A Book Review by Narjess Jafari Langroudi. A captivating and conclusive investigation of a cinematic luminary.” In continuing the wide-ranging ReFocus: The International Directors series, Edinburgh University Press has released Refocus: The Films of Rakhshan Banietemad (edited by Maryam Ghorbankarimi) which covers the complex filmography of one of Iran’s most […]
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 […]
When Asylum’s Regained: Eva Mulvad’s Love Child (TIFF 2020)
By Ali Moosavi. Love Child is not so much a story about refugees and asylum seekers…. This is a film about love triumphing above all adversaries.” The subject of asylum seekers has come to the fore in recent years with refugees from war torn countries fleeing to the west and […]