Iran

Iran Attacks "Hollywoodism"; Why They're Right, and Wrong

In the midst of Iran's prestigious 31st Fajr International Film Festival, which recently awarded its top prize to Iranian filmmaker Behnam Behzadi's family drama “The Rule of Accident,” an unfortunate parallel event is being conducted called "Hollywoodism and Cinema,"...

Behrouz Ghobadi, brother of Bahman Ghobadi, Released from Prison

Kurdish Iranian filmmaker Behrouz Ghobadi – a younger brother of internationally acclaimed film director Bahman Ghobadi (Rhino Season) – has been freed from prison in Iran, according to Amnesty International. Since his arrest on November 4, Behrouz Ghobadi was held  in an undisclose...

"Argo" Reconsidered: Ben Affleck is a Right-Wing Propagandist

Aside from a pro-Jimmy Carter coda and a few asides that show America's support of the repressive Iranian monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, Ben Affleck's "Argo" is essentially and overwhelmingly right-wing, pro-American propaganda, demonizing Iran as backward, barbaric, and f...

Interview: Abbas Kiarostami Discusses the Mysteries of 'Like Someone in Love'

In the U.S. for NYFF promoting a new movie in the city for the first time in more than a decade, the 72-year-old filmmaker sat down with Indiewire to discuss his intentions with "Like Someone in Love," why he prefers to work outside Iran and how he keeps looking for new challenges.

EXCLUSIVE: Banned From Filmmaking, Jafar Panahi Has Made Another Movie, Says Abbas Kiarostami

Last year, Panahi allegedly smuggled the diary film about his experiences under house arrest, titled "This is Not a Film," into the Cannes Film Festival on a USB drive. According to fellow Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, Panahi, who is facing a six-year jail sentence, has completed another film.

Critic's Notebook: What Does Iran's Oscar Boycott Mean For the Future of Iranian Cinema?

After the Iranian film "A Separation" won an Oscar last year, many people eagerly awaited the country's Oscar submission for 2013. But the sudden impact of the anti-Islamic movie "The Innocence of Muslims" ruined everything.

Critic's Notebook: Being a Young Film Critic in Modern Iran

Where is Jafar Panahi's "The White Balloon"?

A classic of the Iranian New Wave, and in its day, the most successful and acclaimed Iranian film to be released in the U.S. ever, Jafar Panahi's masterpiece "The White Balloon" looks to be AWOL from American screens, big and small. Maybe someone out there knows the status of U.S. h...

At Cannes, "Respectable Family" Indicts Iranian Society, Corruption

"A Respectable Family," a new Iranian film which premiered in Cannes' Directors Fortnight section this week, won't do much to calm the strident anti-artist backlash in the country, which has put acclaimed filmmaker Jafar Panahi under arrest indefinitely, and censored, harrassed ...