European wild-child Uschi Obermaier. The film tracks her restless life from a small town girl in rural Bavaria to a fast-living fashion icon in Munich; from free-loving companion of the Rolling Stones to ultimately becoming the embodiment of the 60’s generation of sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll. This is one woman’s story about the discovery of freedom and the price one must ultimately pay to achieve it.Munich-born Uschi Obermaier celebrated her 60th birthday in September of 2006. She supported the film project of Eight Miles High, authorized the script, consulted with lead…
Catherine Breillat is a Paris based filmmaker and writer who became famous for her distinctively personal films on sexuality, gender trouble and sibling rivalry. Accused of being a ‘porno auteuriste’, Breillat allowed for an unbiased view of sexuality and extended the language of mainstream movies. She is also a best-selling novelist and wrote her first novel, L’Homme Facile, at the age of 17. Breillat acted in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Last Tango in Paris (1982) and wrote the screenplay for Maurice Pialat’s movie Police (1984). Since her first film Une vraie jeune filles (1975, not released before 2000), Breillat explored critically as…
An amazingly versatile actress who has had her beginnings at the age of 11, in Stephen King’s, “The Stand”, Cassandra Hepburn has been gaining a plethora of experience in the industry for over a decade, appearing in both independent and mainstream productions ranging from Sidney Lumet’s, “Find Me Guilty”, to roles on TV’s “Young and The Restless”, “Medium”, and “Days of Our Lives” to now features such as Quentin Taratino and Larry Bishop’s “Hell Ride”, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival with positive reviews. With such experience, and a driven personality to further add to the mix, Cassandra…