Celluloid Underground review – love letter to a lifelong passion for film and illicit treasure trove
Iranian critic Ehsan Khoshbakht’s personal essay about a man’s smizdat film print collection shows the lengths cinephiles will go to to protect the art form
The passion of cinephilia is the subject of this absorbing personal essay movie from Iranian critic and film historian Ehsan Khoshbakht, now co-director of the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna, Italy, who narrates the film in a style that reminded me a little of Mark Cousins and also perhaps Werner Herzog.
Khoshbakht grew up in post-revolutionary Iran where he developed a love of movies and of moving images generally, even the sternly meagre output on national TV. I laughed out loud at Khoshbakht’s entranced description of the TV’s humble colour test card: “As exciting as an MGM musical!” Khoshbakht (daringly) started a film club as a teenager, digitally projecting foreign movies videotaped from TV. He got into serious trouble for...
The passion of cinephilia is the subject of this absorbing personal essay movie from Iranian critic and film historian Ehsan Khoshbakht, now co-director of the Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in Bologna, Italy, who narrates the film in a style that reminded me a little of Mark Cousins and also perhaps Werner Herzog.
Khoshbakht grew up in post-revolutionary Iran where he developed a love of movies and of moving images generally, even the sternly meagre output on national TV. I laughed out loud at Khoshbakht’s entranced description of the TV’s humble colour test card: “As exciting as an MGM musical!” Khoshbakht (daringly) started a film club as a teenager, digitally projecting foreign movies videotaped from TV. He got into serious trouble for...
- 3/25/2024
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The Independent Iranian Filmmakers Association (Iifma) has written to AMPAS to protest the omission of murdered director Dariush Mehrjui from the In Memoriam segment of the Academy Award on Sunday night.
As per Oscar tradition, the Academy paid tribute to a select group of 51 film and entertainment figures who had died over the previous year, including actor Matthew Perry, director William Friedkin, actor-performer Jane Birkin and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto in a short In Memoriam segment.
Mehrjui was named instead on the Academy’s In Memoriam page on its website, alongside 279 recently deceased figures related to the film world, including the 51 people feted at the ceremony.
The director was stabbed to death alongside his screenwriter wife Vahideh Moahmmadifar in their home outside Tehran last October.
The unsolved killing came just months after he posted an online video blasting the Iranian government’s suppression of the film industry, raising suspicions that his...
As per Oscar tradition, the Academy paid tribute to a select group of 51 film and entertainment figures who had died over the previous year, including actor Matthew Perry, director William Friedkin, actor-performer Jane Birkin and composer Ryuichi Sakamoto in a short In Memoriam segment.
Mehrjui was named instead on the Academy’s In Memoriam page on its website, alongside 279 recently deceased figures related to the film world, including the 51 people feted at the ceremony.
The director was stabbed to death alongside his screenwriter wife Vahideh Moahmmadifar in their home outside Tehran last October.
The unsolved killing came just months after he posted an online video blasting the Iranian government’s suppression of the film industry, raising suspicions that his...
- 3/14/2024
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Celebrated Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui and his wife have been found dead in their home in Karaj, Iran, The New York Times reported Sunday.
Their bodies were found Saturday night by their daughter Mona, and Mehrjui’s assistant Hanif Soroori told the outlet their throats were cut and there were signs of forced entry.
Mehrjui, 83, was known as one of the forefathers of new-wave cinema in Iran. His wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, was a screenwriter and costume designer.
In an interview with the Iranian student news agency Isna, the Alborz police chief Hamid Hadavand said a possible motive is currently unknown.
Before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Mehrjui filmed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini while he was in exile in France. His work after the revolution explored themes like art, money, religion and marriage.
Upon his return to Iran in 1985, Mehrjui spoke about battling censorship in the country. In the book “Dariush Mehrjui, Critique of...
Their bodies were found Saturday night by their daughter Mona, and Mehrjui’s assistant Hanif Soroori told the outlet their throats were cut and there were signs of forced entry.
Mehrjui, 83, was known as one of the forefathers of new-wave cinema in Iran. His wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, was a screenwriter and costume designer.
In an interview with the Iranian student news agency Isna, the Alborz police chief Hamid Hadavand said a possible motive is currently unknown.
Before the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Mehrjui filmed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini while he was in exile in France. His work after the revolution explored themes like art, money, religion and marriage.
Upon his return to Iran in 1985, Mehrjui spoke about battling censorship in the country. In the book “Dariush Mehrjui, Critique of...
- 10/15/2023
- by Stephanie Kaloi
- The Wrap
A murder investigation has been launched after the filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, were found dead in their home in Zibadasht, outside Tehran, last night.
Dariush Mehrjui Photo: Armin Karami
The grisly discovery was made by the couple's daughter, Mona, during a routine visit. When no-one answered the door as expected, she let herself in and found that they had both been stabbed in the neck. She immediately alerted the police, who confirmed the time of death within two hours and began pursuing leads, though their most recent statement has confirmed that at this point it remains unclear who was responsible or whether one or multiple people were involved.
The Iranian media have speculated on the possibility that the attack was linked to an Instagram post in which an unknown person threatened to stab Mohammadifar.
83-year-old Mehrjui received international acclaim during his lengthy career as a film director,...
Dariush Mehrjui Photo: Armin Karami
The grisly discovery was made by the couple's daughter, Mona, during a routine visit. When no-one answered the door as expected, she let herself in and found that they had both been stabbed in the neck. She immediately alerted the police, who confirmed the time of death within two hours and began pursuing leads, though their most recent statement has confirmed that at this point it remains unclear who was responsible or whether one or multiple people were involved.
The Iranian media have speculated on the possibility that the attack was linked to an Instagram post in which an unknown person threatened to stab Mohammadifar.
83-year-old Mehrjui received international acclaim during his lengthy career as a film director,...
- 10/15/2023
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Famed Iranian film director Dariush Mehrjui (The Cow, The Pear Tree) was murdered, along with his wife, in a stabbing attack by an unknown assailant at their home in Iran, Iranian state media reported on Sunday.
The official Irna news agency quoted Hossein Fazeli, a judiciary official, as saying that Mehrjhi and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, were discovered dead at their home with knife wounds in their necks. Fazeli said the bodies were discovered by the director’s daughter, Mona Mehrjui, at the couple’s home in a suburb outside the Iranian capital Tehran.
Mehrjui, 83, was best known for his neo-realistic films from the early 1970s that helped launch a new wave of Iranian cinema. He was a favorite on the international festival scene since The Cow, his second feature, won the Fipresci International Film Critics Award at the 1971 Venice Film Festival. Other honors included the Un Certain Regard award...
The official Irna news agency quoted Hossein Fazeli, a judiciary official, as saying that Mehrjhi and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, were discovered dead at their home with knife wounds in their necks. Fazeli said the bodies were discovered by the director’s daughter, Mona Mehrjui, at the couple’s home in a suburb outside the Iranian capital Tehran.
Mehrjui, 83, was best known for his neo-realistic films from the early 1970s that helped launch a new wave of Iranian cinema. He was a favorite on the international festival scene since The Cow, his second feature, won the Fipresci International Film Critics Award at the 1971 Venice Film Festival. Other honors included the Un Certain Regard award...
- 10/15/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Cinema in Iran began to blossom in the 1950s and 1960s, kicking off what was to become one of the world's most celebrated national cinemas. What was coined the Iranian New Wave more or less includes films beginning in the 1960s all the way through the early 2010s, which encompasses the bulk of Iranian film history. Filmmaking shifted but did not stop after the 1979 Iranian Revolution, when many artists went into exile and more extreme censorship was imposed. Today, Iranian cinema that reaches the global market has a particular character to it, characterized by directors including Asghar Farhadi and Jafar Panahi, who have received international acclaim for their grounded features depicting the nuances of Iranian society. As such, this list reflects films of this nature.
In chronological order, we examine 6 Iranian films from 6 different Iranian directors that trace the diversity of these movies through the years, examining stories that have...
In chronological order, we examine 6 Iranian films from 6 different Iranian directors that trace the diversity of these movies through the years, examining stories that have...
- 6/18/2023
- by Olivia Popp
- AsianMoviePulse
Hundreds of fish lie dead on a riverbed. A lone (lonely?) cow ambles around late at night in a forest. A flock of birds fly in discordant unison up above. The arresting images of nature gone awry in Francisca Alegría’s “The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future” are but the first clues that this rural-set Chilean feature has a distinct ecological interest. This hypnotic tale about how hard it can be to heal earthly and familial wounds marks a singular feature debut from the director of 2016 short “And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow’s Eye.”
Aptly matching its dizzying and obfuscating title, the film opens with a premise that owes much to Latin America’s most treasured literary genre: magical realism. A young woman, with a motorcycle helmet in tow, emerges from the river where she presumably committed suicide decades ago. She washes ashore only slightly disoriented,...
Aptly matching its dizzying and obfuscating title, the film opens with a premise that owes much to Latin America’s most treasured literary genre: magical realism. A young woman, with a motorcycle helmet in tow, emerges from the river where she presumably committed suicide decades ago. She washes ashore only slightly disoriented,...
- 5/18/2023
- by Manuel Betancourt
- Variety Film + TV
AMC Networks-owned Rlje Films has swooped for U.S. rights to “Shoplifters of the World.”
Inspired by true events, “Shoplifters of the World” is set over the course of one night in the life of four friends who are reeling from the sudden dissolution of British band The Smiths. The same evening, a local radio station is also hijacked by an armed, impassioned Smiths fan, resulting in a madcap evening that sends up the spirit of the 1980s.
Starring Joe Manganiello (“Magic Mike”) as the radio DJ and Ellar Coltrane (“Boyhood”) as the hijacker, the film also stars Helena Howard (“Madeline’s Madeline”) and Elena Kampouris (“Before I Fall”). “Shoplifters of the World” is written and directed by Stephen Kijak (“We Are X”) and also features 20 tracks from The Smiths.
The U.K.’s WestEnd Films, which is handling international rights, has also sold the film into Japan (Parco), China...
Inspired by true events, “Shoplifters of the World” is set over the course of one night in the life of four friends who are reeling from the sudden dissolution of British band The Smiths. The same evening, a local radio station is also hijacked by an armed, impassioned Smiths fan, resulting in a madcap evening that sends up the spirit of the 1980s.
Starring Joe Manganiello (“Magic Mike”) as the radio DJ and Ellar Coltrane (“Boyhood”) as the hijacker, the film also stars Helena Howard (“Madeline’s Madeline”) and Elena Kampouris (“Before I Fall”). “Shoplifters of the World” is written and directed by Stephen Kijak (“We Are X”) and also features 20 tracks from The Smiths.
The U.K.’s WestEnd Films, which is handling international rights, has also sold the film into Japan (Parco), China...
- 9/14/2020
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Close-Up is a feature that spotlights films now playing on Mubi. Dariush Mehrjui's The Cow is exclusively showing January 8 – February 6, 2020 in Mubi's Rediscovered series.The silhouette of a four-legged creature emerges over an indistinct horizon. As it moves, it splits apart and merges together a few more times, revealing itself to be a man and his cow. This sequence, presented in a series of black-and-white negative images, comes at the start of Dariush Mehrjui’s pre-Iranian Revolution landmark The Cow—the story of a man whose beloved beast dies suddenly, and who subsequently goes insane, imagining himself to have become a cow. (And not just any cow—his cow.) An adaptation of “Gav,” by writer and playwright Gholam-Hossein Sa’edi, it’s a film of unstable, amorphous identity, for which that suggestive overture soon becomes emblematic. But given its ever-shifting borders, this portentous, almost phantasmic image also carries a different,...
- 1/3/2020
- MUBI
In what marks the company’s first Latin American project, Alec Baldwin’s El Dorado Pictures has boarded Chilean filmmaker Francisca Alegria’s debut feature, “The Cow Who Sang a Song About the Future.” The multi-Emmy-winning actor and his El Dorado partner Casey Bader will serve as executive producers of the film, slated to start principal photography in Valdivia, Chile by April next year.
Alegria’s first feature is based on her acclaimed short “The Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow’s Eye,” winner of the best international fiction short award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.
“Francisca Alegria is creating a unique and engaging story set in a world of magical realism and stunning art. We are excited to join her in this process,” said Baldwin.
He added: “Her filmmaking style is original and powerful and she certainly has a dynamic and promising career ahead.”
For El Dorado,...
Alegria’s first feature is based on her acclaimed short “The Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow’s Eye,” winner of the best international fiction short award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.
“Francisca Alegria is creating a unique and engaging story set in a world of magical realism and stunning art. We are excited to join her in this process,” said Baldwin.
He added: “Her filmmaking style is original and powerful and she certainly has a dynamic and promising career ahead.”
For El Dorado,...
- 9/17/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Santiago, Chile — The much anticipated feature debut of Chilean Francisca Alegria, renowned for her magical short “And the Whole Sky Fit in the Dead Cow’s Eye,” has firmed up its cast and shooting dates.
Argentine thesp Mia Maestro (“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”), Chile’s Leonor Varela, Alfredo Castro and rising talent Lucas Balmaceda (“The Prince”) lead the cast.
Inspired by her short, a Sundance sensation where it snagged the Short Film Jury Award in 2017, Alegria’s upcoming feature, “The Cow that Sang a Song About the Future” adapts a similar magical realist tone in a family drama set in the verdant countryside of Valdivia, southern Chile.
Varela plays a single mother, Cecilia, who returns to her childhood home with her 19-year-old son (Balmaceda) where she faces a series of surreal events, including the deaths of hundreds of cows and the reappearance of her long dead mother (Maestro), whose suicide profoundly marked the family.
Argentine thesp Mia Maestro (“The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn”), Chile’s Leonor Varela, Alfredo Castro and rising talent Lucas Balmaceda (“The Prince”) lead the cast.
Inspired by her short, a Sundance sensation where it snagged the Short Film Jury Award in 2017, Alegria’s upcoming feature, “The Cow that Sang a Song About the Future” adapts a similar magical realist tone in a family drama set in the verdant countryside of Valdivia, southern Chile.
Varela plays a single mother, Cecilia, who returns to her childhood home with her 19-year-old son (Balmaceda) where she faces a series of surreal events, including the deaths of hundreds of cows and the reappearance of her long dead mother (Maestro), whose suicide profoundly marked the family.
- 8/23/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Production is under way on Israel’s biggest-budget TV drama series, Valley Of Tears, we can reveal.
The ambitious, under-the-radar project set against the 1973 Yom Kippur War, stars Israeli mega-star Lior Ashkenazi (Foxtrot) and comes from in-demand Israeli writers Ron Leshem (Euphoria) and Amit Cohen (False Flag).
Directed and co-created by Yaron Zilberman (A Late Quartet), and based on true events, the Hebrew-language, eight-part miniseries shepherded by WestEnd Films depicts the 1973 Yom Kippur War through the eyes of young combatants. It will follow the stories of three individuals swept away by the ravages of war, and culminates in a climactic battle. We understand each episode will cost in the region of $1M.
Valley of Tears stars Footnote and Big Bad Wolves actor Ashkenazi, Aviv Alush (The Shack), Lee Biran, Shahar Tavoch, Joy Rieger and Ofer Hayoun (Euphoria). A handful of Israel’s most prominent novelists reportedly took part in...
The ambitious, under-the-radar project set against the 1973 Yom Kippur War, stars Israeli mega-star Lior Ashkenazi (Foxtrot) and comes from in-demand Israeli writers Ron Leshem (Euphoria) and Amit Cohen (False Flag).
Directed and co-created by Yaron Zilberman (A Late Quartet), and based on true events, the Hebrew-language, eight-part miniseries shepherded by WestEnd Films depicts the 1973 Yom Kippur War through the eyes of young combatants. It will follow the stories of three individuals swept away by the ravages of war, and culminates in a climactic battle. We understand each episode will cost in the region of $1M.
Valley of Tears stars Footnote and Big Bad Wolves actor Ashkenazi, Aviv Alush (The Shack), Lee Biran, Shahar Tavoch, Joy Rieger and Ofer Hayoun (Euphoria). A handful of Israel’s most prominent novelists reportedly took part in...
- 7/25/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
London-based sales agency WestEnd Films has released the first-look photo for “I Am Woman,” which Variety has exclusively. The movie follows the rise of singer-songwriter Helen Reddy, whose song “I Am Woman” became the anthem for the women’s movement in the 1970s. The shot features Tilda Cobham-Hervey, who plays Reddy.
“A film for our times, this is a story of fearless ambition and passion, about a woman who led the way for other women seeking equality by smashing through the patriarchal norms to become the international singing superstar she always dreamed of being,” according to WestEnd.
The film is directed by Unjoo Moon (“The Zen of Bennett”), and also stars Evan Peters as Helen’s manager and husband Jeff Wald, and Danielle Macdonald as the rock journalist Lilian Roxon.
The film is produced by Goalpost Pictures’ Rosemary Blight, and is written by Emma Jensen (“Mary Shelley”). The cinematographer is Dion Beebe,...
“A film for our times, this is a story of fearless ambition and passion, about a woman who led the way for other women seeking equality by smashing through the patriarchal norms to become the international singing superstar she always dreamed of being,” according to WestEnd.
The film is directed by Unjoo Moon (“The Zen of Bennett”), and also stars Evan Peters as Helen’s manager and husband Jeff Wald, and Danielle Macdonald as the rock journalist Lilian Roxon.
The film is produced by Goalpost Pictures’ Rosemary Blight, and is written by Emma Jensen (“Mary Shelley”). The cinematographer is Dion Beebe,...
- 2/7/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Christopher Smith directing 1930s-set genre film.
Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) and Sean Harris (Mission: Impossible – Fallout) will lead the cast of director Christopher Smith’s horror The Banishing.
WestEnd Films is producing the project and handling sales at Afm. Principal photography will begin on November 5 in the UK.
Set in the 1930s, The Banishing tells the story of a young reverend and his wife (Jessica Brown Findlay) and daughter who move into a manor with a horrifying secret. When a vengeful spirit haunts the little girl and threatens to tear the family apart, the reverend is forced to confront his beliefs.
Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) and Sean Harris (Mission: Impossible – Fallout) will lead the cast of director Christopher Smith’s horror The Banishing.
WestEnd Films is producing the project and handling sales at Afm. Principal photography will begin on November 5 in the UK.
Set in the 1930s, The Banishing tells the story of a young reverend and his wife (Jessica Brown Findlay) and daughter who move into a manor with a horrifying secret. When a vengeful spirit haunts the little girl and threatens to tear the family apart, the reverend is forced to confront his beliefs.
- 10/31/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
There’s a little bit of Pooh in all of us, and it’s this very fact that makes the forthcoming Disney feature Christopher Robin such an alluring proposition, as characters, and a world that has a special place in our hearts.
To celebrate the release we sat down with Hayley Atwell, director Marc Forster and the voice of Pooh and Tigger himself, Mr. Jim Cummings. The trio discuss their own relationship with Winnie the Pooh, and what it is about the character’s blissful personality that is so infectious. They discuss their favourite of his most profound quotes, and what makes him so universal and timeless.
Forster comments on the challenges of blending fantasy and reality, and the specific look of the characters, and why he felt they had to look well-worn (and heavily cuddled). He also speaks about working with children, and Ewan McGregor – who he wants to...
To celebrate the release we sat down with Hayley Atwell, director Marc Forster and the voice of Pooh and Tigger himself, Mr. Jim Cummings. The trio discuss their own relationship with Winnie the Pooh, and what it is about the character’s blissful personality that is so infectious. They discuss their favourite of his most profound quotes, and what makes him so universal and timeless.
Forster comments on the challenges of blending fantasy and reality, and the specific look of the characters, and why he felt they had to look well-worn (and heavily cuddled). He also speaks about working with children, and Ewan McGregor – who he wants to...
- 8/15/2018
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Stephen King’s novels are going through something of a revival of late. Today casting news updates one of the new King adaptations with Trainspotting’s Ewan McGregor being cast as the adult Danny Torrance in The Shining sequel, Doctor Sleep.
The plot of the follow-up centres around Torrance, who still traumatised by the events that took place in the Overlook Hotel. He has become just like his murderous father (played by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 original), with lingering rage and a drinking problem that dulls his pain as well as his ‘shining’ powers.
Those powers return when he embraces sobriety and uses his gift to help the dying at a hospice. He establishes a psychic connection with a young girl who shares his extreme abilities, and who is being targeted by a group who make others like them suffer painful deaths in order to absorb their powers.
Also in...
The plot of the follow-up centres around Torrance, who still traumatised by the events that took place in the Overlook Hotel. He has become just like his murderous father (played by Jack Nicholson in the 1980 original), with lingering rage and a drinking problem that dulls his pain as well as his ‘shining’ powers.
Those powers return when he embraces sobriety and uses his gift to help the dying at a hospice. He establishes a psychic connection with a young girl who shares his extreme abilities, and who is being targeted by a group who make others like them suffer painful deaths in order to absorb their powers.
Also in...
- 6/14/2018
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
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