Berlin-based Films Boutique has secured world sales rights to Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed Of The Sacred Fig ahead of its premiere in Competition at Cannes, and has closed a distribution deal in France.
The latest feature by the Iranian auteur, who has faced censorship challenges in Iran for nearly 20 years, has been sold to Pyramide Distribution for release in France.
The story centres on Iman, an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, who grapples with mistrust and paranoia as nationwide political protests intensify and his gun mysteriously disappears. Suspecting the involvement of his wife Najmeh and his daughters Rezvan and Sana,...
The latest feature by the Iranian auteur, who has faced censorship challenges in Iran for nearly 20 years, has been sold to Pyramide Distribution for release in France.
The story centres on Iman, an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, who grapples with mistrust and paranoia as nationwide political protests intensify and his gun mysteriously disappears. Suspecting the involvement of his wife Najmeh and his daughters Rezvan and Sana,...
- 5/3/2024
- ScreenDaily
Iranian authorities are exerting heavy pressure on director Mohammad Rasoulof to pull his latest work “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” from the Cannes Film Festival by harassing the film’s producers and actors who have been summoned for questioning and banned from leaving the country.
Human rights lawyer Babak Paknia, who is Rasoulof’s lawyer, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that several unspecified actors and producers on “Sacred Fig” were summoned and questioned last week by authorities. He added that Iran’s authorities also pressured them to convince Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival.
Furthermore, “Some of the film’s actors have been banned from leaving, and according to their statements, after several hours of interrogation, they were asked to ask the director to remove the film from the Cannes festival,” Paknia said in the X post on Tuesday.
Rasoulof’s lawyer...
Human rights lawyer Babak Paknia, who is Rasoulof’s lawyer, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that several unspecified actors and producers on “Sacred Fig” were summoned and questioned last week by authorities. He added that Iran’s authorities also pressured them to convince Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival.
Furthermore, “Some of the film’s actors have been banned from leaving, and according to their statements, after several hours of interrogation, they were asked to ask the director to remove the film from the Cannes festival,” Paknia said in the X post on Tuesday.
Rasoulof’s lawyer...
- 5/2/2024
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Iranian authorities have prohibited actors and crew from Mohammed Rasoulof’s The Seed Of The Sacred Fig from leaving the country to attend the Cannes Film Festival, where the feature is set to play in Competition.
The unnamed actors and producers were summoned and questioned by authorities over the past week, according to lawyer Babak Paknia, who posted details on social media platform X. He said they were also pressured to convince Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival.
“Some of the film’s actors have been banned from leaving, and according to their statements, after several hours of interrogation,...
The unnamed actors and producers were summoned and questioned by authorities over the past week, according to lawyer Babak Paknia, who posted details on social media platform X. He said they were also pressured to convince Rasoulof to withdraw the film from the festival.
“Some of the film’s actors have been banned from leaving, and according to their statements, after several hours of interrogation,...
- 5/1/2024
- ScreenDaily
After announcing a whopping number of English-language films in competition, Cannes Film Festival has added some international titles: Michel Hazanavicius’ animated feature “The Most Precious of Cargoes” and Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof’s “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” Variety has learned.
An auteur-driven allegorical feature, “The Most Precious of Cargoes” (first-look still below) is adapted from Jean-Claude Grumberg’s bestselling novel of the same name, set during World War II against the backdrop of the Holocaust. It will be the first animated feature to compete in more than a decade, since Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir” in 2008.
The film is co-produced and represented internationally by Studiocanal, which also has Gilles Lellouche’s “Beating Hearts” in competition. “The Most Precious of Cargoes” is a passion project for Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind “The Artist,” who has been developing the project for years. Hazanavicius penned the script with Grumberg and created the drawings,...
An auteur-driven allegorical feature, “The Most Precious of Cargoes” (first-look still below) is adapted from Jean-Claude Grumberg’s bestselling novel of the same name, set during World War II against the backdrop of the Holocaust. It will be the first animated feature to compete in more than a decade, since Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir” in 2008.
The film is co-produced and represented internationally by Studiocanal, which also has Gilles Lellouche’s “Beating Hearts” in competition. “The Most Precious of Cargoes” is a passion project for Hazanavicius, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind “The Artist,” who has been developing the project for years. Hazanavicius penned the script with Grumberg and created the drawings,...
- 4/22/2024
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Big World Pictures has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights from Paris-based sales firm Charades to Giacomo Abbruzzese’s debut feature, Disco Boy.
Winner of the Berlinale’s Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution earlier this year, the largely French-language film stars rising German actor Franz Rogowski as a Belarusian immigrant haunted by his actions as a mercenary in the French Foreign Legion. Above is an English-language trailer for the movie.
An early 2024 theatrical release is being lined up following fall festival play. France’s Films Grand Huit produces.
Rogowski is best known for Ira Sachs’ Passages, Christian Petzold’s Transit and Sebastian Meise’s Great Freedom. Upcoming he will star in Andrea Arnold’s Bird and David Michôd and A24’s Wizards!.
In Disco Boy, Rogowski plays Aleksei, who reaches Paris following a difficult and undocumented journey across Europe. In Paris he enlists in the French Foreign Legion,...
Winner of the Berlinale’s Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution earlier this year, the largely French-language film stars rising German actor Franz Rogowski as a Belarusian immigrant haunted by his actions as a mercenary in the French Foreign Legion. Above is an English-language trailer for the movie.
An early 2024 theatrical release is being lined up following fall festival play. France’s Films Grand Huit produces.
Rogowski is best known for Ira Sachs’ Passages, Christian Petzold’s Transit and Sebastian Meise’s Great Freedom. Upcoming he will star in Andrea Arnold’s Bird and David Michôd and A24’s Wizards!.
In Disco Boy, Rogowski plays Aleksei, who reaches Paris following a difficult and undocumented journey across Europe. In Paris he enlists in the French Foreign Legion,...
- 8/15/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow and Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Leading lights of contemporary Iranian cinema, including “Holy Spider” actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi, “The Siren” director Sepideh Farsi, “The Opponent” helmer Milad Alami and producer Kaveh Farnam, turned up at the Cannes Film Festival to raise the alarm on the repression faced by Iranian cinema during a session hosted by Amazon Prime Video’s Sahar Baghery.
Iran has been the centerstage of widespread protests driven by women against the Islamic regime since Mahsa Amini died in police custody for for wearing her hijab too loosely in September 2022. Although the rebellion has garnered vocal support outside of Iran, it hasn’t succeeded in dethroning the Iranian regime. A number of dissident Iranian filmmakers and talent have been jailed over the last six months, notably Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof who was recently released from prison. Rasoulof was nevertheless banned from leaving Iran to serve on the jury of Un Certain Regard at Cannes.
Iran has been the centerstage of widespread protests driven by women against the Islamic regime since Mahsa Amini died in police custody for for wearing her hijab too loosely in September 2022. Although the rebellion has garnered vocal support outside of Iran, it hasn’t succeeded in dethroning the Iranian regime. A number of dissident Iranian filmmakers and talent have been jailed over the last six months, notably Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasoulof who was recently released from prison. Rasoulof was nevertheless banned from leaving Iran to serve on the jury of Un Certain Regard at Cannes.
- 5/25/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
The winds of change are sweeping Iran as the ‘Woman Life Freedom’ protests, provoked by the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini last September, continue. Here, four Iranian disruptors talk about their struggles, their acts of solidarity for the pro-democracy movement, and their hopes for the future of their country.
Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi
Marjane Satrapi, who was 9 years old when Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in 1979, recalls taking to the streets with her politically active parents to protest against the imposition of the hijab. “My mum went to demonstrate, and I went too, and so did my dad,” recalls the graphic novelist and filmmaker. “He was one of the very few men; they didn’t understand at the time that women’s rights are society’s rights.”
Satrapi’s parents sent her to Europe to study as a teenager and encouraged her to make her permanent home there. Satrapi captured...
Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi
Marjane Satrapi, who was 9 years old when Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in 1979, recalls taking to the streets with her politically active parents to protest against the imposition of the hijab. “My mum went to demonstrate, and I went too, and so did my dad,” recalls the graphic novelist and filmmaker. “He was one of the very few men; they didn’t understand at the time that women’s rights are society’s rights.”
Satrapi’s parents sent her to Europe to study as a teenager and encouraged her to make her permanent home there. Satrapi captured...
- 5/18/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The Amsterdam-based International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk (Icfr) has called on Iran to lift a travel ban on director Mohammad Rasoulof.
News broke this week that the filmmaker had been invited to participate in Cannes’s Un Certain Regard jury but had to decline the offer after being refused permission to leave Iran.
Rasoulof confirmed these facts to Deadline and said Iranian authorities had given no reason for the decision.
A few days earlier, friend and fellow dissident director Jafar Panahi left Iran for the first time in 14 years on a one-week trip to France to see his daughter. He has since returned home.
In a statement bannered “Let Mohammad Rasoulof Go!”, Icfr noted the different treatment meted out to the two directors.
“Both have repeatedly gotten into conflict with the Iranian authorities, had their passports confiscated and been jailed. Now one can travel, the other not,” read the statement.
News broke this week that the filmmaker had been invited to participate in Cannes’s Un Certain Regard jury but had to decline the offer after being refused permission to leave Iran.
Rasoulof confirmed these facts to Deadline and said Iranian authorities had given no reason for the decision.
A few days earlier, friend and fellow dissident director Jafar Panahi left Iran for the first time in 14 years on a one-week trip to France to see his daughter. He has since returned home.
In a statement bannered “Let Mohammad Rasoulof Go!”, Icfr noted the different treatment meted out to the two directors.
“Both have repeatedly gotten into conflict with the Iranian authorities, had their passports confiscated and been jailed. Now one can travel, the other not,” read the statement.
- 5/5/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
The strike has begun, Insiders. The industrial action, the first in the U.S. since 2007-08, dominated news coverage in film and TV this week but there’s been plenty more going around the world. Jesse Whittock here to take you through. Be sure to sign up for the newsletter here.
Strike, Camera, Action! Queen Charlotte
Shows of solidarity: The moment is upon us. Following several weeks of failed negotiations, the WGA is striking for the first time in 15 years over issues including compensation and streaming residuals, mini-rooms, late-night streaming shows and pensions. As writers across the U.S. hit the picket lines, attention here at Deadline International has been focused on the ripple effects being felt globally. Multiple writers unions around the world were swift in their shows of support. Australian, Canadian and UK guilds have already urged their own writers to down tools and refuse to work on U.
Strike, Camera, Action! Queen Charlotte
Shows of solidarity: The moment is upon us. Following several weeks of failed negotiations, the WGA is striking for the first time in 15 years over issues including compensation and streaming residuals, mini-rooms, late-night streaming shows and pensions. As writers across the U.S. hit the picket lines, attention here at Deadline International has been focused on the ripple effects being felt globally. Multiple writers unions around the world were swift in their shows of support. Australian, Canadian and UK guilds have already urged their own writers to down tools and refuse to work on U.
- 5/5/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Mohammad Rasoulof revealed he was invited to serve on the 2023 Cannes Un Certain Regard jury but was forced to turn down the spot due to a travel ban from his home nation of Iran.
Per Radio France Internationale (Rfi), Rasoulof was prevented from leaving Iran to attend the French festival. Rfi also reported that Cannes organizers are still trying to provide conditions for Rasoulof to be in attendance. The director formerly received the Best Director award in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in 2011 for “Goodbye” and won the Fipresci prize in 2013 for “Manuscripts Don’t Burn,” followed by the Un Certain Regard award for “A Man of Integrity” in 2017.
The 2023 Cannes Un Certain Regard jury will be overseen by jury president John C. Reilly and consists of French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actress Paula Beer, Franco-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou, and Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne.
Per Radio France Internationale (Rfi), Rasoulof was prevented from leaving Iran to attend the French festival. Rfi also reported that Cannes organizers are still trying to provide conditions for Rasoulof to be in attendance. The director formerly received the Best Director award in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes in 2011 for “Goodbye” and won the Fipresci prize in 2013 for “Manuscripts Don’t Burn,” followed by the Un Certain Regard award for “A Man of Integrity” in 2017.
The 2023 Cannes Un Certain Regard jury will be overseen by jury president John C. Reilly and consists of French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, German actress Paula Beer, Franco-Cambodian director and producer Davy Chou, and Belgian actress Émilie Dequenne.
- 5/4/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Mohammad Rasoulof’s hopes to attend the Cannes Film Festival have been dashed.
The acclaimed Iranian director and dissident has been banned from leaving his home country in order to serve on the festival’s Un Certain Regard jury.
Read More: Iran Releases Oscar-Winning Film Actress Held Over Protests
According to The Hollywood Reporter, despite being granted a temporary release from prison in February due to ill health, Rasoulof is not being allowed to exit Iran.
The news comes after fellow director Jafar Panahi was allowed to leave the country for the first time in 14 years in order to visit his daughter in France.
Rasoulof is a prominent critic of the Iranian government, which has landed him in legal trouble for years, landing him in prison multiple times.
He has been banned from making movies, and for the last six years has been barred from travelling outside Iran.
Despite the legal troubles,...
The acclaimed Iranian director and dissident has been banned from leaving his home country in order to serve on the festival’s Un Certain Regard jury.
Read More: Iran Releases Oscar-Winning Film Actress Held Over Protests
According to The Hollywood Reporter, despite being granted a temporary release from prison in February due to ill health, Rasoulof is not being allowed to exit Iran.
The news comes after fellow director Jafar Panahi was allowed to leave the country for the first time in 14 years in order to visit his daughter in France.
Rasoulof is a prominent critic of the Iranian government, which has landed him in legal trouble for years, landing him in prison multiple times.
He has been banned from making movies, and for the last six years has been barred from travelling outside Iran.
Despite the legal troubles,...
- 5/4/2023
- by Corey Atad
- ET Canada
Iranian director was released from jail in February.
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been prevented from leaving his home country to be a member of the Un Certain Regard jury at the Cannes Film Festival.
According to the Farsi service of Radio France International (Rfi), Cannes invited Rasoulof to join the Un Certain Regard jury following his release from jail in Tehran in February.
Rasoulof was jailed last year over an appeal he and documentary filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad posted on social media speaking out against the repression of civil protestors in the country.
Rfi said that Cannes had hoped that...
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been prevented from leaving his home country to be a member of the Un Certain Regard jury at the Cannes Film Festival.
According to the Farsi service of Radio France International (Rfi), Cannes invited Rasoulof to join the Un Certain Regard jury following his release from jail in Tehran in February.
Rasoulof was jailed last year over an appeal he and documentary filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad posted on social media speaking out against the repression of civil protestors in the country.
Rfi said that Cannes had hoped that...
- 5/4/2023
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
Acclaimed Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been prevented from leaving the country to attend the Cannes Film Festival to serve on the Un Certain Regard jury.
As first reported in the Farsi-language news service of Radio France Internationale (Rfi), Rasoulof had hoped to attend Cannes this year after Iranian authorities, in February, granted him a temporary release, after seven months imprisonment, from Tehran’s Evin prison due to ill health.
Rasoulof’s friend, and fellow dissident director Jafar Panahi, was allowed to leave Iran last week to travel abroad, for the first time in 14 years. He visited his daughter in France before returning to Iran.
Rasoulof, however, has not been let out.
The 50-year-old director is one of the most prominent critics of the Iranian regime and his public statements have landed him in prison several times over the years. He has been banned from making films and, for the past 6 years,...
As first reported in the Farsi-language news service of Radio France Internationale (Rfi), Rasoulof had hoped to attend Cannes this year after Iranian authorities, in February, granted him a temporary release, after seven months imprisonment, from Tehran’s Evin prison due to ill health.
Rasoulof’s friend, and fellow dissident director Jafar Panahi, was allowed to leave Iran last week to travel abroad, for the first time in 14 years. He visited his daughter in France before returning to Iran.
Rasoulof, however, has not been let out.
The 50-year-old director is one of the most prominent critics of the Iranian regime and his public statements have landed him in prison several times over the years. He has been banned from making films and, for the past 6 years,...
- 5/4/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
He was arrested in July of last year.
Update: Mohammad Rasoulof is facing more charges in Iran following his release from prison yesterday.
He is still facing three charges which if he is found guilty on all three could lead to an eight-year sentence.
The charges relate to illegal assembly and collusion against national security, insulting the regime leadership, and spreading propaganda against the state.
Original story: Iranian Golden Bear-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been released from Tehran’s Evin Prison for an undisclosed period of time, according to local media reports.
Rasoulof, who won the Golden Bear at the...
Update: Mohammad Rasoulof is facing more charges in Iran following his release from prison yesterday.
He is still facing three charges which if he is found guilty on all three could lead to an eight-year sentence.
The charges relate to illegal assembly and collusion against national security, insulting the regime leadership, and spreading propaganda against the state.
Original story: Iranian Golden Bear-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been released from Tehran’s Evin Prison for an undisclosed period of time, according to local media reports.
Rasoulof, who won the Golden Bear at the...
- 2/14/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
He was arrested in July of last year.
Update: Mohammad Rasoulof is facing fresh charges in Iran following his release from prison yesterday.
He is still being held in the revolutionary court for three fresh charges relating to illegal assembly and collusion against national security, insulting the regime leadership, and spreading propaganda against the state, which are being argued against him. Rasoulouf will be sentenced to eight years in prison if found guilty.
Original story: Iranian Golden Bear-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been released from Tehran’s Evin Prison for an undisclosed period of time, according to local media reports.
Update: Mohammad Rasoulof is facing fresh charges in Iran following his release from prison yesterday.
He is still being held in the revolutionary court for three fresh charges relating to illegal assembly and collusion against national security, insulting the regime leadership, and spreading propaganda against the state, which are being argued against him. Rasoulouf will be sentenced to eight years in prison if found guilty.
Original story: Iranian Golden Bear-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been released from Tehran’s Evin Prison for an undisclosed period of time, according to local media reports.
- 2/14/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
He was arrested in July of last year.
Iranian Golden Bear-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been released from Tehran’s Evin Prison for an undisclosed period of time, according to local media reports.
Rasoulof, who won the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlinale for There Is No Evil, was arrested in July of last year after speaking out on social media against the repression of civil protestors in the country.
Iranian documentary filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad was also arrested on this date.
After the collapse of a building in May in the Iranian city of Abadan prompted unrest and a violent crackdown by security forces,...
Iranian Golden Bear-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been released from Tehran’s Evin Prison for an undisclosed period of time, according to local media reports.
Rasoulof, who won the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlinale for There Is No Evil, was arrested in July of last year after speaking out on social media against the repression of civil protestors in the country.
Iranian documentary filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad was also arrested on this date.
After the collapse of a building in May in the Iranian city of Abadan prompted unrest and a violent crackdown by security forces,...
- 2/13/2023
- by Mona Tabbara
- ScreenDaily
Dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose There Is No Evil won the 2020 Berlinale Golden Bear for best film, has been temporarily released from prison in Iran on medical grounds.
There Is No Evil producer Farzad Pak confirmed Rasoulof’s release to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Mohammad was released on bail for medical reasons [but] there are still other accusations [against him] that the course hasn’t made a decision on yet,” said Pak. “They [the court] might take him back [into jail] or leave him in limbo.”
Rasoulof was released Saturday and is currently resting at his home in Tehran. The director’s lawyer, Maryam Kianersi, told French News Agency Afpt that his incarceration has been suspended for two weeks.
Rasoulof was incarcerated last July after posting on social media calling on Iranian security forces to stop their violent attacks on protesters who were demonstrating in the southwestern city of Abadan. Shortly after his arrest, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old...
There Is No Evil producer Farzad Pak confirmed Rasoulof’s release to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Mohammad was released on bail for medical reasons [but] there are still other accusations [against him] that the course hasn’t made a decision on yet,” said Pak. “They [the court] might take him back [into jail] or leave him in limbo.”
Rasoulof was released Saturday and is currently resting at his home in Tehran. The director’s lawyer, Maryam Kianersi, told French News Agency Afpt that his incarceration has been suspended for two weeks.
Rasoulof was incarcerated last July after posting on social media calling on Iranian security forces to stop their violent attacks on protesters who were demonstrating in the southwestern city of Abadan. Shortly after his arrest, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old...
- 2/13/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof was released from prison over the weekend, according to Iranian news outlets.
Rasoulof, who won the Berlinale Golden Bear in 2020 for There Is No Evil, was arrested last July with fellow filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad.
He was detained after signing a petition titled ‘Lay Down Your Arms” calling on security forces to exercise restraint in relation to popular protests over a deadly building collapse.
Rasoulof was already on medical leave when news he was to be officially released on a temporary basis came through.
The director’s lawyer Maryam Kianersi who announced a two-week suspension of his sentence on January 11 for health reasons, told the French news agency Afp his release had been extended on a temporary basis.
There was no indication of how long Rasoulof would remain out of jail. There is no news on Al-Ahmad who was arrested at the same time as Rasoulof.
Rasoulof, who won the Berlinale Golden Bear in 2020 for There Is No Evil, was arrested last July with fellow filmmaker Mostafa Al-Ahmad.
He was detained after signing a petition titled ‘Lay Down Your Arms” calling on security forces to exercise restraint in relation to popular protests over a deadly building collapse.
Rasoulof was already on medical leave when news he was to be officially released on a temporary basis came through.
The director’s lawyer Maryam Kianersi who announced a two-week suspension of his sentence on January 11 for health reasons, told the French news agency Afp his release had been extended on a temporary basis.
There was no indication of how long Rasoulof would remain out of jail. There is no news on Al-Ahmad who was arrested at the same time as Rasoulof.
- 2/13/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Mohammad Rasoulof, winner of the 2020 Berlin Golden Bear for “There Is No Evil,” has been temporarily released from Tehran’s Evin prison after being arrested last July for criticizing the government on social media.
Rasoulof, 50, was incarcerated on July 8 after posting an appeal urging Iranian security forces to stop using weapons during May protests that were prompted by a building collapse in the southwestern city of Abadan. He has now been released for health reasons and is at home, according to several reports confirmed by local sources.
But though he has been formally released, it’s not clear how long Rasoulof will remain a free man.
“My client’s incarceration has been suspended for two weeks for health reasons,” the director’s lawyer Maryam Kianersi told French news agency Afp, adding that he had been “released on Saturday.”
Iran’s Shargh newspaper, which is Iran’s leading reformist publication, reported...
Rasoulof, 50, was incarcerated on July 8 after posting an appeal urging Iranian security forces to stop using weapons during May protests that were prompted by a building collapse in the southwestern city of Abadan. He has now been released for health reasons and is at home, according to several reports confirmed by local sources.
But though he has been formally released, it’s not clear how long Rasoulof will remain a free man.
“My client’s incarceration has been suspended for two weeks for health reasons,” the director’s lawyer Maryam Kianersi told French news agency Afp, adding that he had been “released on Saturday.”
Iran’s Shargh newspaper, which is Iran’s leading reformist publication, reported...
- 2/13/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
The news of the arrest of Jafar Panahi, Mostafa Al-Ahmad and Mohammad Rasoulof last week came to cement the oppressive tactics of the current Iranian regime, with the industry now being in more fear than ever for more incarcerations. At the same time, and despite these issues and the whole censorship that dominates all aspects of life, the Iranian movie industry remains rather vibrant, still one of the biggest in the world, with hundreds of movies produced every year. In a homage to both the arrested and the industry, we present 25 Iranian movies, released post-2010, in alphabetical order.
1. 180° Rule (2020) by Farnoosh Samadi
Based on real events, Samadi’s first feature film after 3 increasingly successful short ones, is not an easy work. It’s highly dramatic and is a real punch in the guts; we assist, unable to intervene, to a self-destructive behaviour that appears fool to say the least. However,...
1. 180° Rule (2020) by Farnoosh Samadi
Based on real events, Samadi’s first feature film after 3 increasingly successful short ones, is not an easy work. It’s highly dramatic and is a real punch in the guts; we assist, unable to intervene, to a self-destructive behaviour that appears fool to say the least. However,...
- 7/27/2022
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster (Thomas Hamilton)
Straightforward to a fault, Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster crystallizes the horror icon’s enduring legacy. From his complicated childhood to late-career resurrection, director Thomas Hamilton assembles an impressive crew of talking heads to dive into the brilliance of the man born William Henry Pratt in England. – Dan M.
Where to Stream: VOD
Gaia (Jaco Bouwer)
Are you a Gabi (Monique Rockman) or a Barend (Carel Nel)? She’s a forest ranger documenting the trees with drones and cameras alongside her boss Winston (Anthony Oseyemi). He’s a survivalist who’s rejected civilization’s propensity for self-destruction by living off-the-grid with his son Stefan (Alex van Dyk). That they collide...
Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster (Thomas Hamilton)
Straightforward to a fault, Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster crystallizes the horror icon’s enduring legacy. From his complicated childhood to late-career resurrection, director Thomas Hamilton assembles an impressive crew of talking heads to dive into the brilliance of the man born William Henry Pratt in England. – Dan M.
Where to Stream: VOD
Gaia (Jaco Bouwer)
Are you a Gabi (Monique Rockman) or a Barend (Carel Nel)? She’s a forest ranger documenting the trees with drones and cameras alongside her boss Winston (Anthony Oseyemi). He’s a survivalist who’s rejected civilization’s propensity for self-destruction by living off-the-grid with his son Stefan (Alex van Dyk). That they collide...
- 10/29/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Big World Pictures has acquired all U.S. and Canadian rights to “A Man of Integrity,” the 2017 feature from Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof that won the top prize in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film, the writer-director’s sixth, tells the story of a goldfish farmer with a keen sense of moral integrity named Reza, who moves to a remote village in the countryside of Northern Iran to live a simple life with his wife and young son. Those plans go awry, however, as he becomes tangled up in webs of trouble wrought by local corruption and a mysterious, powerful company that has its grips on their village.
Variety‘s review called the movie “a tense, enraging drama about corruption and injustice” that “provides a scathing critique of contemporary Iranian society.”
Rasoulof has frequently run into trouble with the Iranian government due to his work.
The film, the writer-director’s sixth, tells the story of a goldfish farmer with a keen sense of moral integrity named Reza, who moves to a remote village in the countryside of Northern Iran to live a simple life with his wife and young son. Those plans go awry, however, as he becomes tangled up in webs of trouble wrought by local corruption and a mysterious, powerful company that has its grips on their village.
Variety‘s review called the movie “a tense, enraging drama about corruption and injustice” that “provides a scathing critique of contemporary Iranian society.”
Rasoulof has frequently run into trouble with the Iranian government due to his work.
- 8/12/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Early as it may be to provide a cogent assessment of the 70th Berlinale, the first edition under the new leadership of executive director Mariette Rissenbeek and artistic director Carlo Chatrian, fresh finds and new ideas seemed to herald much-welcomed changes to the festival's curatorial vision. Sure, the official competition—historically a mix bag often stashed with one too many crowd-pleasers under former Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick—may not have featured “many more truly great and prize-worthy contributions” than in the past, as noted by Andreas Kilb at Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. But in his thorough analysis of Chatrian’s first mandate, over at IndieWire Eric Kohn contends that the fest’s official lineup has always had to wrestle with a difficult calendar slot:Hamstrung by its placement after Sundance and before Cannes, [Berlin] must compete with both the most prominent festival in the U.S. and the most revered one in the world.
- 3/9/2020
- MUBI
Leading European festivals, film academies and funders have called for the freedom of Iranian film director Mohammad Rasoulof.
Rasoulof was last week summoned to serve a one-year prison sentence in Iran three days after his film “There is No Evil” won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear, according to his lawyer and a report by London-based Iran International TV.
The European Film Academy, Cannes Film Festival, the Berlinale, the Deutsche Filmakademie, the Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, the Filmfest Hamburg, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa), the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), the Netherlands Film Fund and the Accademia del Cinema Italiano-Premi David di Donatello have all expressed concern about Rasoulof’s imminent incarceration.
Rasoulof is one of his country’s most prominent directors, even though none of his films have screened in Iran, where they are banned.
Wim Wenders, president of the European Film Academy, said: “Our colleague Mohammad Rasoulof...
Rasoulof was last week summoned to serve a one-year prison sentence in Iran three days after his film “There is No Evil” won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear, according to his lawyer and a report by London-based Iran International TV.
The European Film Academy, Cannes Film Festival, the Berlinale, the Deutsche Filmakademie, the Filmförderung Hamburg Schleswig-Holstein, the Filmfest Hamburg, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (Idfa), the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr), the Netherlands Film Fund and the Accademia del Cinema Italiano-Premi David di Donatello have all expressed concern about Rasoulof’s imminent incarceration.
Rasoulof is one of his country’s most prominent directors, even though none of his films have screened in Iran, where they are banned.
Wim Wenders, president of the European Film Academy, said: “Our colleague Mohammad Rasoulof...
- 3/9/2020
- by Tim Dams
- Variety Film + TV
Iranian film director Mohammad Rasoulof has been summoned to serve a prison sentence in Iran, three days after his film “There is no Evil” won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear, according to his lawyer and a report by London-based Iran International TV.
The dissident director’s lawyer Nasser Zarafshan told The Associated Press that Rasoulof on Wednesday received a text message summoning him to serve a one-year jail sentence. He added that Rasoulof will not turn himself into authorities, and will instead file an appeal.
Rasoulof is one of his country’s most prominent directors, even though none of his films have screened in Iran, where they are banned.
In 2011, the year he won two prizes at Cannes with his censorship-themed “Goodbye,” Rasoulof was sentenced with fellow director Jafar Panahi to six years in prison and a 20-year ban on filmmaking for alleged anti-regime propaganda.
His sentence was...
The dissident director’s lawyer Nasser Zarafshan told The Associated Press that Rasoulof on Wednesday received a text message summoning him to serve a one-year jail sentence. He added that Rasoulof will not turn himself into authorities, and will instead file an appeal.
Rasoulof is one of his country’s most prominent directors, even though none of his films have screened in Iran, where they are banned.
In 2011, the year he won two prizes at Cannes with his censorship-themed “Goodbye,” Rasoulof was sentenced with fellow director Jafar Panahi to six years in prison and a 20-year ban on filmmaking for alleged anti-regime propaganda.
His sentence was...
- 3/4/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
"I never intended to kill anyone." The 2020 Berlin Film Festival just wrapped up, and the top prize Golden Bear award went to an Iranian drama titled There Is No Evil. This film features four narratives, each one addressing variations on the crucial themes of moral strength and the death penalty that ask to what extent individual freedom can be expressed under a despotic regime and its seemingly inescapable threats (read: life in Iran). Berlinale has debuted a promo trailer for the film that's written and directed by Mohammad Rasoulof (of A Man of Integrity), which is still trying to secure international distribution. Starring Ehsan Mirhosseini, Shaghayegh Shourian, Kaveh Ahangar, Alireza Zareparast, and Salar Khamseh. It's a big deal to win the Golden Bear at Berlinale, and from the looks of it, this film deserves the acclaim. I like the imagery (especially the scene in the pink flowers), and it seems like tragically accurate commentary.
- 3/2/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof, whose sixth feature “There Is No Evil” won the Berlin Film Festival’s Golden Bear on Saturday, is one of his country’s most prominent directors even though none of his films have screened in Iran where they are banned. In 2011, the year he won two prizes at Cannes with his censorship-themed “Goodbye,” Rasoulof was sentenced with fellow director Jafar Panahi to six years in prison and a 20-year ban on filmmaking for alleged anti-regime propaganda. His sentence was later suspended and he was released on bail. In 2017 Iranian authorities confiscated Rasoulof’s passport upon his return from the Telluride Film Festival where his “A Man of Integrity,” about corruption and injustice in Iran, had screened.
More recently Rasoulof was not allowed by Iranian authorities to attend Berlin. The director’s daughter, Baran Rasoulof, who stars in his latest film, accepted the fest’s top prize on her father’s behalf.
More recently Rasoulof was not allowed by Iranian authorities to attend Berlin. The director’s daughter, Baran Rasoulof, who stars in his latest film, accepted the fest’s top prize on her father’s behalf.
- 3/2/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
When Mohammad Rasoulof won the Golden Bear at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival, the Iranian director wasn’t there to accept his prize. Since 2017, when he returned to his home country after living abroad, Rasoulof has been banned from traveling internationally, and sentenced to a year in prison on propaganda charges.
However, the government has yet to imprison Rasoulof, permitting him to continue making the sort of brilliant, incendiary movies about life under Iranian autocracy that put him on the map. “There Is No Evil,” the final movie to screen in the Competition section of the Berlinale, turned out to be its most triumphant achievement — a defiant statement and galvanizing work of art.
“What I can observe from my own story,” Rasoulof said through a translator in a Skype interview from Tehran, two days before his festival win, “is that the satisfaction that you receive once you resist oppression and...
However, the government has yet to imprison Rasoulof, permitting him to continue making the sort of brilliant, incendiary movies about life under Iranian autocracy that put him on the map. “There Is No Evil,” the final movie to screen in the Competition section of the Berlinale, turned out to be its most triumphant achievement — a defiant statement and galvanizing work of art.
“What I can observe from my own story,” Rasoulof said through a translator in a Skype interview from Tehran, two days before his festival win, “is that the satisfaction that you receive once you resist oppression and...
- 3/1/2020
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Update, writethru: The 70th Berlin Film Festival, and the first under new leadership team Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, drew to a close this evening with the Golden Bear awarded to Mohammad Rasoulof’s There Is No Evil. Rasoulof is currently banned from leaving Iran for participation in social and political activity. This is the second time in five years that Berlin’s top prize has gone to an Iranian filmmaker unable to travel outside their home country — the last time was in 2015 when Jafar Panahi scooped the honor for Taxi.
Along with Panahi and Asghar Farhadi, Rasoulof, whose credits also include Manuscripts Don’t Burn, is among the best-known Iranian filmmakers on the international stage. His last picture, A Man Of Integrity, won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard prize in 2017, but his passport was confiscated that same year. Yesterday, the director issued a statement of regret over his inability to...
Along with Panahi and Asghar Farhadi, Rasoulof, whose credits also include Manuscripts Don’t Burn, is among the best-known Iranian filmmakers on the international stage. His last picture, A Man Of Integrity, won Cannes’ Un Certain Regard prize in 2017, but his passport was confiscated that same year. Yesterday, the director issued a statement of regret over his inability to...
- 2/29/2020
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof won Cannes’s Un Certain Regard award in 2017 with his bruising, brilliant drama A Man of Integrity, which explored how an oppressive regime crushes independent thought. On his return to his home nation, he was arrested, thrown in prison for a year, banned from leaving Iran, and forbidden from filmmaking for life. Not that it stopped him. Just three years later, he’s made a major work of recent Iranian cinema. Not since A Short Film About Killing has a filmmaker produced such a thrilling case against capital punishment, an enraging, enthralling, enduring testament to the oppressed.
With There is No Evil, Rasoulof has secretly filmed an anthology film of four stories–apparently because Iranian authorities are less concerned with short films than features. And yet even with those difficulties, the director has produced a work of clarity that should rank him alongside Golden Bear winner...
With There is No Evil, Rasoulof has secretly filmed an anthology film of four stories–apparently because Iranian authorities are less concerned with short films than features. And yet even with those difficulties, the director has produced a work of clarity that should rank him alongside Golden Bear winner...
- 2/29/2020
- by Ed Frankl
- The Film Stage
In Iran, executions are often carried out by conscripted soldiers, which puts an enormous burden on the shoulders of ordinary citizens. And what are we to make of the condemned, for whom guilt can sometimes be a capricious thing, dictated by a severe and oppressive Islamic regime — the same one that accused Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof of “endangering national security” and “spreading propaganda” against the government?
When Rasoulof returned from Cannes in 2017, following the premiere of his film “A Man of Integrity,” he was banned from filmmaking for life and sentenced to a year in prison. But as a man of integrity himself, the director could not stop. His latest film, “There Is No Evil,” premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, where instead of being silenced, the government put on him.
The resulting feat of artistic dissidence runs two and a half hours, comprising four discrete chapters, each...
When Rasoulof returned from Cannes in 2017, following the premiere of his film “A Man of Integrity,” he was banned from filmmaking for life and sentenced to a year in prison. But as a man of integrity himself, the director could not stop. His latest film, “There Is No Evil,” premiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival, where instead of being silenced, the government put on him.
The resulting feat of artistic dissidence runs two and a half hours, comprising four discrete chapters, each...
- 2/28/2020
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Rasoulof will not be able to attend the world premiere of his new film There Is No Evil in Berlin.
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, whose new film There Is No Evil screens in Berlin’s Competition this year, will not be allowed to come to Germany for its world premiere on February 28.
Last summer, Rasoulof was sentenced by the Iranian authorities to a year in prison and also faced a two-year travel ban because of his filmmaking.
“I am sorry that I will not be able to come to Berlin to watch the film alongside the audience; however, the right...
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, whose new film There Is No Evil screens in Berlin’s Competition this year, will not be allowed to come to Germany for its world premiere on February 28.
Last summer, Rasoulof was sentenced by the Iranian authorities to a year in prison and also faced a two-year travel ban because of his filmmaking.
“I am sorry that I will not be able to come to Berlin to watch the film alongside the audience; however, the right...
- 2/24/2020
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
For Mohammad Rasoulof, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
The award-winning Iranian director made his new movie, There Is No Evil, in secret, after his last film, A Man of Integrity, landed him a lifetime working ban from the regime in Tehran for "spreading propaganda" against the Islamic republic. He was also sentenced to a year in prison and spent his time, while shooting There Is No Evil, trying to appeal the conviction.
"On the final day of shooting, I got the text from the court. They upheld the sentence. I’m going to jail," Rasoulof tells THR, matter-of-factly, in an ...
The award-winning Iranian director made his new movie, There Is No Evil, in secret, after his last film, A Man of Integrity, landed him a lifetime working ban from the regime in Tehran for "spreading propaganda" against the Islamic republic. He was also sentenced to a year in prison and spent his time, while shooting There Is No Evil, trying to appeal the conviction.
"On the final day of shooting, I got the text from the court. They upheld the sentence. I’m going to jail," Rasoulof tells THR, matter-of-factly, in an ...
- 2/22/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For Mohammad Rasoulof, the stakes couldn’t be higher.
The award-winning Iranian director made his new movie, There Is No Evil, in secret, after his last film, A Man of Integrity, landed him a lifetime working ban from the regime in Tehran for "spreading propaganda" against the Islamic republic. He was also sentenced to a year in prison and spent his time, while shooting There Is No Evil, trying to appeal the conviction.
"On the final day of shooting, I got the text from the court. They upheld the sentence. I’m going to jail," Rasoulof tells THR, matter-of-factly, in an ...
The award-winning Iranian director made his new movie, There Is No Evil, in secret, after his last film, A Man of Integrity, landed him a lifetime working ban from the regime in Tehran for "spreading propaganda" against the Islamic republic. He was also sentenced to a year in prison and spent his time, while shooting There Is No Evil, trying to appeal the conviction.
"On the final day of shooting, I got the text from the court. They upheld the sentence. I’m going to jail," Rasoulof tells THR, matter-of-factly, in an ...
- 2/22/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Iranian auteur Mohammad Rasoulof, whose sixth feature “There is no Evil” screens in competition at the Berlinale, is one of his country’s most prominent directors even though none of his films have screened in Iran where they are banned. In 2011, the year he won two prizes at Cannes with his censorship-themed “Goodbye,” Rasoulof was sentenced with fellow director Jafar Panahi to six years in prison and a 20-year ban on filmmaking for alleged anti-regime propaganda. His sentence was later suspended and he was released on bail. In 2017 Iranian authorities confiscated Rasoulof’s passport upon his return from the Telluride Film Festival where his “A Man of Integrity,” about corruption and injustice in Iran, had screened. Rasoulof will not be able to attend Berlin. Rasoulof spoke to Variety from Iran about how he’s contending with ongoing oppression there and how tensions with Trump are making things worse.
“There is no Evil...
“There is no Evil...
- 2/21/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof will not be attending the Berlin Film Festival for the premiere of his new film, There Is No Evil, which screens in the festival's competition, after the Iranian government re-enforced a travel ban on the 48-year-old director.
Rasoulof told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday that Tehran has refused to issue him a passport, making it impossible for him to leave the country. The government seized Rasoulof's passport in 2017 after the director returned from the Cannes film festival, where his drama A Man of Integrity won best film in the Un Certain Regard section. Rasoulof also ...
Rasoulof told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday that Tehran has refused to issue him a passport, making it impossible for him to leave the country. The government seized Rasoulof's passport in 2017 after the director returned from the Cannes film festival, where his drama A Man of Integrity won best film in the Un Certain Regard section. Rasoulof also ...
- 2/20/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof will not be attending the Berlin Film Festival for the premiere of his new film, There Is No Evil, which screens in the festival's competition, after the Iranian government re-enforced a travel ban on the 48-year-old director.
Rasoulof told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday that Tehran has refused to issue him a passport, making it impossible for him to leave the country. The government seized Rasoulof's passport in 2017 after the director returned from the Cannes film festival, where his drama A Man of Integrity won best film in the Un Certain Regard section. Rasoulof also ...
Rasoulof told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday that Tehran has refused to issue him a passport, making it impossible for him to leave the country. The government seized Rasoulof's passport in 2017 after the director returned from the Cannes film festival, where his drama A Man of Integrity won best film in the Un Certain Regard section. Rasoulof also ...
- 2/20/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Helen Mirren, Jafar Panahi lend support to new initiative focused on filmmakers in danger.
The European Film Academy (Efa), the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) and the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) are joining forces to create the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, a permanent organisation aimed at supporting filmmakers facing political persecution for their work.
The body would advocate for film professionals who have been imprisoned, face prosecution or censorship for their work and views.
The final framework is still being developed but its remit would include running coordinated campaigns publicising the cases of filmmakers in peril and providing legal representation.
The European Film Academy (Efa), the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) and the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) are joining forces to create the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, a permanent organisation aimed at supporting filmmakers facing political persecution for their work.
The body would advocate for film professionals who have been imprisoned, face prosecution or censorship for their work and views.
The final framework is still being developed but its remit would include running coordinated campaigns publicising the cases of filmmakers in peril and providing legal representation.
- 11/19/2019
- by 1100380¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Helen Mirren, Jafar Panahi lend support to new initiative focused on filmmakers in danger.
The European Film Academy (Efa), the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) and the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) are joining forces to create the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, a permanent organisation aimed at supporting filmmakers facing political persecution for their work.
The body would advocate for film professionals who have been imprisoned, face prosecution or censorship for their work and views.
The final framework is still being developed but its remit would include running coordinated campaigns publicising the cases of filmmakers in peril and providing legal representation.
The European Film Academy (Efa), the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (Idfa) and the International Film Festival Rotterdam (Iffr) are joining forces to create the International Coalition for Filmmakers at Risk, a permanent organisation aimed at supporting filmmakers facing political persecution for their work.
The body would advocate for film professionals who have been imprisoned, face prosecution or censorship for their work and views.
The final framework is still being developed but its remit would include running coordinated campaigns publicising the cases of filmmakers in peril and providing legal representation.
- 11/19/2019
- by 1100380¦Melanie Goodfellow¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Leading curated streaming platform Mubi announced today its September release slate of films and curated series from both emerging talent and acclaimed directors from across the globe. Mubi continues its ongoing commitment to exclusive new releases next month, with Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof’s allegory of authoritarianism A Man of Integrity — featured in the “Luminaries” strand.
Highlights from the September line-up are as follows:
Exclusive Premieres
A Man of Integrity
[Luminaries] State-banned Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof – who was recently sentenced to a year in prison – nevertheless continues to make films that challenge corruption. The Un Certain Regard winner at Cannes 2017, A Man of Integrity is an allegory of authoritarianism that pulses with bold social critique.
A Man of Integrity — September 17— Exclusive
[Debuts] Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s entrancing debut feature confronts the Rohingya refugee crisis through unexpected means. Manta Ray is both perplexingly hypnotic and a sharp political allegory. Winner of the 2018 Venice Horizons Award.
Highlights from the September line-up are as follows:
Exclusive Premieres
A Man of Integrity
[Luminaries] State-banned Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof – who was recently sentenced to a year in prison – nevertheless continues to make films that challenge corruption. The Un Certain Regard winner at Cannes 2017, A Man of Integrity is an allegory of authoritarianism that pulses with bold social critique.
A Man of Integrity — September 17— Exclusive
[Debuts] Phuttiphong Aroonpheng’s entrancing debut feature confronts the Rohingya refugee crisis through unexpected means. Manta Ray is both perplexingly hypnotic and a sharp political allegory. Winner of the 2018 Venice Horizons Award.
- 8/18/2019
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSDavid Cronenberg on the set of CrashThis year's Venice Film Festival will premiere a brand new 4K restoration of David Cronenberg's cult classic Crash. "Seems like only yesterday that we were shooting it," Cronenberg says. Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, best known for films Manuscripts Don't Burn (2013) and A Man of Integrity (2017), has been sentenced to one year in prison for "propaganda against the state," highlighting the plight of artists in Iran. Recommended VIEWINGBehold, the official trailer for Martin Scorsese's The Irishman, starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci. A first look at Robert Eggers' The Lighthouse, the follow-up to The Witch, which follows two men struggling for both physical and mental survival in a tower on an isolated island. Notebook's Cannes correspondent Leonardo Goi describes the film as...
- 7/31/2019
- MUBI
Organizers of the Cannes Film Festival are calling on Iran to release dissident filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof, who was sentenced to jail this week for his work.
The people behind the New York Film Festival joined Cannes in its call Thursday after the French festival urged others in the industry to join in on the effort.
The Iranian director, who’s latest feature, “A Man of Integrity,” won the Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes in 2017, was sentenced July 23 to a year in prison. He’s also prohibited for two years from leaving his country and getting involved in any social or political activity, according to Cannes.
Through his movies, Rasoulof tells stories about Iran that go against the narratives supported by the country’s authoritarian government, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.
“Strangely, they’re accusing me of ‘propaganda against the state’ for telling stories,” Rasoulof told the nonprofit.
The people behind the New York Film Festival joined Cannes in its call Thursday after the French festival urged others in the industry to join in on the effort.
The Iranian director, who’s latest feature, “A Man of Integrity,” won the Un Certain Regard Award at Cannes in 2017, was sentenced July 23 to a year in prison. He’s also prohibited for two years from leaving his country and getting involved in any social or political activity, according to Cannes.
Through his movies, Rasoulof tells stories about Iran that go against the narratives supported by the country’s authoritarian government, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.
“Strangely, they’re accusing me of ‘propaganda against the state’ for telling stories,” Rasoulof told the nonprofit.
- 7/25/2019
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
Filmmaker has been unable to leave Iran since having his passport confiscated in 2017.
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose credits include the 2017 Cannes Un Certain Regard award-winning A Man Of Integrity, has been sentenced to one year in prison by the Iranian Revolutionary Court, according to multiple reports.
The Hamburg Film Festival, who has hosted the filmmaker several times, released a statement today (July 24) saying the conviction was handed down on Saturday (July 20). Rasoulof has been accused of “endangering national security” and “propaganda against the Islamic government”.
The filmmaker is also not allowed to leave Iran for two years and has...
Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, whose credits include the 2017 Cannes Un Certain Regard award-winning A Man Of Integrity, has been sentenced to one year in prison by the Iranian Revolutionary Court, according to multiple reports.
The Hamburg Film Festival, who has hosted the filmmaker several times, released a statement today (July 24) saying the conviction was handed down on Saturday (July 20). Rasoulof has been accused of “endangering national security” and “propaganda against the Islamic government”.
The filmmaker is also not allowed to leave Iran for two years and has...
- 7/24/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
The passport of award-winning A Man of Integrity and Manuscripts Don’t Burn filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been confiscated by officials in Tehran. The incident occurred upon Rasoulof’s return to Iran on Friday evening, international film critics’ association Fipresci said in a statement posted to its website. Kaveh Farnam, producer of A Man of Integrity (aka Lerd), which won the Un Certain Regard prize in Cannes this year, told the org that Rasoulof is now unable to…...
- 9/18/2017
- Deadline
Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been ordered to attend a court hearing in Tehran after his passport was confiscated at the border before the weekend.
Rasoulof, who won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes this year for his film A Man of Integrity (also known as Lerd), was returning to Iran from Colorado's Telluride Film Festival when he was stopped at Tehran Airport on Friday.
No reason was given for the confiscation of his passport, and he was subsequently ordered to appear at a "culture and media" court in the Iranian capital, Kaveh Farman a co-producer on A Man of...
Rasoulof, who won the Un Certain Regard award at Cannes this year for his film A Man of Integrity (also known as Lerd), was returning to Iran from Colorado's Telluride Film Festival when he was stopped at Tehran Airport on Friday.
No reason was given for the confiscation of his passport, and he was subsequently ordered to appear at a "culture and media" court in the Iranian capital, Kaveh Farman a co-producer on A Man of...
- 9/18/2017
- by Nick Holdsworth
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mohammed Rasoulof Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival
Persian language broadcaster RadioFarda is reporting that Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has had his passport seized.
The director, whose film A Man Of Integrity (Lerd) took the Un Certain Regard prize in Cannes this year, had arrived in Iran on Friday.
Rasoulof's director Kaveh Farnam announced the news, saying the passport was taken without explanation.
The director has a history of protest and was arrested in 2010, while he was helping fellow director Jafar Panahi to shoot a film. Despite the threat of jail, he returned to the country in 2013.
...
Persian language broadcaster RadioFarda is reporting that Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has had his passport seized.
The director, whose film A Man Of Integrity (Lerd) took the Un Certain Regard prize in Cannes this year, had arrived in Iran on Friday.
Rasoulof's director Kaveh Farnam announced the news, saying the passport was taken without explanation.
The director has a history of protest and was arrested in 2010, while he was helping fellow director Jafar Panahi to shoot a film. Despite the threat of jail, he returned to the country in 2013.
...
- 9/16/2017
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Cannes Ends with…Awards — 3rd of 3
The heightened security with machine gun armed soldiers and policemen constantly patrolling was intensified after the Manchester Massacre. With a pall over the festival, one minute of silence was observed for the 22 murdered and flags hung at half-mast. In addition to that, the sudden death at 57 of the Busan Film Festival deputy director Kim Ji-seok and that of the James Bond star Roger Moore brought the film world into a new perspective as we join the larger world to face the random indications of human mortality. High security vs. cinema as a sanctuary of freedom is highlighted this year like no other time that I can recall in my 31 years here.President of the jury, Pedro Almodovar
But life does go on, the jury judges, the stars get press attention on the red carpet and the rest of us continue to wait patiently in...
The heightened security with machine gun armed soldiers and policemen constantly patrolling was intensified after the Manchester Massacre. With a pall over the festival, one minute of silence was observed for the 22 murdered and flags hung at half-mast. In addition to that, the sudden death at 57 of the Busan Film Festival deputy director Kim Ji-seok and that of the James Bond star Roger Moore brought the film world into a new perspective as we join the larger world to face the random indications of human mortality. High security vs. cinema as a sanctuary of freedom is highlighted this year like no other time that I can recall in my 31 years here.President of the jury, Pedro Almodovar
But life does go on, the jury judges, the stars get press attention on the red carpet and the rest of us continue to wait patiently in...
- 5/29/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Headed by Pedro Almodóvar, the 2017 Cannes Film Festival jury — also featuring Maren Ade, Jessica Chastain, Fan Bingbing, Agnès Jaoui, Park Chan-wook, Will Smith, Paolo Sorrentino, and Gabriel Yared — handed out their winners for the films in competition. Leading the pack is Ruben Östlund‘s Force Majeure follow-up The Square, which picked up the Palme d’Or, while Sofia Coppola earned Best Director — the first woman to do so since 1961, when Yuliya Solntseva won for Chronicle of Flaming Years, and only the second in Cannes history. Joaquin Phoenix and Diane Kruger picked up the top acting awards, while Nicole Kidman was given a special prize for the four projects she brought to Cannes.
Ahead of our picks for our favorite films (update: see them here), check out the complete list of winners below, along with other sections, as well as the jury’s discussion of their picks, as well as separate...
Ahead of our picks for our favorite films (update: see them here), check out the complete list of winners below, along with other sections, as well as the jury’s discussion of their picks, as well as separate...
- 5/29/2017
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Reza Akhlaghirad as a fisherman caught up in corruption in Iran in A Man Of Integrity (Lerd) Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival An Iranian film about the uphill struggle for a moral man amid his country’s epidemic of corruption has the top prize in the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section.
A Man of Integrity (Lerd), by Mohammed Rasoulf, tells of Reza (Reza Akhlaghirad), a fish farmer in provincial Iran, caught up in the greed of a corporation.
The company, which is symbolic of a larger issue, wants to buy his farm and land. The company pays off the local chiefs, the police, the judges, the prison guards, and the mayor, with the power structure centred on the benefits and interests of the company.
Wind River takes best director in Cannes Un Certain Regard. Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival Rasoulf's drama takes a radical approach,...
A Man of Integrity (Lerd), by Mohammed Rasoulf, tells of Reza (Reza Akhlaghirad), a fish farmer in provincial Iran, caught up in the greed of a corporation.
The company, which is symbolic of a larger issue, wants to buy his farm and land. The company pays off the local chiefs, the police, the judges, the prison guards, and the mayor, with the power structure centred on the benefits and interests of the company.
Wind River takes best director in Cannes Un Certain Regard. Photo: Courtesy of Cannes Film Festival Rasoulf's drama takes a radical approach,...
- 5/28/2017
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Last week, Taylor Sheridan went to Cannes for the first time with his directorial debut “Wind River,” a sharp thriller starring Jeremy Renner and Elizabeth Olsen set on a Native American reservation. It was Sheridan’s first trip to Europe, even though he wrote two Cannes and Oscar entries in a row, Denis Villeneuve’s “Sicario” and “Hell or High Water,” for which he was nominated for the Best Original Screenplay Oscar.
He went on to write and direct “Wind River” (August 4, The Weinstein Co.), which debuted at Sundance and won the Un Certain Regard mise-en-scene (directing) prize at Cannes Saturday. “It’s the first time I’ve won anything,” Sheridan told me on the phone from Wyoming, where he had been mushroom hunting.
Cannes doesn’t fly in writers, apparently. “I had to direct something,” he said. Being in the South of France was “pretty overwhelming, a whirlwind,” he said.
He went on to write and direct “Wind River” (August 4, The Weinstein Co.), which debuted at Sundance and won the Un Certain Regard mise-en-scene (directing) prize at Cannes Saturday. “It’s the first time I’ve won anything,” Sheridan told me on the phone from Wyoming, where he had been mushroom hunting.
Cannes doesn’t fly in writers, apparently. “I had to direct something,” he said. Being in the South of France was “pretty overwhelming, a whirlwind,” he said.
- 5/27/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
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