By Ali Moosavi. I always wanted to be a director but John Huston said to me, look you’ve got the passion and the desire to make movies; why don’t you become a creative producer? This way you don’t have to always seek for jobs as director. The producer creates the […]
A Warden and Actors: An Interview with Filmmaker Nima Javidi
By Ali Moosavi. I prefer films and novels in which a character who plays a critical part in the story is mainly absent.” With just two feature films and a TV series under his belt, writer-director Nima Javidi has established himself in the upper echelons of Iranian cinema. He got […]
Taking Risks for the Sake of Cinema in Iran: Celluloid Underground and Achilles
By Ali Moosavi. Both these films show the lengths their makers have gone, the enormous risks they’ve taken, all for the sake of cinema.” Two films made by Iranian directors have at least one thing in common: they both show the deep, undying passion that many Iranians have for cinema. […]
The Father of the Iranian New Wave: Dariush Mehrjui, 1939-2023
By Ali Moosavi. The discovery of the groundbreaking filmmaker’s body with that of his wife in their home, both stabbed, on Saturday, 14 October (found by their daughter), has sent a shockwave throughout the film community at a troubling time…. The news item was brief: the bodies of the Iranian […]
Interdependent Elements: An Interview with Iranian Film Editor Haideh Safiyari
By Ali Moosavi. In the first place, you must be very patient…. You should know that it is a very difficult and time-consuming job and can affect your health. Meanwhile, you should be sensitive to the social issues in your environment and learn from other forms of art, too.” When […]
“Starting with a Lie to Gather Unity” – Abbas Kiarostami: Interviews
A Book Review by Ali Moosavi. The collection, edited by Monika Raesch, is really two books under one cover – an extensive critical introduction to Kiarostami, authored by Raesch, and roughly 100 pages of interviews in which the filmmaker proves to be surprisingly open and eminently quotable.” Though the renowned […]
Finding Humor in Tragedy: The Films of Iranian Director Reza Jamali
By Ali Moosavi. A new and original voice in the Iranian Cinemas whose films deserve to find a wider audience.” With only two feature films to his credit, Iranian writer-director Reza Jamali has emerged as a new and unique voice in the Iranian cinema. Both his films, Old Men Never […]
Documenting the Cinema of Iran: An Interview with Bahman Maghsoudlou
By Ali Moosavi. In Razor’s Edge: The Legacy of Iranian Actresses, I showed their true worth and high place in the cinema. Some people who used to look down at these actresses from a high moral platform as cheap women, were crying at the screenings and saying how sorry they […]
Victims Performing the Victimized: Houman Seyyedi’s World War Three
By Ali Moosavi. With the rather unsure state of the Iranian cinema at the moment, it remains to be seen what the future holds for WWIII and its talented director.” I have been a fan of the young Iranian filmmaker Houman Seyyedi ever since I saw his sophomore directing feature […]
Estrangement All Over: An Interview with Niki Karimi on Atabai
By Ali Moosavi. Atabai is about loneliness and the estrangement with environment that we feel all over the world.” My very first contribution to Film International was an interview with the Iranian actress-writer-director Niki Karimi in 2014 (issue 12.3). Since then she has appeared in ten movies and three TV […]