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When Indian filmmaker Sreemoyee Singh first travelled to Tehran in December 2015, it was as a PhD researcher investigating the lives and works of post-revolution Iranian filmmakers in exile. What began as academic fieldwork soon evolved into a feature-length documentary, “And, Towards Happy Alleys”, which had its world premiere at the 2023 Berlinale. Shot over six years during repeated visits to Iran, the documentary offers a rare, ground-level view of a society grappling with censorship, political repression, and a growing undercurrent of resistance.

And, Towards the Happy Alleys is screening at Beskop Tshechu Film Festival

Through candid conversations with filmmakers such as Jafar Panahi, who essentially serves as the tour guide of the narrative, and Mohammad Shirvani, as well as human rights advocate Nasrin Sotoudeh, Singh captures a cross-section of voices that speak to both the enduring power of Iranian cinema and the everyday acts of defiance by Iranian women in a...

“Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films,” said the acclaimed South Korean director Bong Joon-ho. So when it comes to family movies, why limit ourselves to the traditional Disney fares and other nauseatingly popular ones? While there are plenty more shows to stream, why not nudge our family members, if they are undaunted by subtitles, to open themselves to new worlds and cultures? The intention of this list is to invite your family for a virtual cross-cultural journey, to take them on an emotional rollercoaster, and to show how movies can be truly entertaining without often being overly melodramatic. As for the criteria for the line-up of these beautifully crafted films, I’d have to say that the choices are intensely subjective.

1. The Red Balloon (1956)

Albert Lamorisse’s almost wordless 36-minute fun exercise for the family is aimed...

For Indian filmmaker Sreemoyee Singh, world premiering her Iran documentary “And, Towards Happy Alleys” at the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama strand is the culmination of a journey that began in 2015.

Singh completed a masters degree in film studies at Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India and went on to pursue a PhD on The Exiled Filmmaker in Post Revolution Iranian Cinema, with the objective of understanding the source of “impossible hope” in Iranian films. The filmmaker was also introduced to the poetry of Iran’s Forogh Farrokhzad during the course and “connected deeply” to her verses. A desire to read Farrokhzad’s verses in the original Persian led Singh to learn Farsi.

In December 2015, Singh travelled to Tehran for the first time as part of her work on the PhD and with the idea of making a documentary from her field research and experiences and enrolled in advanced Farsi-language classes. Funding...

Sepideh Farsi’s “La Sirène” (“The Siren”) is opening the Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama strand.

The program, which comprises 35 films from 30 countries, including 28 world premieres and 11 debuts, includes new films by Patric Chiha, İlker Çatak, Frauke Finsterwalder, Maite Alberdi, Milad Alami and Apolline Traoré. They feature a galaxy of well-known protagonists and actors such as Joan Baez, Jafar Panahi, Payman Maadi, George MacKay, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Fan Bingbing, Sandra Hüller and Susanne Wolff.

Panorama Selections

“After”

by Anthony Lapia | with Louise Chevillotte, Majd Mastoura, Natalia Wiszniewska

France

World premiere | Debut film

“All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White”

by Babatunde Apalowo | with Tope Tedela, Riyo David, Martha Ehinome Orhiere, Uchechika Elumelu, Floyd Anekwe

Nigeria

World premiere | Debut film

“And, Towards Happy Alleys”

by Sreemoyee Singh | with Jafar Panahi, Nasrin Soutodeh, Jinous Nazokkar, Farhad Kheradmand, Aida Mohammadkhani

India

World premiere | Debut film | Documentary

“La Bête dans la...

London-set revenge thriller Femme, starring George MacKay and Candyman actor Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, has been selected for the Berlinale’s Panorama strand.

It was among a raft of fresh additions to the festival’s Panorama, Generation and Berlinale Special strands announced on Wednesday.

The picture is co-directed by Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping and is based on their 2021 BAFTA-nominated short film of the same name.

Stewart-Jarrett plays a drag queen whose life is destroyed by a homophobic attack and then plots revenge on one of the perpetrators (MacKay) when he spots him in a gay sauna.

The 21 new Panorama titles also include France-based Austrian director Patric Chiha’s The Beast In The Jungle.

A contemporary adaptation of Henry James’s 1903 novella of the same name, the drama follows a man and woman who frequent a huge nightclub for 25 years in anticipation of a mysterious event.

The cast features Anaïs Demoustier,...

When most reviews talk about a simple story portrayed without ceremony, it was exactly that that lead the jury to give this movie Prix de la Camera d’Or at Cannes in 1995. Though that may not have been my primary reason for watching this film, I come out adding one more director to my favourite list.

The streets of Tehran are busy with the preparations for New Year. Everyone is busy decorating their house to welcome the next year. Seven-year-old Razieh has developed a fascination for a round goldfish with a lot of fins. She wants to buy it but the price seems unreasonable to her family. After convincing her mother, she leaves with the entire money left with the family to buy presents. The little girl loses the money twice, tackles strangers, struggles with helplessness and yet does not give up. A lot goes on between...

While I was at Edinburgh a couple of weeks ago, the 8 ½ Foundation did a special event to advertise their aim to show world cinema for children and they showed audience the 1995 award winning film from director Jafar Panahi, The White Balloon, and I personally think it deserves to be seen and has a simple story that anyone can watch and enjoy.

The story is simply written to be ideal for any family audience and the film follows seven-year-old Razieh (Aida Mohammadkhani) as she desperately tries to plead with her mother to get a goldfish on the same day as the Iranian New Year.

Eventually managing to get some money to buy the goldfish, young Raziah sets off into the town in an attempt to buy her goldfish. However, along the way she bumps into a sneaky snake charmer who tries to take advantage of her money and then when she...