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The TIFF Primetime selection of international series brings Zach Baylin and Kate Susman’s crime drama Black Rabbit starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman as brothers, and Wayward, Netflix’s original Canadian thriller about a teen therapeutic facility from Mae Martin and Ryan Scott starring Martin, Sarah Gadon, and Toni Collette.

Six world premieres among a roster of 10 shows includes Pål Jackman and Åse Kathrin Vuolab’s Norwegian class drama A Sámi Wedding, and FX’s The Lowdown from Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo starring executive producer Ethan Hawke as a citizen journalist.

There are North American premieres of Italian...

Toronto International Film Festival doesn’t only recognize feature films.

On Thursday, TIFF announced the lineup for its television section, the Primetime program, meant to recognize episodic and serialized storytelling. This included 10 different series, six of which will host their world premieres at TIFF. This year’s 50-year celebration of TIFF also marks the 10th anniversary of its Primetime program, which departs from the festival’s film-heavy lineup.

One of the six series to have its world premiere in TIFF Primetime will be “The Lowdown.” The Tulsa-set series for FX stars Ethan Hunt, who also serves as an executive producer. “The Lowdown” was created by Sterlin Harjo (a fellow EP alongside Hawke), who was a co-creator for “Reservation Dogs,” also for FX.

“Black Rabbit,” starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman, will also have its world premiere in TIFF’s Primetime section. The miniseries was created for Netflix by Zach Baylin and Kate Susman,...

The Lowdown, from creator, executive producer, writer and director Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs), will open the Toronto International Film Festival’s Primetime series showcase, the lineup for which was announced Thursday.

The show stars Ethan Hawke, who also executive produces, as a citizen journalist whose pursuit of the truth regularly gets him into trouble. The show launches on FX on September 23.

It is among six shows set to premiere in the sidebar alongside Netflix’s original Canadian series Wayward, created by Mae Martin, who is also co-showrunner with Ryan Scott and co-stars with Sarah Gadon and Toni Collette, as well as Zach Baylin and Kate Susman’s Black Rabbit starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman, who also directs some of the episodes.

There will also be premieres for Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League, the only documentary series in the lineup, created by Richard Brown and Tebogo Malope...

Lovers of serialized storytelling, don’t let its name fool you: the Toronto International Film Festival has been celebrating series and the small screen for a decade. As the fest readies for the tenth anniversary of its Primetime program at this year’s event — dedicated to “spotlighting exceptional international series and boundary-pushing episodic storytelling” — TIFF has today announced the 2025 lineup.

This year’s Primetime slate features six world premieres including Sterlin Harjo’s latest, “The Lowdown,” which opens the section and stars Ethan Hawke, plus Netflix’s latest original Canadian series “Wayward”, Zach Baylin and Kate Susman’s “Black Rabbit”, “Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League” (the only documentary series in the lineup), and “The Savage” (created by Houman Seyyedi).

Over the past few weeks, TIFF has announced the majority of its selections, including Colin Hanks’ opening night documentary “John Candy: I Like Me,” plus new films from Steven Soderbergh,...

World premieres of the Jude Law and Jason Bateman-starring limited series Black Rabbit, Sterlin Harjo’s The Lowdown, and Mae Martin and Ryan Scott’s Wayward were unveiled as part of the Toronto Film Festival‘s Primetime program, where the small screen hits the big screen.

The TIFF focus on new TV series has also booked first looks for the doc series Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League from creators Richard Brown and Tebogo Malope, Hansal Mehta’s Gandhi and The Savage, created by Houman Seyyedi.

Netflix’s Black Rabbit from creators and showrunners Zach Baylin and Kate Susman stars Bateman and Law as reunited brothers that centers on New York City’s next hotspot restaurant and lounge. The series will launch Sept. 18 on the streaming giant.

Netflix is also bringing to the Toronto TV showcase the Wayward thriller, which stars comedian Martin, Patrick J. Adams, Sarah Gadon...

The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of its Primetime programme — and it's doing so in grand style, unveiling a star-packed slate of prestige series from around the world.

This year’s Primetime lineup features six world premieres, headlined by The Lowdown, a new series from Reservation Dogs creator Sterlin Harjo, starring and executive-produced by Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke.

Other world premieres include Wayward, a Netflix Canadian original created by Mae Martin, which they also star in alongside Sarah Gadon and Toni Collette. Also debuting is Black Rabbit, created by Zach Baylin and Kate Susman, with Oscar nominee Jude Law and Emmy winner Jason Bateman, who also directs select episodes.

Additional buzzy debuts include Gandhi, from acclaimed Indian filmmaker Hansal Mehta; The Savage, helmed by Iranian auteur Houman Seyyedi; and Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League, a documentary series created by Richard Brown and...

In anticipation for the upcoming 95th Academy Awards, I chatted with director Houman Seyyedi and screenwriter Azad Jafarian, whose film World War III is Iran’s official submission in consideration for the Best International Feature Category. After premiering at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, where it won Best Film in the Horizons sidebar, the film has garnered a number of awards at various film festivals. Seyyedi and Jafarian discuss how they came together to collaborate on the feature. Seyyedi discusses the filming of key sequences and crafting the lead role for actor Mohsen Tanabandeh.

…...

War & Fleece: Seyyedi’s Swiftly Shifting Satire Explores the Corrupting Nature of Power

In one of the most unromanticized depictions of the filmmaking process, Iranian director Houman Seyyedi’s latest film, World War III is a slippery wonderland of competing forces. Initially a darkly satirical exploration of exploitation filmmaking as well as a castigation of working conditions in the Iranian film industry, Seyyedi takes off the comedy gloves for a grueling third act exercise in anguish and tragedy for a main protagonist who’s unwisely lived with his heart on his sleeve.

Both sharply conceived and agonizingly performed, Seyyedi, who has previously peddled in cultural degradation with his previous film Sheeple (2018), presents a hot blast of social issue semantics defined by a direct conduit with a criminal underbelly often downplayed significantly in modern Iranian cinema.…...

The Un Certain Regard section in Venice, recent winners of the Horizons (Orizzonti) section include Gábor Reisz’s Explanation for Everything, Houman Seyyedi’s World War III and Valentyn Vasyanovych’s Atlantis. Some of the standouts in the selection of nineteen films include Alexandros Avranas‘ Quiet Life – a fascinating portrait about asylum-seekers who fled to Sweden and some crazy syndrome that see their children fall into a coma-type called Resignation Syndrome or Apathy, explained as a self-protection against a feeling of fear. Avranas won the Silver Lion for Best Director for Miss Violence in 2013 and this latest oeuvre is produced by Films du Worso’s Sylvie Pialat.…...

The 6th Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) held a press conference today to unveil the complete lineup of programmes for its upcoming edition, featuring 42 films from 15 countries. The festival also announced the distinguished presence of acclaimed filmmaker Johnnie To as the Jury President of the competition section. In addition, MIFFest bestowed the Lifetime Achievement Award on renowned actress Sylvia Chang for her exceptional contributions to the world of cinema. The event also revealed the top 10 finalists and nominations for the BMW Shorties 2023.

Over 300 record-breaking submissions were received for the 6th MIFFest

With over 300 record-breaking submissions received for the 6th MIFFest, the festival continues to attract talented filmmakers from around the world. The high number of submissions is a testament to MIFFest's growing prominence and its commitment to recognising outstanding talents in the film industry.

“This year, we had the pleasure of receiving and watching over 300 films. This is an impressive...

The wave of protests sparked across Iran by the death of Mahsa Amini by Iranian morality police in September came amid a banner year for Iranian cinema.

But as 2023 kicks off, more than 500 people who have protested her death and called for justice have been killed while prominent members of the Iranian film industry were either arrested, put on trial or banned from making movies. The result being that the country’s cinematic community has largely ground to a halt.

Which raises the question: unless something changes, how many films actually shot in Iran will be surfacing on the international festival circuit going forward?

In 2022, Iran-based directors landed slots in all major international film festivals and won major awards. Revered auteur Jafar Panahi took the Venice Special Jury Prize for “No Bears” and Houman Seyyedi’s tragicomedy “World War III,” which was Iran’s candidate for the international Oscar, scooped two statuettes on the Lido.

Legal docudrama Saint Omer was voted Best Picture at the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, which announced this year’s juried award winners today.

Saint Omer wins for its ability “to expertly interrogate issues of society, culture, race, and gender,” the festival release stated. “Alice Diop, as screenwriter and director, delivers a film that explores different dynamics of Black women in contemporary France, drawing empathetic lead performances from Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanga. By harnessing the skills of her technical team, Diop turns Saint Omer into a shrewd, cogent, ambitious, and overwhelming film which teases a metafictional awareness while remaining clear-eyed and unsentimental.”

The Palm Springs festival took place from January 5-16 and screened 134 films from 64 countries, including 27 premieres. The lineup includes 35 of the International Feature Film Oscar submissions.

The jury award categories included the Fipresci Prize for films...

Marco Mueller overseeing fourth edition of festival.

China’s Hainan Island International Film Festival (Hiiff) is to take place from December 18-25, after being postponed at short notice, and has revealed the titles in its feature and documentary competitions.

The fourth edition of the festival, held in the city of Sanya, was set to run from December 3-10 but was abruptly put on hold following a rise in Covid cases. Now, following the relaxation of pandemic measure in China over the past week, the festival is back on and has unveiled its line-up of titles.

Scroll down for competition titles

The Hiiff Competition,...

Click here to read the full article.

For the first time in Oscar history, three Persian-language films are up for the Academy Award for best international feature. Alongside Iran’s official entry, Houman Seyyedi’s darkly comic World War III, Denmark has submitted serial killer drama Holy Spider from Iran-born, Copenhagen-based Ali Abbasi. Britain’s hopes, meanwhile, lie with Winners, a tragicomic tale about (of all things) a missing Oscar statue, from director Hassan Nazer, another Iranian expat, who lives in Scotland.

Taken together, the trio of movies represents the breadth of Iranian cinema, within the country and among the filmmaking diaspora.

Winners is Nazer’s love letter to his country’s filmmakers. Dedicated to Iranian directors Abbas Kiarostami, Asghar Farhadi, Majid Majidi and Jafar Panahi, it is jam-packed with references to and quotes from other Farsi films, among them Panahi’s Taxi and Majidi’s Children of Heaven and...

Click here to read the full article.

Anyone whose experience of Iranian cinema is limited to the social realism and lyrical fables of Abbas Kiarostami and Asghar Farhadi might be shocked by Houman Seyyedi’s World War III, Iran’s official entry for this year’s best international feature Oscar. The movie, which premiered in Venice, where it won the prize for best film in the Horizons sidebar, is a mashup of genres: part social drama, part thriller, part absurdist film industry satire. Mohsen Tanabandeh was named best actor in Venice Horizons for his portrayal of Shakib, a man who’s still traumatized by the loss, years ago, of his wife and son in a terrible earthquake, and who finds some pickup work as an extra in a World War II movie. When the film’s star has a heart attack, the director asks Shakib to step in and play Adolf Hitler.

Rita Moreno, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Sally Field star in ’80 For Brady’ from Paramount Pictures.

The world premiere of 80 for Brady starring Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, and Lily Tomlin will open the 34th Annual Palm Springs International Festival on Friday, January 6, 2023, and The Lost King from director Stephen Frears will close the festival on Sunday, January 15th. In between, Psiff will screen 132 films including the world premiere of the documentary Shot in the Arm.

“We are beyond excited to welcome back our beloved audience and filmmakers in Palm Springs. We’re especially thrilled to be joined by all four leads of 80 For Brady. The film is brimming with joy and heart, and it’s a perfect film to kick off our 34th edition,” said Artistic Director Lili Rodriguez. “Our programmers have dedicated almost a year to scouting the world for the films that make up this edition.

Other winners include Emily, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed; Swedish Film Institute unveils new talent Wild Card prizes.

Ali Abbasi’s Iran-set serial killer drama Holy Spider won the Bronze Horse for best film at the 2022 Stockholm International Film Festival.

The film’s lead actor Mehdi Bajestani won best actor for playing Saeed Hanaei, the real serial killer who killed sex workers in Mashhad in 2000 and 2001.

The jury said Holy Spider is “a punch in the gut for systematic belief systems that oppress rather than support. An eye opener and a most emotional cinematic experience that awakens internal revolutions in us.

The big winner at the Stockholm International Film Festival 2022 was Holy Spider, directed by Swedish-Danish-Iranian Ali Abbasi.

Complete list of winners below

The film won the Bronze Horse for Best Film, while lead actor Mehdi Bajestani was named Best Male Actor for his role as serial killer Saeed Hanaei. The film was based on the true story of the so-called ‘Spider-Killer’ who targeted sex workers and killed 16 women from 2000 to 2001 in Mashhad, Iran. The film depicts a fictional female journalist investigating the crimes.

In presenting Abbasi with his award, the jury said of Holy Spider:

“A groundbreaking film that is done not only with enormous courage but with mastery that leaves us breathless; our insides both speechless and wanting to cream. A punch in the gut for systematic belief systems that oppress rather than support. An eye opener and a most emotional cinematic experience that awakens internal revolutions in us.

Click here to read the full article.

Rodrigo Sorogoyen’s multi-layered thriller The Beasts nearly achieved a clean sweep of the Tokyo International Film Festival’s major awards categories Wednesday night in the Japanese capital. During a ceremony held in the city’s glitzy Ginza district, The Beasts came away with the Tokyo Grand Prix, the festival’s top honor, as well as best director honors for Sorogoyen and best actor for his star Denis Menochet.

A brooding, psychological thriller set in rural Spain, The Beasts tells the story of a cosmopolitan French couple, Antoine and Olga (Menochet and actress Marina Foïs), who settle in a small village hoping to connect with nature. Instead, their presence soon arouses hostility — and eventually, downright violence — from some of the locals. The film has been praised for its feral, even savage, portrayal of the hardscrabble realities of the majestic Galician countryside.

Tokyo’s...

Click here to read the full article.

The British Academy has selected Winners, the Farsi-language drama from British-Iranian writer/director Hassan Nazer as the U.K.’s submission for next year’s international feature award at the Oscars.

Fully financed in Scotland with support from Creative Scotland and qualified British through the cultural test, Winners was shot entirely in Iran with 100 percent Farsi dialogue and was post-produced in Scotland. It premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in August this year, where it won the audience award.

Set in a poor Iranian village where the children work hard to support their families, Winners follows nine-year-old Yahya and his friend Leyla, wo one day find a precious statuette in the desert. As the authorities search for the lost treasure, sharing a passion for cinema, Yahya’s boss Nasser Khan decides to help the children find its owner.

Written and directed by Aberdeen-based Nazer,...

Keep track of all the submissions for best international feature at the 2023 Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2023 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

Scroll down for profiles of each Oscar entry

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture produced outside the US with a predominantly (more than 50) non-English dialogue track and can include animated and documentary features.

Submitted films must have been released theatrically in their respective countries between January 1, 2022 and November 30, 2022. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 3, 2022.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is...

Houman Seyyedi’s darkly comic drama World War III has been named as Iran’s entry for Best International Feature Film at the 95th Academy Awards, set for March 12 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. See the full list of entries by country below.

The film chosen “unanimously” by Iran’s Oscars committee follows the day laborer Shakib (Mohsen Tanabandeh), who after being cast in a movie, must secretly shelter his lover on the set or risk losing her and all that movie stardom has promised him.

Seyyedi, Arian Vazirdaftari and Azad Jafarian scripted the pic, which world premiered in the Horizons section of this year’s Venice Film Festival and went on to win the section’s prizes for Best Film and Best Actor (Tanabandeh). Its cast also includes Neda Jebreili, Mahsa Hejazi and Navid Nosrati.

Parviz Sheikh Tadi, the speaker and a member of the committee in...

As our 2022 Venice Film Festival coverage wraps up, the juries have now unveiled their picks, most notably featuring Julianne Moore’s competition jury. Leading the pack is Laura Poitras’ new documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, which picked up the top prize of Golden Lion, while Alice Diop, Luca Guadagnino, Cate Blanchett, Jafar Panahi, Colin Farrell, and more also received awards.

See the list of winners, with a hat tip to Variety, along with links to our reviews––and check back soon for coverage of Saint Omer, No Bears, and more.

Competition

Golden Lion for Best Film: “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed,” Laura Poitras

Grand Jury Prize: “Saint Omer,” Alice Diop

Silver Lion for Best Director: “Bones and All,” Luca Guadagnino

Special Jury Prize: “No Bears,” Jafar Panahi

Best Screenplay: “The Banshees of Inisherin,” Martin McDonagh

Volpi Cup for Best Actress: “TÁR,” Cate Blanchett

Volpi Cup for Best Actor: “The Banshees of Inisherin,...

‘Saint Omer’ takes Grand Jury prize; best director to Luca Guadagnino for ‘Bones And All’.

Laura Poitras’ All The Beauty And The Bloodshed won the Golden Lion at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, becoming only the second documentary to take the top prize in the event’s 90-year history.

”I need to thank the festival first and foremost, for understanding that documentary is cinema,” said US director Poitras, accepting the award. She proceeded to voice support for Iranian filmmaker and fellow Competition director Jafar Panahi, who is currently under arrest in his home country.

Scroll down for the full list of...

The winners of the 2022 Venice Film Festival are being announced this evening.

The 79th Venice Film Festival comes to a close today with the awards ceremony, held at the Sala Grande in the Palazzo del Cinema from 6pm BST (7pm Cet).

Watch the ceremony live in the video above; Screen will be updating this page with the winners as they are announced.

The ceremony will be hosted by Spanish actress Rocio Munoz Morales, who also hosted the opening ceremony. A Competition jury led by Julianne Moore will award nine prizes, including the Golden Lion for best film.

Winners in the...

Click here to read the full article.

Laura Poitras’s documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed has won the 2022 Golden Lion for best film at the 79th Venice International Film Festival.

The documentary follows the life of artist Nan Goldin and her campaign against the Sackler family, the pharmaceutical dynasty that was greatly responsible for the opioid epidemic.

Poitras, an Oscar-winner for her Edward Snowden documentary Citizenfour, dedicated the prize to Goldin.

“This is for Nan. I love you Nan. Monday is her birthday, so we’ll bring this to Nan,” she said.

Produced by Participant and Poitras’ Praxis Films, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed will go out domestically via Neon and HBO.

Cate Blanchett won Venice’s best actress honors for her bracing turn as a classical conductor in Todd Field’s Tár. The award kicks off the Oscar campaign for the film, and for Blanchett, who...

After nearly two weeks of lush red carpets, timed standing ovations, and viral “Don’t Worry Darling” drama, the 79th Venice Film Festival comes to a close on Saturday in the Sala Grande at the Palazzo del Cinema (Lido di Venezia). Julianne Moore chairs the festival’s jury alongside her fellow judges and elite film peers Mariano Cohn, Leonardo di Costanzo, Audrey Diwan, Leila Hatami, Kazuo Ishiguro, and Rodrigo Sorogoyen.

“I feel like so often the discussion around the future of cinema ends up being a discussion that’s more commercial, more business oriented,” Moore said in her opening remarks on August 31. “When we talk about the future of cinema it often degrades into what the future of the business is. That’s not the future of art.”

Established in 1932, Venice is the oldest ongoing cinematic awards celebration and is regarded among the world’s most esteemed international film festivals. 22 titles...

Mickey Rourke is joining the cast of action movie “Section Eight.” Sales agent The Exchange is introducing the movie to international buyers during the virtual American Film Market, which wraps Friday.

The cast also includes actors Dolph Lundgren, Scott Adkins, Ryan Kwanten, Dermot Mulroney, and Blue October’s lead singer Justin Furstenfeld, as previously announced.

The movie is the story of a former soldier who, after avenging the murder of his family, is sprung from prison and recruited by a shadowy government agency.

It will be directed by Christian Sesma, working from an original screenplay by Chad Law and Josh Ridgway. It is produced by Brandon Burrows of Firebrand.

Rourke’s many credits include “The Wrestler,” for which he was Oscar nominated, “Sin City,” “Angel Heart” and “Iron Man 2.” “Mickey’s raw energy and unique style are such a great addition to ‘Section Eight,’ ” Burrows said.

Rourke is represented by Framework Entertainment and Edelstein,...

The cinema of Iran has often been marked by stylistic qualities of delicacy and restraint. It has found ways to speak loudly with a whisper. But “Sheeple,” the traumatically explosive closing-night selection of 1st Iranian Film Festival New York, amounts to a rather spectacular counterexample. It’s a drama set in the lower depths of society — it follows a bedraggled family of drug dealers in the south of Tehran — and it’s a violent, charged-up, attack-the-block movie that comes at you with a feverish spirit of underworld degradation that’s startling to behold.

The characters are scurrilous desperadoes and derelicts (you might have to reach back to “Pixote” to find a street drama this purged of romance), and they have a way of stepping on each other’s words that has you racing to read the subtitles. Yet there’s a larger vision at work here — an image of appetite...

It’s no surprise that Sheeple (Maghz-haye Koochak Zang-zadeh), a zany plunge into parodied violence Indian-style, won the audience award at Iran’s national film festival this year. Written and directed by out-of-the-box talent Houman Seyyedi (13, Confessions of My Dangerous Mind), it's his most accomplished work so far and the most exciting genre film on show in the film market at the recent Fajr Film Festival. The pic is well-deserving of exposure to international audiences who, however, will have to adjust their ideas about soft-spoken Iranian drama.

The English title is an amalgam of "sheep" and "people," which is what the...

It’s no surprise that <em>Sheeple </em>(<em>Maghz-haye Koochak Zang-zadeh</em>), a zany plunge into parodied violence Indian-style, won the audience award at Iran’s national film festival this year. Written and directed by out-of-the-box talent Houman Seyyedi (<em>13, Confessions of My Dangerous Mind</em>), it's his most accomplished work so far and the most exciting genre film on show in the film market at the recent Fajr Film Festival. The pic is well-deserving of exposure to international audiences who, however, will have to adjust their ideas about soft-spoken Iranian drama.

The English title is an amalgam of "sheep" and "...

Shanghai International Film Festival unveils 2016 line-up.Scroll down for full list of awards

Longman Leung and Sunny Luk’s Cold War 2 [pictured], the sequel to Edko Films’ hit 2012 action thriller, will open this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (June 11-19).

Meanwhile, Werner Herzog’s Salt And Fire, Bruce Beresford’s Mr Church and Cao Baoping’s Coke And Bull are among the films selected for the Golden Goblet Awards (see full list below).

As previously announced the competition jury is headed by Emir Kusturica and also includes Atom Egoyan, Daniele Luchetti, African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu), Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden (Tharlo), Hong Kong actress Karena Lam and Chinese writer Yan Geling.

Japanese filmmaker Kazuo Hara will oversee a separate jury for documentaries, while Swiss animation director George Schwizgebel heads the jury for animated films.

Siff also unveiled nominations in six categories for the Asian New Talent Awards, which has a jury headed by Hong Kong filmmaker...

Werner Herzog’s thriller Salt And Fire will have its world premiere at the festival.

Longman Leung and Sunny Luk’s Cold War 2 [pictured], the sequel to Edko Films’ hit 2012 action thriller, will open this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (June 11-19).

Meanwhile, Werner Herzog’s Salt And Fire, Bruce Beresford’s Mr Church and Cao Baoping’s Coke And Bull are among the films selected for the Golden Goblet Awards (see full list below).

As previously announced the competition jury is headed by Emir Kusturica and also includes Atom Egoyan, Daniele Luchetti, African filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako (Timbuktu), Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden (Tharlo), Hong Kong actress Karena Lam and Chinese writer Yan Geling.

Japanese filmmaker Kazuo Hara will oversee a separate jury for documentaries, while Swiss animation director George Schwizgebel heads the jury for animated films.

Siff also unveiled nominations in six categories for the Asian New Talent Awards, which has a jury...

Iran's Farabi Cinema Foundation has shortlisted 10 films that are being considered as potential candidates to represent the Middle Eastern nation in the Best Foreign Language Film category at the 88th Academy Awards. A team of experts from the Iranian film industry has been commissioned to review the films and make a final selection in the upcoming days. Iran is one of the last country's to submit a film into the race which this year includes films from 67 countries so far.

Here are the 10 films being considered:

Note that none of this films has secured U.S. distribution, thus rights are available.

"13"

Dir. Hooman Seyedi

Isa: Visual Media Institute

"Crazy Castle"

Dir. Abolhassan Davoodi

Facebook Page

"Fish & Cat"

Dir. Shahram Mokri

Isa: Iranian Independents

"I Am Diego Maradona"

Dir. Bahram Tavakoli

Isa: Iranian Independents

"The Long Goodbye"

Dir. Farzad Motamen

Isa: Farabi Cinema Foundation

"Melbourne"

Dir. Nima Javidi

Isa: Iranian Independents

"Muhammad: The Messenger of God"

Dir. Majid Majidi

PC: Nourtaban Film Indsutry

"Tales"

Dir. Rakhshan Bani-Etemad

Isa: Noori Pictures

"Track 143" 

Dir. Narges Abyar

Isa: Irib Media Trade

"What's the Time in Your World?"

Dir. Safi Yazdanian

Isa: Dreamlab Films

Despite censorship and other restrictions imposed on Iranian filmmakers, which would never allowed a film like Panahi's "Taxi" to become the country's Oscar entry, Iranian cinema is thriving and the films in this list showcase a range of sophisticated stories that have gotten the attention of multiple international festivals. 

Simply based on its scale and the talent involved, the clear favorite would be Majidi's biopic "Muhammad: The Messenger of God." Not only is the director one of the most internationally acclaimed Iranian auteurs of all time, but the film also has 3-time Academy Award-winner  Vittorio Storaro as its Dp. It's also the most expensive Iranian film ever made. However, regardless of these numerous qualities, the committee might choose to look elsewhere to avoid more controversy as the film has been banned in other Muslim countries that reject any visual depiction of the prophet, even if his face never appears in the film.

If Majidi's epic is deemed too much of a liability, there are plenty of other great options among the shortlisted works: Yazdanian's "What's the Time in Your World?" stars two of Iran's most well-known actors,  Leila Hatami ("A Separation") and Ali Mosaffa ("The Past"), and won the Fipresci Prize at last year's Busan International Film Festival; "Tales" won the Best Screenplay award at the 2014 Venice Film Festival and stars "A Separation's" Peyman Moaadi; "Melbourne," which also stars Moaadi, had extensive presence in the festival circuit picking up several awards, and Mokri's "Fish & Cat" screened at AFI Fest and won a Special Prize in Venice back in 2013. 

Iran won its first Academy Award with Asghar Farhadi's masterpiece "A Separation" in 2012. Prior to that deserved win, the country had only been nominated once for Majid Majidi's "Children of Heaven."...

Pierre Jolivet’s France-Belgium co-production The Night Watchman won best feature in the Golden Goblet competition of this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (June 13-21), while Cao Baoping’s The Dead End won best director and actor.

The acting prize for The Dead End was split between Deng Chao, Duan Yihong and Guo Tao. The Jury Grad Prix went to Polish filmmaker Jacek Lusinski’s Carte Blanche, while best actress went to Krista Kosonen in Antti Jokinen’ Finland-Lithuania co-production The Midwife (see full list of winners below)

Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev headed the Golden Goblet jury, which also included Chinese director Cai Shangjun, Chinese actress Hao Lei, French filmmaker Philippe Muyl, Hong Kong producer Nansun Shi and Us producer Ron Yerxa.

Last Thursday, Iranian filmmaker Hooman Seyedi’s 13 won best film and cinematography at the Asian New Talent Awards. Best director went to Japan’s Momoko Ando for 0.5mm, while best actress...

Derek Yee’s I Am Somebody will open this year’s Shanghai International Film Festival (Siff, June 13-21), while China-Russian co-production Ballet In The Flames Of War will close the event.

Directed by China’s Yachun Dong and Russia’s Nikita Mikhalkov, Ballet In The Flames Of War is a romance set during the Second World War and opened the Chinese Film Festival in Mosow last month.

Meanwhile, Mikhalkov’s Sunstroke is one of nine films selected for the Golden Goblet Awards, along with Daniel Barnz’s Cake and Taiwanese director Tung Wang’s Where The Wind Settles (see list below). Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev (Leviathan) heads the jury for the awards.

Films nominated for the Asian New Talent Award include Japanese director Momoko Ando’s 0.5mm, Iranian filmmaker Hooman Seyedi’s 13 and Labour Of Love from India’s Aditya Vikram Sengupta.

Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home is also nominated in this section, but for the...

The New Currents Award went to Korean film End Of Winter [pictured], directed by Kim Daehwan, and Iranian film 13, directed by Hooman Seyedi.

The 19th Busan International Film Festival (Biff) wrapped Oct 11 with a record number of admissions at 226,473, topping its 2012 record of 221,002. The top New Currents Award, given to two winners from the competition for first and second time feature directors, went to Korean film End Of Winter, directed by Kim Daehwan, and Iranian film 13, directed by Hooman Seyedi.

The New Currents jury headed by Asgar Farhadi said, “We unanimously voted for 1 by Korean director Kim Daehwan, which impressed us with its stylistic consistency, its skillful exploration of family relations, its elegant mastery of cinematic space, and its great ensemble cast.”

“The majority of the jury voted for the Iranian film 13 by director Hooman Seyedi. Its inventive camerawork, high level of technical achievement and dynamism make for a promising debut feature,” they said.

Busan...