This review of “The Year of the Everlasting Storm” was first published after the film’s July premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.
In a way, Mark Cousins’ “The Story of Film: A New Generation” was the ideal film to be the first screening at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, because the documentary surveyed the most groundbreaking cinema of the 21st century and looked ahead to celebrate the return of moviegoers to theaters as the pandemic receded. But “The Year of the Everlasting Storm,” which premiered days later at Cannes, may be a perfect bookend to come as the festival nears its conclusion.
Whereas “The Story of Film” pointed the way toward the future as we come out of tough times, “Everlasting Storm” uses seven great filmmakers to peer deeply into where we’ve been during the pandemic, and where we may still be today; it’s set in the immediate past,...
In a way, Mark Cousins’ “The Story of Film: A New Generation” was the ideal film to be the first screening at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, because the documentary surveyed the most groundbreaking cinema of the 21st century and looked ahead to celebrate the return of moviegoers to theaters as the pandemic receded. But “The Year of the Everlasting Storm,” which premiered days later at Cannes, may be a perfect bookend to come as the festival nears its conclusion.
Whereas “The Story of Film” pointed the way toward the future as we come out of tough times, “Everlasting Storm” uses seven great filmmakers to peer deeply into where we’ve been during the pandemic, and where we may still be today; it’s set in the immediate past,...
- 9/2/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness Film Movement Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Massoud Bakhshi Writer: Massoud Bakhshi Cast: Sadaf Asgari, Behnaz Jafari, Fereshteh Sadre Orafaiy, Babak Karimi, Faghiheh Soltani, Arman Darvish Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, 11/6/20 Opens: December 11, 2020 If you think that the United […]
The post Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 12/6/2020
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Shab-e Yalda or Shab-e Chelleh takes place in the night of winter solstice and is an old traditional festivity, practiced in Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan. It is a time to celebrate with the family, to get together, read traditional poetry and connect to the lighting of a big fire which should resemble light and hope in this night which is supposed to be the longest and darkest. According to Iranian director Massoud Bakhshi, the custom has always held a certain fascination for him, rooting back to his childhood when he celebrated Shab-e Yalda with his family in Tehran. The idea of hope as symbolized by the event was also a main inspiration for his 2019 feature “Yalda”, a story about forgiveness, but also how tradition creates a front for repression, antiquated concepts of gender and revenge as well as the exploitation of misery performed by the media.
On the night of...
On the night of...
- 8/29/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
With the first Sundance Film Festival of the new decade wrapping up today, the award winners have been announced. Leading the pack is Minari, which picked up U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic, and Boys State, which was awarded U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary. It was also announced that Tabitha Jackson will be the new director of the festival, following John Cooper’s departure.
Check out the full winner list below, along with links to our reviews where available, and return for our wrap-up. See our complete coverage here.
2020 Sundance Film Festival Feature Film Awards
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to: Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, for Boys State / U.S.A. — In an unusual experiment, a thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to: Lee Isaac Chung,...
Check out the full winner list below, along with links to our reviews where available, and return for our wrap-up. See our complete coverage here.
2020 Sundance Film Festival Feature Film Awards
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary was presented to: Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, for Boys State / U.S.A. — In an unusual experiment, a thousand 17-year-old boys from Texas join together to build a representative government from the ground up.
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to: Lee Isaac Chung,...
- 2/2/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Imagine a high-ratings, high-stakes game show that trivializes a convict’s life-or-death fate for public consumption. As wild as it sounds, a version of this reality TV entertainment apparently really exists in modern-day Iran, where writer-director Massoud Bakhshi’s “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness” is set, and where a wildly popular edition of it has been airing for nearly a decade. Using that as an inspiration, Bakhshi unfolds “Yalda” entirely within one such controversial televised program, while navigating concepts like male entitlement, social order and media exploitation with mixed results. Even though there are multifarious ideas here around penitence and forgiveness as linchpins of Islam, “Yalda” eventually neglects the darker avenues of these themes wrapped inside an eye-for-an-eye justice model, guided by a firm religious code.
It’s a shame, since “Yalda” gets off to an absorbing start with the story of Maryam (Sadaf Asgari), a vulnerable young woman on...
It’s a shame, since “Yalda” gets off to an absorbing start with the story of Maryam (Sadaf Asgari), a vulnerable young woman on...
- 1/27/2020
- by Tomris Laffly
- Variety Film + TV
Massoud Bahkshi’s tensely potent “Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness” has the dramatic momentum to keep you enthralled but is the furthest thing from a comfortable watch. Taking place over the course of one long night, ‘Yalda,” circles the dressing room dread of a young Iranian woman named Maryam (Sadaf Asgari), who has been condemned to death for the murder of her husband Nasser, an act which Maryam vehemently maintains was an accident, though she was seen running away from the scene of the crime.
Read More: The 25 Most Anticipated Movies Of The 2020 Sundance Film Festival
Maryam’s last chance to be pardoned rests in the hands-on Nasser’s resentful daughter, Mona (Behnaz Jafari).
Continue reading ‘Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness’ Has Dramatic Momentum But Leans Too Hard Into Sensationalism [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
Read More: The 25 Most Anticipated Movies Of The 2020 Sundance Film Festival
Maryam’s last chance to be pardoned rests in the hands-on Nasser’s resentful daughter, Mona (Behnaz Jafari).
Continue reading ‘Yalda, A Night For Forgiveness’ Has Dramatic Momentum But Leans Too Hard Into Sensationalism [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.
- 1/27/2020
- by Andrew Bundy
- The Playlist
Between the internet and impeachment hearings, there were certainly plenty of reasons to stay home in 2019, but those who ventured out to movie theaters were rewarded with a fascinating array of work, even if some of those films were produced by and destined for one streaming service or another. And while #FilmTwitter might have argued over the effects of Netflix on the filmgoing experience, several observers noted that the back-and-forth discussions about “The Irishman” and “Marriage Story” meant that the service was doing a lot to put adult-aimed dramas in front of viewers and into the public discourse.
11-20 (alphabetically): “Charlie Says,” “Dolemite Is My Name,” “The Farewell,” “Fast Color,” “Long Shot,” “The Nightingale,” “Non-Fiction,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” “Wild Nights with Emily”
10. “High Life”
Director Claire Denis’ bleak vision of the future posits that mankind’s journey into outer...
11-20 (alphabetically): “Charlie Says,” “Dolemite Is My Name,” “The Farewell,” “Fast Color,” “Long Shot,” “The Nightingale,” “Non-Fiction,” “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” “Wild Nights with Emily”
10. “High Life”
Director Claire Denis’ bleak vision of the future posits that mankind’s journey into outer...
- 12/25/2019
- by Alonso Duralde
- The Wrap
Jafar Panahi won Best Screenplay at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival for 3 Faces, his fourth feature since being banned from filmmaking by the Iranian government. As far as narrative goes, this is also his most complex achievement since the ban, an homage to women’s roles in cinema, and the strenuous cultural constructs which make it nearly impossible for most women to pursue their interests in the medium. Actress Behnaz Jafari outshines Panahi himself in this winding struggle to figure out the potential mystery behind a village girl’s filmed suicide. Us Distributor Kino Lorber released the title in March of 2019, however, Panahi’s latest only raked in a little over seventy-two-thousand.…...
- 7/16/2019
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
by Murtada Elfadl
In 3 Faces, the latest from Jafar Panahi we are plunged right into the story as images of a young woman on a smart phone talking directly to the camera. She is announcing that her life's in jeopardy because her parents have forbidden her from realizing her dream of acting. She then seemingly kills herself. For the next 90 minutes we follow the recipient of this message, Behnaz Jafari playing herself, a renowned Iranian actress and Panahi himself as they travel to a tiny village near the Turkish border to investigate.
There’s a mystery to solve. What happened to the young woman (Marziyeh Rezaei)? But also a deeper moral mystery; who are the inhabitants of her tiny village? Are they as nice and welcoming as they seem at first blush when Jafari and Panahi meet them? Deeper still is the moral quandary of a society that could drive...
In 3 Faces, the latest from Jafar Panahi we are plunged right into the story as images of a young woman on a smart phone talking directly to the camera. She is announcing that her life's in jeopardy because her parents have forbidden her from realizing her dream of acting. She then seemingly kills herself. For the next 90 minutes we follow the recipient of this message, Behnaz Jafari playing herself, a renowned Iranian actress and Panahi himself as they travel to a tiny village near the Turkish border to investigate.
There’s a mystery to solve. What happened to the young woman (Marziyeh Rezaei)? But also a deeper moral mystery; who are the inhabitants of her tiny village? Are they as nice and welcoming as they seem at first blush when Jafari and Panahi meet them? Deeper still is the moral quandary of a society that could drive...
- 3/10/2019
- by Murtada Elfadl
- FilmExperience
“What if it’s a prank?” So asks Behnaz Jafari, the famous Iranian actress, in the opening minutes of 3 Faces. Jafari, who’s playing herself, is in the passenger seat of a car, hunched over a cell phone, her face illuminated by its glow. She’s watching what appears to be the video equivalent of a suicide letter that’s…...
- 3/7/2019
- by A.A. Dowd on Film, shared by A.A. Dowd to The A.V. Club
- avclub.com
For the past few years, Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been sending a series of quietly confounding films to festivals that he’s not allowed to attend. “Three Faces,” which premiered in May 2018 at the Cannes Film Festival, is the latest of these little examples of his cinematic sleight-of-hand, and another Panahi gem that has more on its mind than it lets on.
“Three Faces” is typical of the canny director’s output in the way it’s modest but profound, leisurely but urgent, a portrait of a country disguised as a meandering road movie.
But it’s not like he’s using misdirection or only pretending to be modest and leisurely. Panahi’s films are all those things at once — and this one is particularly timely at this year’s Cannes in the way he manages, without openly criticizing his home country, to sketch a portrait of how the...
“Three Faces” is typical of the canny director’s output in the way it’s modest but profound, leisurely but urgent, a portrait of a country disguised as a meandering road movie.
But it’s not like he’s using misdirection or only pretending to be modest and leisurely. Panahi’s films are all those things at once — and this one is particularly timely at this year’s Cannes in the way he manages, without openly criticizing his home country, to sketch a portrait of how the...
- 3/7/2019
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
3 Faces (Se rokh) Kino Lorber Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net by: Harvey Karten Director: Jafar Panahi Screenwriter: Jafar Panahi Cast: Behnaz Jafari, Jafar Panahi, Marziyeh Rezaei, Maedeh Erteghaei, Narges Del Aram Screened at: Critics’ link, NYC, Opens: March 8, 2019 In March 2010 Jafar Panahi, among the best-known of Iranian film directors, was arrested, […]
The post 3 Faces Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post 3 Faces Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 3/3/2019
- by Harvey Karten
- ShockYa
Following This Is Not a Film (2011), Closed Curtain (2013), and Taxi (2015), Jafar Panahi’s fourth film made under his ban premiered at Cannes Film Festival this past spring. 3 Faces follows Behnaz Jafari and Panahi who investigate a troubling message from an aspiring actress. One of the best 2019 films we’ve already seen, the U.S. trailer has now arrived via Kino Lorber ahead of a March release.
Giovanni Marchini Camia said in his Cannes review, “The director’s characteristic humanism and rejection of easy judgments suffuses the film with sincere empathy – refreshingly, he acknowledges his own role in the entrenched patriarchal culture he’s critiquing, both as a man and film director. As such, when 3 Faces closes on a bittersweet note, the hopeful gesture of its closing image feels neither cheap nor unearned.”
See the new trailer and poster below.
Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s fourth completed feature since he...
Giovanni Marchini Camia said in his Cannes review, “The director’s characteristic humanism and rejection of easy judgments suffuses the film with sincere empathy – refreshingly, he acknowledges his own role in the entrenched patriarchal culture he’s critiquing, both as a man and film director. As such, when 3 Faces closes on a bittersweet note, the hopeful gesture of its closing image feels neither cheap nor unearned.”
See the new trailer and poster below.
Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s fourth completed feature since he...
- 1/7/2019
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
"We hoped you could solve our problems." Kino Lorber has released the official Us trailer for 3 Faces, also known as Se Rokh, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last year. This is Panahi's latest since his acclaimed film Taxi Tehran, which received quite a bit of buzz during its release in 2015. The title 3 Faces is a reference to the film following and introducing us to three actresses at different stages of their career. One from before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, one popular star of today known throughout the country, and a young girl from a small village longing to attend a drama conservatory. Jafar Panahi, playing himself (as usual), travels with the highly recognizable Behnaz Jafari to the small village to find the young woman, encountering locals and all kinds of troubles along the way. It's a charming film with a lot of depth within it, if you keep...
- 1/4/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The film is produced by Radio Dreams director Babak Jalali.
Paris-based Reel Suspects has taken world rights to Ali Jaberansari’s Iranian drama Tehran: City Of Love, which made its world premiere at the 2018 BFI London Film Festival.
The film follow three disenchanted characters in the Iranian capital who yearn for love and a connection. They are a former bodybuilding champion turned personal trainer, an overweight beauty clinic secretary and a dispirited religious singer who tries his luck at becoming a wedding singer.
Tehran: City Of Love is the second film by Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Jaberansari, who is based in London...
Paris-based Reel Suspects has taken world rights to Ali Jaberansari’s Iranian drama Tehran: City Of Love, which made its world premiere at the 2018 BFI London Film Festival.
The film follow three disenchanted characters in the Iranian capital who yearn for love and a connection. They are a former bodybuilding champion turned personal trainer, an overweight beauty clinic secretary and a dispirited religious singer who tries his luck at becoming a wedding singer.
Tehran: City Of Love is the second film by Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Jaberansari, who is based in London...
- 12/21/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
The last festival on the fall calendar, AFI Fest, always offers a few late-breaking possible Oscar contenders — including opener “On the Basis of Sex” and closer “Mary, Queen of Scots” — as well as a strong World Cinema line-up packed with foreign-language Oscar submissions.
This year is no exception: Seven possible Best Foreign Language Film Oscar contenders are in the lineup of 28 titles from 27 countries, including Cannes prize-winners “Capernaum”, “Shoplifters” (Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, Magnolia), and “Dogman” (Italy’s Matteo Garrone, Magnolia), along with Cannes entry “The Wild Pear Tree”, Karlovy Vary Festival winner “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History as Barbarians” (Romania’s Radu Jude), and two Tiff titles from Spc, “Never Look Away” (Germany’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) and “Sunset” (Hungary’s “Son of Saul” Oscar-winner László Nemes).
Also in the lineup are several strong festival titles not submitted by their countries for the Oscars,...
This year is no exception: Seven possible Best Foreign Language Film Oscar contenders are in the lineup of 28 titles from 27 countries, including Cannes prize-winners “Capernaum”, “Shoplifters” (Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, Magnolia), and “Dogman” (Italy’s Matteo Garrone, Magnolia), along with Cannes entry “The Wild Pear Tree”, Karlovy Vary Festival winner “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History as Barbarians” (Romania’s Radu Jude), and two Tiff titles from Spc, “Never Look Away” (Germany’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) and “Sunset” (Hungary’s “Son of Saul” Oscar-winner László Nemes).
Also in the lineup are several strong festival titles not submitted by their countries for the Oscars,...
- 10/16/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The last festival on the fall calendar, AFI Fest, always offers a few late-breaking possible Oscar contenders — including opener “On the Basis of Sex” and closer “Mary, Queen of Scots” — as well as a strong World Cinema line-up packed with foreign-language Oscar submissions.
This year is no exception: Seven possible Best Foreign Language Film Oscar contenders are in the lineup of 28 titles from 27 countries, including Cannes prize-winners “Capernaum”, “Shoplifters” (Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, Magnolia), and “Dogman” (Italy’s Matteo Garrone, Magnolia), along with Cannes entry “The Wild Pear Tree”, Karlovy Vary Festival winner “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History as Barbarians” (Romania’s Radu Jude), and two Tiff titles from Spc, “Never Look Away” (Germany’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) and “Sunset” (Hungary’s “Son of Saul” Oscar-winner László Nemes).
Also in the lineup are several strong festival titles not submitted by their countries for the Oscars,...
This year is no exception: Seven possible Best Foreign Language Film Oscar contenders are in the lineup of 28 titles from 27 countries, including Cannes prize-winners “Capernaum”, “Shoplifters” (Japan’s Hirokazu Kore-eda, Magnolia), and “Dogman” (Italy’s Matteo Garrone, Magnolia), along with Cannes entry “The Wild Pear Tree”, Karlovy Vary Festival winner “I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History as Barbarians” (Romania’s Radu Jude), and two Tiff titles from Spc, “Never Look Away” (Germany’s Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) and “Sunset” (Hungary’s “Son of Saul” Oscar-winner László Nemes).
Also in the lineup are several strong festival titles not submitted by their countries for the Oscars,...
- 10/16/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
AFI Fest’s World Cinema section unveiled Tuesday includes seven films that have been officially submitted for the Foreign Language Film Oscar, from Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum and Matteo Garrone’s Dogman to Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s Never Look Away and the Cannes Palme d’Or-winning Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-eda. Directors in the slate include Jafar Panahi, Jia Zhang-ke, Hong Sang-soo, Olivier Assayas, Carlos Reygadas, László Nemes and Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
The lineup includes 28 titles from 27 countries. The fest runs November 8-15 and opens with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic On the Basis of Sex and closes with Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots. In the mix too are a host of gala presentations featuring Bird Box, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Widows, Green Book and Destroyer. The latter pic will be screened as part of a tribute to its star Nicole Kidman.
Here’s the full World...
The lineup includes 28 titles from 27 countries. The fest runs November 8-15 and opens with the Ruth Bader Ginsburg biopic On the Basis of Sex and closes with Josie Rourke’s Mary Queen of Scots. In the mix too are a host of gala presentations featuring Bird Box, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Widows, Green Book and Destroyer. The latter pic will be screened as part of a tribute to its star Nicole Kidman.
Here’s the full World...
- 10/16/2018
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Although he is banned from travel outside his home country, and banned from filmmaking period, Iranian director Jafar Panahi continues to persevere, crafting movies that make their way to international festivals and theatrical release. At the New York Film Festival premiere of his latest work, 3 Faces, Panahi said via statement last night that he is “hopeful about the future of Iranian cinema” and offered a word of encouragement to others working under difficult circumstances.
In 2010, Panahi was arrested by the Iranian authorities and barred from making movies. He has continued to work, but still faces a prison sentence which has not been enforced. 3 Faces had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it won the Best Screenplay prize. Kino Lorber acquired the movie which it will release in March next year.
In NY on Monday night, Panahi’s friend, Iranian-American film scholar Dr. Jamsheed Akrami,...
In 2010, Panahi was arrested by the Iranian authorities and barred from making movies. He has continued to work, but still faces a prison sentence which has not been enforced. 3 Faces had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, where it won the Best Screenplay prize. Kino Lorber acquired the movie which it will release in March next year.
In NY on Monday night, Panahi’s friend, Iranian-American film scholar Dr. Jamsheed Akrami,...
- 10/9/2018
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Festival poster by Ed Lachman and Jr.Below you will find an index of our coverage of films—and posters!—at the 2018 New York Film Festival:Movie Poster of the Week: The Posters of the 56th New York Film FestivalOf all the photographic designs the official festival poster, created by Faces, Places co-director Jr and ace cinematographer—and Nyff regular—Ed Lachman, is the most interesting—and one of the best Nyff posters in recent years—with its Manhattan alleyway filled with oversized monochrome prints of famous filmmakers’ eyes (held aloft by Nyff staff). —Annual round-up of main slate posters by Adrian CurryThe Favourite (Yorgos Lanthimos)The Favourite, whose ‘family’ unit to be (self-)destroyed is of an aristocratic or rather royal kind, comprising the inner circle of the queen, is Lanthimos’ first attempt in directing only; the script was written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara. Nevertheless, the Greek philosopher’s-a.
- 10/3/2018
- MUBI
Jafar Panahi’s latest film, 3 Faces, which is screening as part of the 56th New York Film Festival main slate, is another audacious triumph from a director who has confirmed his place as one of the most important filmmakers of the 21st century. Following his 2010 arrest and subsequent 20-year ban on filmmaking, 3 Faces marks the Iranian filmmaker’s fourth feature to be made without government authorization. After the lauded This Is Not a Film (2011), Closed Curtain (2013) and Taxi (2015), 3 Faces emerges as both a culmination and farewell to the strictures within which Panahi has flexed and maneuvered his cinematic vision over the last eight years. The film serves as an exemplary piece from which to reflect upon the continued political pertinence and cinematic innovation of Panahi’s filmmaking. As a collection, the post-ban films play out as an extended experiment in the possibilities of viable filmmaking under extreme censorship restriction.
- 10/3/2018
- MUBI
Jafar Panahi’s drama 3 Faces, which won the best screenplay award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is getting a theatrical release in the U.S. after Kino Lorber picked up the feature.
The company will roll out the film, which stars Panahi and Behnaz Jafari, in theaters in March 2019 followed by a VOD and home vide release.
The film is set to have its North American premiere at next month’s Toronto International Film Festival and will have its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival.
3 Faces stars Panahi and Behnaz Jafari, both playing themselves, as they travel to the rural northwest of Iran after receiving a plea for help from a girl whose family has forbid her from attending a drama conservatory in Tehran. Amusing encounters abound, but they soon discover that the local hospitality is rivaled by a desire to protect age-old traditions.
The company will roll out the film, which stars Panahi and Behnaz Jafari, in theaters in March 2019 followed by a VOD and home vide release.
The film is set to have its North American premiere at next month’s Toronto International Film Festival and will have its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival.
3 Faces stars Panahi and Behnaz Jafari, both playing themselves, as they travel to the rural northwest of Iran after receiving a plea for help from a girl whose family has forbid her from attending a drama conservatory in Tehran. Amusing encounters abound, but they soon discover that the local hospitality is rivaled by a desire to protect age-old traditions.
- 8/17/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Kino Lorber has acquired U.S. rights to Jafar Panahi’s critically lauded drama “3 Faces,” which won the best screenplay prize at the Cannes Film Festival and will have its North American premiere at Toronto.
“3 Faces” marks the fourth feature from Panahi, who since 2010 has been under a 20-year ban imposed by the Iranian government. The film stars Panahi and well-known Iranian actress Behnaz Jafari (both playing themselves) as they embark on an eventful road trip to the rural northwest of Iran to help a girl whose family has forbidden her from attending a drama conservatory in Tehran. They soon discover that the local hospitality is challenged by a desire to protect age-old traditions.
Delivering a realistic portrayal of contemporary Iranian society, “3 Faces” was described by Variety’s Jessica Kiang as a “heartfelt statement of solidarity” and a “quietly fierce act of cinematic defiance.”
The acquisition reteams Panahi with Kino Lorber,...
“3 Faces” marks the fourth feature from Panahi, who since 2010 has been under a 20-year ban imposed by the Iranian government. The film stars Panahi and well-known Iranian actress Behnaz Jafari (both playing themselves) as they embark on an eventful road trip to the rural northwest of Iran to help a girl whose family has forbidden her from attending a drama conservatory in Tehran. They soon discover that the local hospitality is challenged by a desire to protect age-old traditions.
Delivering a realistic portrayal of contemporary Iranian society, “3 Faces” was described by Variety’s Jessica Kiang as a “heartfelt statement of solidarity” and a “quietly fierce act of cinematic defiance.”
The acquisition reteams Panahi with Kino Lorber,...
- 8/17/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
We are now eight years into the 20-year filmmaking ban imposed on Iranian director Jafar Panahi, for allegedly making propaganda against his country’s regime. “3 Faces” is the fourth film he has made illicitly under conditions a lesser director might find paralyzing. But Panahi’s irrepressible, mischievous storytelling instinct has with tenacious regularity found its way through the cracks and onto the biggest international stages, even though the man himself cannot leave the country.
“This Is Not A Film,” “Closed Curtain,” and Berlin Golden Bear winner “Taxi” were all metafictions that saw him kick against those insupportable restrictions by making them his subject, and it’s been fascinating to watch the rough-and-ready style he developed out of necessity evolve into something of a distinctive aesthetic. That stylistic evolution continues with “3 Faces,” most noticeably with Amin Jafari’s graceful, often bravura handheld camerawork. But the really absorbing paradox here is that...
“This Is Not A Film,” “Closed Curtain,” and Berlin Golden Bear winner “Taxi” were all metafictions that saw him kick against those insupportable restrictions by making them his subject, and it’s been fascinating to watch the rough-and-ready style he developed out of necessity evolve into something of a distinctive aesthetic. That stylistic evolution continues with “3 Faces,” most noticeably with Amin Jafari’s graceful, often bravura handheld camerawork. But the really absorbing paradox here is that...
- 7/2/2018
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
The Notebook is covering Cannes with an on-going correspondence between critics Lawrence Garcia and Daniel Kasman.Dear Lawrence,I also shared your experience of being welcomed by the calm of Jafar Panahi’s new picture after the all-out assault of Gaspar Noé’s nightmarish party film. 3 Faces, as you imply, uses a scintillating premise—the investigation of a possible suicide by an aspiring young actress, carried out personally by the filmmaker and star actress Behnaz Jafari who are morally blackmailed into being responsible—to make down-to-earth observations about the interaction between these famed city artists and the provincial village in which they search. Leaving cosmopolitan Tehran behind, the two find themselves facing the prejudices of the countryside against art-making: the young actress being heckled by her family and community for her aspirations, and, pointedly, a retired star from “before the Revolution” lives in seclusion on the outskirts. Most villagers (at...
- 5/15/2018
- MUBI
3 Faces is the fourth film Jafar Panahi has made in defiance of a 20-year filmmaking ban the Iranian government issued against him in 2010. The first three were all small-scale affairs, shot solo or with tiny crews, in which the camera never left the confines of a given space – Panahi’s apartment building in This Is Not a Film (2011), a holiday house in Closed Curtain (2013), and a taxi in Taxi (2015). His newest, which sees him working with a larger team, is almost entirely set in a remote village in the mountains, likely in Iranian Azerbaijan. This shift is in keeping with the thematic trajectory drawn by this series of clandestine films. While the first one focused on Panahi’s own predicament, each new installment has expanded the scope of his critique, encompassing further facets of the oppression engendered by the authoritarian values that hold sway over large parts of Iranian society.
- 5/15/2018
- by Giovanni Marchini Camia
- The Film Stage
Eight years after receiving a two-decade ban on filmmaking, Jafar Panahi is back at Cannes once again. “Three Faces,” his fourth film since that harsh sentence was imposed on him by the Iranian government, just premiered on the Croisette; in his review, IndieWire’s Eric Kohn writes that the movie “maintains the unique blend of introspection and intrigue that defines this singular director’s talent.” Now the film has a trailer to go along with the anticipation. Watch below.
Here’s the synopsis: “Well-known actress Behnaz Jafari is distraught by a provincial girl’s video plea for help — oppressed by her family to not pursue her studies at the Tehran drama conservatory. Behnaz abandons her shoot and turns to filmmaker Jafar Panahi to help solve the mystery of the young girl’s troubles. They travel by car to the rural north where they have amusing encounters with the charming folk...
Here’s the synopsis: “Well-known actress Behnaz Jafari is distraught by a provincial girl’s video plea for help — oppressed by her family to not pursue her studies at the Tehran drama conservatory. Behnaz abandons her shoot and turns to filmmaker Jafar Panahi to help solve the mystery of the young girl’s troubles. They travel by car to the rural north where they have amusing encounters with the charming folk...
- 5/13/2018
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Though there exists evidence (read: four feature films) that Jafar Panahi’s 20-year filmmaking ban has largely turned symbolic, every work nevertheless feels like a victory — for him, for the medium, and over tyranny. That they are largely excellent, boundary-defying works makes the whole thing a bit easier to celebrate, and word has it the latest entry is a worthwhile continuation. (Check back soon for our review.)
A surprisingly jaunty, blessedly subtitled first trailer has arrived, offering a window into the picture’s (surprise!) self-reflexive story of suppression and ensuing empowerment within Iranian structures. Seems word of the Abbas Kiarostami influence isn’t for naught, and Life, and Nothing More… vibes go a very long way.
Watch it below:
Well-known actress Behnaz Jafari is distraught by a provincial girl’s video plea for help – oppressed by her family to not pursue her studies at the Tehran drama conservatory. Behnaz abandons...
A surprisingly jaunty, blessedly subtitled first trailer has arrived, offering a window into the picture’s (surprise!) self-reflexive story of suppression and ensuing empowerment within Iranian structures. Seems word of the Abbas Kiarostami influence isn’t for naught, and Life, and Nothing More… vibes go a very long way.
Watch it below:
Well-known actress Behnaz Jafari is distraught by a provincial girl’s video plea for help – oppressed by her family to not pursue her studies at the Tehran drama conservatory. Behnaz abandons...
- 5/13/2018
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Jafar Panahi was banned from filmmaking by the Iranian government, but the decree only led him to make movies in a different kind of way. Starting with the meta-documentary “This Is Not a Film” in 2011, Panahi’s creative frustrations have taken center stage in various inventive ways: In “Closed Curtain,” the allegorical tale of thieves on the lam folds into a broader creative lament when the filmmaker enters the frame to contemplate his characters, while the acclaimed “Taxi” found his camera exclusively in the confines of the titular vehicle as Panahi drove around Tehran.
The fourth entry in this innovative period, “Three Faces,” finds him acting in another story seemingly pulled from his real experiences — although this time, he’s more of the supporting character in a meandering but often insightful exploration of censorship and oppression in a society that accepts those phenomena as facts of life.
It starts with a call for help.
The fourth entry in this innovative period, “Three Faces,” finds him acting in another story seemingly pulled from his real experiences — although this time, he’s more of the supporting character in a meandering but often insightful exploration of censorship and oppression in a society that accepts those phenomena as facts of life.
It starts with a call for help.
- 5/13/2018
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The film has sold to 20 territories.
Celluloid Dreams has closed a raft of deals on Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s feel-good road movie 3 Faces ahead of its premiere in Competition this weekend.
The film has sold to some 20 territories including Australia/New Zealand (Madman), UK/Ireland (New Wave Films), Germany (Weltkino), Italy (Cinema Srl), Spain (Golem), Brazil (Imovision), China (DDDream), Hong Kong (Golden Scene) and India (Alliance Media).
As previously announced Memento Distribution has acquired French rights for a June 6 release.
Like Taxi Tehran, the film appears to blend fact and fiction and follows the journey of a real-life actress...
Celluloid Dreams has closed a raft of deals on Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s feel-good road movie 3 Faces ahead of its premiere in Competition this weekend.
The film has sold to some 20 territories including Australia/New Zealand (Madman), UK/Ireland (New Wave Films), Germany (Weltkino), Italy (Cinema Srl), Spain (Golem), Brazil (Imovision), China (DDDream), Hong Kong (Golden Scene) and India (Alliance Media).
As previously announced Memento Distribution has acquired French rights for a June 6 release.
Like Taxi Tehran, the film appears to blend fact and fiction and follows the journey of a real-life actress...
- 5/11/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
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