Artificial Eye, the arthouse distribution company established in 1976 by Curzon Cinemas, is set for a re-launch as a theatrical and home entertainment label.
Founded by Andi and Pam Engel, the label gained recognition for releasing independent, arthouse, and foreign language films, promoting films from directors such as Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers, and Trần Anh Hùng.
Artificial Eye went on hiatus in 2014, after being part of the Curzon group since 2006. In 2019, we told you Curzon Group and its subsidiaries, including Artificial Eye, had been acquired by U.S. indie distributor and exhibitor Cohen Media Group. Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure was one of the last films released under the previous version of the label.
Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label led by Managing Director Louisa Dent. One of their successes has been Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the UK box office.
Founded by Andi and Pam Engel, the label gained recognition for releasing independent, arthouse, and foreign language films, promoting films from directors such as Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers, and Trần Anh Hùng.
Artificial Eye went on hiatus in 2014, after being part of the Curzon group since 2006. In 2019, we told you Curzon Group and its subsidiaries, including Artificial Eye, had been acquired by U.S. indie distributor and exhibitor Cohen Media Group. Ruben Östlund’s Force Majeure was one of the last films released under the previous version of the label.
Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label led by Managing Director Louisa Dent. One of their successes has been Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the UK box office.
- 5/1/2024
- by Hannah Abraham
- Deadline Film + TV
U.K. outfit Curzon — part of the Cohen Media Group — is set to relaunch Artificial Eye, the arthouse distribution label that was established in 1976 and has been on hiatus for the last decade.
The label, first founded by film enthusiasts Andi and Pam Engel and part of the Curzon group since 2006, became renowned for releasing independent, foreign-language and arthouse title to U.K. audiences, including those by Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers and Trần Anh Hùng. Its library boasts over 400 critically acclaimed films from directors including Wim Wenders, Michael Haneke and Claire Denis. Ruben Östlund’s “Force Majeure” was one of the last films released under the previous incarnation.
Led by managing director Louisa Dent, who has been with the company since 2008, Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label — including Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the U.K.
The label, first founded by film enthusiasts Andi and Pam Engel and part of the Curzon group since 2006, became renowned for releasing independent, foreign-language and arthouse title to U.K. audiences, including those by Béla Tarr, the Dardenne Brothers and Trần Anh Hùng. Its library boasts over 400 critically acclaimed films from directors including Wim Wenders, Michael Haneke and Claire Denis. Ruben Östlund’s “Force Majeure” was one of the last films released under the previous incarnation.
Led by managing director Louisa Dent, who has been with the company since 2008, Curzon has continued to release critically acclaimed films under the Curzon Film label — including Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite,” the highest-grossing foreign-language film ever at the U.K.
- 4/30/2024
- by Alex Ritman
- Variety Film + TV
The UK’s Curzon is to relaunch its specialist UK/Ireland distribution label Artificial Eye, as a theatrical and home entertainment brand.
The first release under the banner will be Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s Berlinale Competition title My Favourite Cake.
Led by Curzon managing director Louisa Dent, the acquisitions team will curate additions to the Artificial Eye catalogue, focusing on director-led world cinema and discoveries from emerging filmmakers.
Artificial Eye was founded in 1976 by Andi Engel and Pam Engel. The label released leading independent, foreign-language and arthouse titles, including films by Bela Tarr, the Dardenne brothers and Tran Anh Hung.
The first release under the banner will be Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s Berlinale Competition title My Favourite Cake.
Led by Curzon managing director Louisa Dent, the acquisitions team will curate additions to the Artificial Eye catalogue, focusing on director-led world cinema and discoveries from emerging filmmakers.
Artificial Eye was founded in 1976 by Andi Engel and Pam Engel. The label released leading independent, foreign-language and arthouse titles, including films by Bela Tarr, the Dardenne brothers and Tran Anh Hung.
- 4/30/2024
- ScreenDaily
Mahin decides to break her loneliness by searching for a partner in Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha's warm-hearted drama “My Favourite Cake”. The third directorial collaboration between two filmmakers had its world premiere in the official competition of Berlinale earlier this year, screened in absence of the helmers who were not allowed to leave the country. The movie shows women without mandatory hijabs, it lets them speak about their flirts, dreams and longing, and it even involves alcohol drinking and a burgeoning love affair between two people who were not destined to live that dream to the fullest, as well as an open rebellion against the morality police. Iranian authorities made a clumsy attempt at stopping the film of reaching the international audience, which luckily proved futile.”My Favourite Cake” was shot secretly amidst the wide-spread anti Government protests sparked by the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini, a young Iranian...
- 4/30/2024
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
When it comes to romance, everyone knows that you shouldn't wait too long... Don't let all of life go by, and have the courage to say hi to someone before it's too late. That's the wisdom explored in this delightful new film from Iran titled My Favourite Cake (labeled as Keyke mahboobe man in the Berlinale line-up). The film is both written & directed by the Iranian filmmakers Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, and premiered at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival in the Main Competition section (though it didn't win any awards). Unfortunately the two filmmakers are being kept in Iran, as the government took their passports and imposed a travel ban. Nonetheless, this film stands out within the Berlinale line-up as an entertaining-for-everyone heartfelt story of romance. The best compliment I can give is that it has the vibe of an Iranian Before Sunrise telling a charming story about two 70-year-old single,...
- 2/26/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Iranian filmmakers Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam’s new feature My Favourite Cake world premieres at the Berlinale on Friday but the directors are not at the festival having been slapped with a travel ban by Iran’s authoritarian Islamic Republic regime.
Their absence was marked at the press conference by two empty seats and a joint portrait, while lead actress Lily Farhadpour, who has been allowed to make the journey, read out a statement on their behalf.
“We feel like parents who are forbidden from even looking at their new-born child,” it read. “We’re sad and we’re tired, but we’re not alone. This is the magic of cinema. Cinema brings us together. It is a window which opens up a time and a place where we can meet.”
Their quirky comedy-drama stars Farhadpour as a lonely widow who seizes the moment and invites a taxi driver...
Their absence was marked at the press conference by two empty seats and a joint portrait, while lead actress Lily Farhadpour, who has been allowed to make the journey, read out a statement on their behalf.
“We feel like parents who are forbidden from even looking at their new-born child,” it read. “We’re sad and we’re tired, but we’re not alone. This is the magic of cinema. Cinema brings us together. It is a window which opens up a time and a place where we can meet.”
Their quirky comedy-drama stars Farhadpour as a lonely widow who seizes the moment and invites a taxi driver...
- 2/16/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha won’t be coming to Berlin. The Iranian directors, whose feature Ballad of a White Cow received a rapturous reception here in 2020, were set to attend the 74th Berlinale with their latest competition entry, My Favourite Cake.
“But then the police came, took our passports and told us were banned from traveling,” says Moghaddam, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter via Zoom from the couple’s home in Tehran. “We are now facing a court case because of the film.”
The Berlinale has called on Iran to release the directors, saying it was “shocked and dismayed” to hear of the couple’s fate.
My Favourite Cake follows 70-year-old Mahin (Ballad of a White Cow actress Lili Farhadpour) who, after decades of living alone, decides to revive her love life. On a whim, she propositions Faramarz, a solidarity cab driver (Esmaeel Mehrabi), and invites him to her house.
“But then the police came, took our passports and told us were banned from traveling,” says Moghaddam, speaking to The Hollywood Reporter via Zoom from the couple’s home in Tehran. “We are now facing a court case because of the film.”
The Berlinale has called on Iran to release the directors, saying it was “shocked and dismayed” to hear of the couple’s fate.
My Favourite Cake follows 70-year-old Mahin (Ballad of a White Cow actress Lili Farhadpour) who, after decades of living alone, decides to revive her love life. On a whim, she propositions Faramarz, a solidarity cab driver (Esmaeel Mehrabi), and invites him to her house.
- 2/16/2024
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Some 30 film organizations, festivals and professionals as well as freedom of speech NGOs have signed an open letter calling on Iranian authorities to immediately drop all charges against directors Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha as well as lift a travel ban.
The signatories include the Berlinale, the Amsterdam-based International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, and Pen America in New York.
The filmmakers, whose last collaboration Ballad Of A White Cow made waves on the festival circuit, have become caught in the crosshairs of their country’s hardline Islamist regime in relation to their upcoming film My Favourite Cake.
The pair were due to fly to Paris in September to complete post-production on the feature, exploring “life behind closed doors of an aging woman who dares to live her desires in a country where women’s rights are heavily restricted.”
Their passports were confiscated at Tehran airport, however, and they were...
The signatories include the Berlinale, the Amsterdam-based International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, and Pen America in New York.
The filmmakers, whose last collaboration Ballad Of A White Cow made waves on the festival circuit, have become caught in the crosshairs of their country’s hardline Islamist regime in relation to their upcoming film My Favourite Cake.
The pair were due to fly to Paris in September to complete post-production on the feature, exploring “life behind closed doors of an aging woman who dares to live her desires in a country where women’s rights are heavily restricted.”
Their passports were confiscated at Tehran airport, however, and they were...
- 12/20/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Iranian directors Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam, whose last collaboration Ballad Of A White Cow made waves on the festival circuit, have been banned from travel and face a trial in relation to their upcoming film My Favourite Cake.
The pair discovered they were subject to a travel ban at Tehran airport at the end of September after their passports were confiscated as they went to catch a flight to Paris to work on post-production of the new film.
They were subsequently told that they faced a trial related to the production.
Local media reported that Iranian security forces had raided the house of the film’s editor, seizing rushes and other materials related to the production.
The country’s hard-line Islamist authorities are believed to have been angered by the work, which according to the official logline, revolves around the “life behind closed doors of an aging woman who...
The pair discovered they were subject to a travel ban at Tehran airport at the end of September after their passports were confiscated as they went to catch a flight to Paris to work on post-production of the new film.
They were subsequently told that they faced a trial related to the production.
Local media reported that Iranian security forces had raided the house of the film’s editor, seizing rushes and other materials related to the production.
The country’s hard-line Islamist authorities are believed to have been angered by the work, which according to the official logline, revolves around the “life behind closed doors of an aging woman who...
- 11/27/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The industry programme at the Norwegian festival included a focus on UK projects.
Two veryr different projects from female directors have been the talk of the industry at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films market this week.
Amanda Kernell won the pitching prize after the Co-Production Market presentation of her third feature film, The Curse - A Love Story while Thea Hvistendahl’s work in progress Handling The Undead, which reunites Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie after The Worst Person in the World, hugely impressed buyers and festival programmers alike
The Curse will follow Kernell’s Venice 2016 premiere Sami Blood and Sundance 2020 selection Charter.
Two veryr different projects from female directors have been the talk of the industry at Haugesund’s New Nordic Films market this week.
Amanda Kernell won the pitching prize after the Co-Production Market presentation of her third feature film, The Curse - A Love Story while Thea Hvistendahl’s work in progress Handling The Undead, which reunites Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie after The Worst Person in the World, hugely impressed buyers and festival programmers alike
The Curse will follow Kernell’s Venice 2016 premiere Sami Blood and Sundance 2020 selection Charter.
- 8/25/2023
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
Rome-based Intramovies has picked up sales rights to Swedish up-and-coming filmmaker Mika Gustafson’s “Sisters,” ahead of the film’s pitch as a work in progress at Göteborg’s Nordic Film Market, which runs Feb. 2-5.
The film is being produced by Nima Yousefi for Stockholm-based Hobab, behind the multi-awarded “Clara Sola” by Nathalie Álvarez Mesen.
European co-producers on board “Sisters” take in Italy s’ Intramovies, Denmark’s Toolbox Film and Finland’s Tuffi Films.
Intramovies’ head of acquisitions and production Marco Valerio Fusco said “being the Italian co-producers, we loved the project since its inception, and were very excited by the film’s potential, the impressive script and all talents involved.
“For the good of the film, we didn’t put any pre-emption on the title, leaving the door open to any other possible sales agent. Then when Nima offered us to come on board, we immediately accepted,” said...
The film is being produced by Nima Yousefi for Stockholm-based Hobab, behind the multi-awarded “Clara Sola” by Nathalie Álvarez Mesen.
European co-producers on board “Sisters” take in Italy s’ Intramovies, Denmark’s Toolbox Film and Finland’s Tuffi Films.
Intramovies’ head of acquisitions and production Marco Valerio Fusco said “being the Italian co-producers, we loved the project since its inception, and were very excited by the film’s potential, the impressive script and all talents involved.
“For the good of the film, we didn’t put any pre-emption on the title, leaving the door open to any other possible sales agent. Then when Nima offered us to come on board, we immediately accepted,” said...
- 1/19/2023
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
For the 20th edition 33 films projects from 26 countries will take part.
New features from Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan and German director Leonie Krippendorff are among those to be presented at the 20th Berliane Co-production Market (February 18 to 22), the first in-person edition since 2020.
The market will provide the opportunity for 33 projects from 26 countries to secure financing and get fired up as international co-productions in the next few years, with sales agents, broadcasters, funding bodies, streaming platforms, film distributors and other financing partners in attendance.
For the official project selection, 17 fiction feature projects with budgets between €600,000 and €5m and chosen from among 302 submissions will take part.
New features from Palestinian filmmaker Muayad Alayan and German director Leonie Krippendorff are among those to be presented at the 20th Berliane Co-production Market (February 18 to 22), the first in-person edition since 2020.
The market will provide the opportunity for 33 projects from 26 countries to secure financing and get fired up as international co-productions in the next few years, with sales agents, broadcasters, funding bodies, streaming platforms, film distributors and other financing partners in attendance.
For the official project selection, 17 fiction feature projects with budgets between €600,000 and €5m and chosen from among 302 submissions will take part.
- 1/9/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
The Berlin Film Festival has revealed a raft of titles across strands and also 33 film projects vying for coin at the coproduction market.
Selections for the topical Perspektive Deutsches Kino strand from emerging German talent include “Seven Winters in Tehran” by Steffi Niederzoll, “Elaha” by Milena Aboyan, “Ararat” by Engin Kundag, “The Kidnapping of the Bride” by Sophia Mocorrea, Fabian Stumm’s “Bones and Names,” “Long Long Kiss” by Lukas Röder, Tanja Egen’s “On Mothers and Daughters,” “Ash Wednesday,” by João Pedro Prado and Bárbara Santos, “Nuclear Nomads” by Kilian Armando Friedrich and Tizian Stromp Zargari and “Lonely Oaks” by Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl and Jens Mühlhoff.
All the selected films in the strand will compete for the Heiner Carow Prize and the Compass-Perspektive-Award, both of which are endowed with €5,000.
A 4K restoration of David Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” will open the Berlinale Classics section, which also includes Oliver Schmitz’ “Mapantsula,...
Selections for the topical Perspektive Deutsches Kino strand from emerging German talent include “Seven Winters in Tehran” by Steffi Niederzoll, “Elaha” by Milena Aboyan, “Ararat” by Engin Kundag, “The Kidnapping of the Bride” by Sophia Mocorrea, Fabian Stumm’s “Bones and Names,” “Long Long Kiss” by Lukas Röder, Tanja Egen’s “On Mothers and Daughters,” “Ash Wednesday,” by João Pedro Prado and Bárbara Santos, “Nuclear Nomads” by Kilian Armando Friedrich and Tizian Stromp Zargari and “Lonely Oaks” by Fabiana Fragale, Kilian Kuhlendahl and Jens Mühlhoff.
All the selected films in the strand will compete for the Heiner Carow Prize and the Compass-Perspektive-Award, both of which are endowed with €5,000.
A 4K restoration of David Cronenberg’s “Naked Lunch” will open the Berlinale Classics section, which also includes Oliver Schmitz’ “Mapantsula,...
- 1/9/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
The Berlin Film Festival today unveiled the titles selected for its retrospective section chosen by a collection of international directors and actors, including Martin Scorsese, Wes Anderson, Nadine Labaki, and Tilda Swinton.
This year the theme of the retrospective sidebar is “Coming of Age at the Movies,” and each invited artist was tasked with submitting their personal favorite film that either deals with “being young and growing up” or had a “decisive role in the evolution or development” of their own artistic practice. The retrospective section will also exclusively screen films that have been newly restored.
The full list of invited artists includes Maren Ade, Pedro Almodóvar, Wes Anderson, Juliette Binoche, Lav Diaz, Alice Diop, Ava DuVernay, Nora Fingscheidt, Luca Guadagnino, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, Ethan Hawke, Karoline Herfurth, Niki Karimi, Nadine Labaki, Nadav Lapid, Sergei Loznitsa, Mohammad Rasoulof, Céline Sciamma, Martin Scorsese, Aparna Sen, M. Night Shyamalan, Carla Simón, Abderrahmane Sissako,...
This year the theme of the retrospective sidebar is “Coming of Age at the Movies,” and each invited artist was tasked with submitting their personal favorite film that either deals with “being young and growing up” or had a “decisive role in the evolution or development” of their own artistic practice. The retrospective section will also exclusively screen films that have been newly restored.
The full list of invited artists includes Maren Ade, Pedro Almodóvar, Wes Anderson, Juliette Binoche, Lav Diaz, Alice Diop, Ava DuVernay, Nora Fingscheidt, Luca Guadagnino, Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, Ethan Hawke, Karoline Herfurth, Niki Karimi, Nadine Labaki, Nadav Lapid, Sergei Loznitsa, Mohammad Rasoulof, Céline Sciamma, Martin Scorsese, Aparna Sen, M. Night Shyamalan, Carla Simón, Abderrahmane Sissako,...
- 1/9/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Four previously backed films are screening at Venice this year.
The Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund (Wcf) is to provide a combined €344,000 in finance to seven international projects.
In its latest funding round, the Wcf has recommended production funding for six projects from Burkina Faso, Chile, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and Colombia. The fund has also recommened providing distribution funding for the August 25 German release of Sudanese film You Will Die At Twenty.
The Berlinale’s funding initiative was set up in 2004 to help diversify German cinema and support projects from areas of the world with less filmmaking infrastructure.
The Berlinale’s World Cinema Fund (Wcf) is to provide a combined €344,000 in finance to seven international projects.
In its latest funding round, the Wcf has recommended production funding for six projects from Burkina Faso, Chile, Egypt, Democratic Republic of Congo, Senegal and Colombia. The fund has also recommened providing distribution funding for the August 25 German release of Sudanese film You Will Die At Twenty.
The Berlinale’s funding initiative was set up in 2004 to help diversify German cinema and support projects from areas of the world with less filmmaking infrastructure.
- 8/16/2022
- by Ellie Calnan
- ScreenDaily
Kismet Kisses: Moghaddam & Sanaeeha Mine Intimate Vengeance in Rich Melodrama
The opening moments of Ballad of a White Cow evokes a quote from Al-Baqarah or The Surah of the Cow, the second and longest chapter of the Quran. Within this surah, more than one cow is featured, but the reference regards the slaughter of a cow as a message delivered by Allah to the Israelites through Moses, an action which will reveal who murdered a slain man. Caught in the middle, of course, is a poor, innocent cow.
While this is a rudimentary, and superficial starting point for examining the happenings of this tale of karmic vengeance, it’s the first narrative feature from directors Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who previously delivered the 2018 documentary The Invincible Diplomacy of Mr.…...
The opening moments of Ballad of a White Cow evokes a quote from Al-Baqarah or The Surah of the Cow, the second and longest chapter of the Quran. Within this surah, more than one cow is featured, but the reference regards the slaughter of a cow as a message delivered by Allah to the Israelites through Moses, an action which will reveal who murdered a slain man. Caught in the middle, of course, is a poor, innocent cow.
While this is a rudimentary, and superficial starting point for examining the happenings of this tale of karmic vengeance, it’s the first narrative feature from directors Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha, who previously delivered the 2018 documentary The Invincible Diplomacy of Mr.…...
- 2/10/2022
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha's Ballad of a White Cow is exclusively showing on Mubi in many countries starting February 10, 2022 in the series Viewfinder, as well as in Festival Focus: Berlinale.Photo by Hamid Janipour.It all started with a painful and bitter memory: an old wound which tormented our souls. With fear and hope, we told the story of our people’s enduring agony. The story of Mina’s anguish, longing for long-lost justice. The justice which had faded between the lines of a law. We wanted to tell a story about the victims and those that have suffered injustice. About people whose lives were fully transformed by the death of an innocent person. The story of many people around us, and definitely of many people in the world. The main characters are shaped and inspired by people we know. In the final credits of the film, we dedicate it to Mina,...
- 2/8/2022
- MUBI
Consideration of the death penalty is an enduring theme in films from countries where it is still in operation but Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha's film - though touching on some similar themes to fellow Iranian director Mohammad Rasolouf's recent There Is No Evil - also offers close scrutiny of women's place in society in general.
That place is strictly delineated, especially if there is no man in the picture, something that single mother Mina (played by Moghadam herself) is all too aware of in the wake of her husband's execution. Working her days in a milk processing plant she is also juggling looking after her deaf young daughter Bita (Avin Poor Raoufi) and trying to stave off harassment from her brother-in-law (Pourya Rahimiam), who acts as a messenger of veiled threats from her dead husband's father.
When she discovers that her husband was, in fact, innocent, Mina begins a.
That place is strictly delineated, especially if there is no man in the picture, something that single mother Mina (played by Moghadam herself) is all too aware of in the wake of her husband's execution. Working her days in a milk processing plant she is also juggling looking after her deaf young daughter Bita (Avin Poor Raoufi) and trying to stave off harassment from her brother-in-law (Pourya Rahimiam), who acts as a messenger of veiled threats from her dead husband's father.
When she discovers that her husband was, in fact, innocent, Mina begins a.
- 8/26/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Paris-based international sales and production company Totem Films has added Gábor Fabricius’ “Erasing Frank” to its Cannes market lineup.
Set in 1983, behind the Iron Curtain of Eastern Europe in Budapest, the film follows Frank, the charismatic singer of a banned punk band that carries the voice of their generation against a totalitarian regime. Taken to the police psychiatric hospital in an attempt to silence him, Frank will sacrifice everything to resist.
The film is produced by Otherside Stories and supported by the National Film Institute Hungary.
Fabricius, a graduate of Central Saint-Martins College London, has published two novels and directed several shorts. “Erasing Frank” is his debut feature.
“‘Erasing Frank’ is an attempt to redefine direct cinema and social drama. I want to let the audience go through raw experience in a deshumanized Orwellian reality,” said Fabricius.
“Gabor’s mise en scene is flawless. He depicts the rage of a...
Set in 1983, behind the Iron Curtain of Eastern Europe in Budapest, the film follows Frank, the charismatic singer of a banned punk band that carries the voice of their generation against a totalitarian regime. Taken to the police psychiatric hospital in an attempt to silence him, Frank will sacrifice everything to resist.
The film is produced by Otherside Stories and supported by the National Film Institute Hungary.
Fabricius, a graduate of Central Saint-Martins College London, has published two novels and directed several shorts. “Erasing Frank” is his debut feature.
“‘Erasing Frank’ is an attempt to redefine direct cinema and social drama. I want to let the audience go through raw experience in a deshumanized Orwellian reality,” said Fabricius.
“Gabor’s mise en scene is flawless. He depicts the rage of a...
- 7/2/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi "bravely defies his 20-year ban on filmmaking yet again" to bring us his latest film, titled Closed Curtain, a follow-up to his last creation, This Is Not a Film from 2011. This new film plays with another meta concept: In a secluded house by the sea with the curtains shut, a screenwriter hides from the world with only his dog as company. The tranquility is abruptly broken one night by the arrival of a young woman fleeing from the authorities. Refusing to leave, she takes refuge in the house. But come dawn, another unexpected presence will change everything... The cast includes Kambuzia Partovi, Maryam Moqadam and Jafar Panahi. I'm intrigued, there's something about this. Maybe it's that dog. Here's the official Us trailer for Jafar Panahi's Closed Curtain, direct from Variance Film's YouTube: A synopsis, but it may not help clear up anything: They are both...
- 6/30/2014
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
★★☆☆☆ In 2010, filmmaker Jafar Panahi was prosecuted by the Iranian government. Accused of colluding to undermine national security and producing propaganda against the Islamic Republic, he was sentenced to imprisonment and a twenty-year filmmaking ban. Since then, whilst awaiting the result of an appeal, the director has produced two feature films. The first was documentary This Is Not a Film (2011), which details life under house arrest in Tehran. The second, Closed Curtain (2013), is a fictionalised examination of the same themes that regrettably lacks the subtlety one might expect from the venerated auteur.
A still shot looks out across a coastal landscape through a large window, across which metal shutters appear strikingly like the iron bars of a jail cell. A man arrives with a bag and locks himself into the villa in which all of the action will occur. The man, known only as 'Writer' (co-director Kambuzia Partovi), proceeds to close...
A still shot looks out across a coastal landscape through a large window, across which metal shutters appear strikingly like the iron bars of a jail cell. A man arrives with a bag and locks himself into the villa in which all of the action will occur. The man, known only as 'Writer' (co-director Kambuzia Partovi), proceeds to close...
- 10/13/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
The dissident Iranian film-maker used Skype to promote his latest film Closed Curtain at a film festival in the Czech Republic
He is under house arrest, has been banned from leaving Iran and is prohibited from making films for 20 years. But that did not stop Jafar Panahi appearing at the Karlovy Vary film festival in the Czech Republic last night – via Skype.
Panahi, who has found other ingenious ways around the restrictions on his freedom in the past, is showing his latest film Closed Curtain at the festival. His daughter Solmaz has been presenting it in his absence, as both the drama's co-director, Kambuzia Partovi, and star, Maryam Moqadam, had their passports confiscated in the wake of Closed Curtain's debut at the Berlin film festival in January.
Panahi's film (also known as Parde) is about a group of people trapped in a house by a lake, a predicament critics have...
He is under house arrest, has been banned from leaving Iran and is prohibited from making films for 20 years. But that did not stop Jafar Panahi appearing at the Karlovy Vary film festival in the Czech Republic last night – via Skype.
Panahi, who has found other ingenious ways around the restrictions on his freedom in the past, is showing his latest film Closed Curtain at the festival. His daughter Solmaz has been presenting it in his absence, as both the drama's co-director, Kambuzia Partovi, and star, Maryam Moqadam, had their passports confiscated in the wake of Closed Curtain's debut at the Berlin film festival in January.
Panahi's film (also known as Parde) is about a group of people trapped in a house by a lake, a predicament critics have...
- 7/4/2013
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
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