News

It was a very emotional Locarno opening night as Iranian female power, Gaza, and Armenia got the spotlight on the first night of the 78th edition of the Locarno Film Festival on Wednesday. Iran-born actress Golshifteh Farahani received a big and cordial Swiss welcome and the Excellence Award Davide Campari on the picturesque lakeside town’s Piazza Grande square. And in a special surprise, she was handed the award by fellow Iranian actress Zar Amir.

“I thought this prize should go to you, to all of us, to us, in this obscure, dark world,” Farahani told the Locarno crowd in an emotional acceptance speech. “We still believe in art and culture. We take refuge in cinema. We watch movies, movies in which everyone is included. We feel love, anger, jealousy, no matter which side of the frontier we live on, no matter which God we believe in, no matter where we pray,...

Golshifteh Farahani will receive the Locarno Film Festival’s prestigious Excellence Award Davide Campari on Aug. 6, 2025.

Farahani will present her recent film, Julia Ducournau’s “Alpha,” which premiered this year in competition at Cannes. She will also take part in a public conversation with the festival audience.

Born in Tehran in 1983, Farahani’s got her breakthrough role in Dariush Mehrjui’s “The Pear Tree” back in 1998. Since then, she has appeared in Abbas Kiarostami’s “Shirin,” Asghar Farhadi’s “About Elly,” Jim Jarmusch’s “Paterson,” Ridley Scott’s spy thriller “Body of Lies” or even in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, starring in “Dead Men Tell No Tales.”

In 2017, she came to Locarno to present the Rajasthan-set “The Song of Scorpions” on the Piazza Grande.

“Sometimes you can separate yourself from the character, and sometimes you can’t. The character’s curse can capture you and you’re a...

Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani will receive the Excellence Award Davide Campari at the 78th edition of the Locarno Film Festival.

She will be presented with the honor on the opening evening of the fest Wednesday, Aug. 6. Farahani will also present her most recent film, Julia Ducournau’s Alpha, which premiered in the competition at Cannes this year, and will take part in a public conversation with the festival audience.

“Renowned for her captivating performances and fearless artistic choices, Golshifteh Farahani has established herself as one of the most influential voices in contemporary cinema,” Locarno organizers said. “Born in Tehran in 1983, Golshifteh Farahani’s passion for acting emerged at an early age, leading to her breakthrough role in Dariush Mehrjui’s The Pear Tree (1998), which won her the best actress award at the Fajr International Film Festival. Since then, she has appeared in a remarkable array of films, both in Iran...

‘Kaansya’ Will Screen at the Cinevesture International Film Festival

Mumbai, 18th March 2025: ‘Kaansya’ – an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s ‘Troilus and Cressida’, reimagined within Haryana’s traditional wrestling community, is set to be screened at the Cinevesture International Film Festival in Chandigarh on the 20th and 22nd of March.

Directed by debut filmmaker Aditya Watts, ‘Kaansya’ (which translates to ‘bronzed’ in English) tells the story of Sonam, the wife of a respected akhada owner, who elopes with Randeep, the son of a rival family. Their forbidden love rekindles long-standing feuds, drawing both families into a devastating conflict.

The film stars Vaarun Bhagat (Inside Edge), Lakshya Goel (‘Trial by Fire’), Kritika Pande (The Song of Scorpions) and Saahhil Sethi (Life Hill Gayi) among others, in pivotal roles.

It was also an official selection at the 2024 Girona Film Festival in Spain.

Watts, who co-wrote the screenplay with Aditya Dabas, has previously...

Celebrated Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap was in vintage free, frank and forthright form at a masterclass in Toronto on Sunday.

“I have a massive problem with authority and authority has problems with me,” was one of the many nuggets from Kashyap, whose very first film “Paanch” (2003) was banned in India and whose subsequent work has been the subject of domestic scrutiny while being celebrated both at home and globally.

Kashyap’s cop noir “Kennedy,” which had its world premiere at Cannes earlier this year, is on an extended festival run. It opened the 12th edition of Bmo International Film Festival of South Asia (Iffsa), where he delivered the masterclass. Kashyap was in conversation with festival patron, acclaimed filmmaker Anup Singh (“The Song of Scorpions”). Unlike masterclasses that look back at the filmmaker’s oeuvre, Singh chose instead to look at the broad themes that have informed Kashyap’s work over...

Revered Indian actor Waheeda Rehman has been accorded the Dadasaheb Phalke award, India’s highest film honor.

The award is given for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema and is named after Phalke, director of “Raja Harischandra” (1913), India’s first full-length feature, who is considered the father of Indian cinema.

Rehman, the 85-year-old grande dame of Indian cinema has worked with most of the legendary filmmakers of her country during her career and the roles she chose were in films that are considered classics in the annals of Indian cinema. She worked with Guru Dutt in “Pyaasa” (1957) and “Kaagaz Ke Phool” (1959), Satyajit Ray in “Abhijaan” (1962), Basu Bhattacharya in “Teesri Kasam” (1966) and Yash Chopra in “Kabhie Kabhie” (1976), among many other memorable roles.

But it is her role as Rosie in Vijay Anand’s “Guide” (1965) that Rehman remembers with the greatest fondness. “When I signed ‘Guide’ more than 50 years ago, my friends told...

The Song Of Scorpions

Starring Irrfan Khan, Golshifteh Farahani, Waheeda Rehman, Shashank Arora

Written & Directed by Anup Singh

Luckily for us and posterity, Irrfan Khan’s final film is an exquisite piece of cinema. Enchanting to view, gorgeous in feel, The Song Of Scorpions is an enigmatic parable set to the tune of a cinematic rhythm by a master craftsman.

I’ve been a fan of Anup Singh’s cinema since Qissa where Irrfan was a Sikh father hellbent on proving his daughter to be a son. In many ways in The Song Of Scorpions Irrfan plays a distant cousin to his character in Qissa. His camel-plying hero Aadam is a mulishly stubborn man driven to obsessive self-destructive lengths by his passion for a stunning resolute woman of the deserts(Iranian beauty Golshifteh Farahani) who sings to scorpions. And there lies the sting.

This is a film that addresses the...

Babil Khan, son of actor Irrfan Khan, is missing his father on the ate actors birth anniversary, and is spending the day by revisiting his memories.

Looking back, Babil took to his Instagram handle on Thursday to share an unseen video of Irrfan with his family.

He also shared how Irrfan never believed in celebrating birthdays and didn't encourage anyone to remember his birthday, but this year Babil could not forget his birthday even if he tried.

"You never identified with institutions such as contractual marriage and birthday celebrations. Perhaps, that is why I don't remember anyone's birthdays because you never remembered mine and never encouraged me to remember yours," he wrote.

"It was just normal to us what seemed absurd from the outside, we celebrated everyday (bringing personal experiential authenticity to the cliche). On the occasion, Mamma would have to remind us both; but this time I could not forget yours if I tried.

In its first year of establishment, Panorama Spotlight along with 70 Mm Talkies is all set to bring a Feather Light Films and Knm production entitled, ‘The Song of Scorpions’ , which is the final work of the late legendary actor, Irrfan Khan. The banners offer a golden chance to witness the mesmerizing performance of the actor on the big screen one last time.

Directed by Anup Singh, the Irrfan Khan-starrer is an empowering drama that revolves around an independent young tribal woman, who tries to overcome a brutal betrayal so as to find her voice. One of the prime highlights of the upcoming film is that the actor will be seen in a memorable role.

Talking about the film and Irrfan’s performance the director told BollySpice in an earlier interview, “Let me give you an example that I think that will show very clearly how he works and why I...

In today’s Global Bulletin, a citizen journalist is sentenced to four years of jail time by the Chinese government, ITV Hub posts record 2020 statistics and Irrfan Khan-starrer “The Song of Scorpion” gets a special re-release to honor the actor.

Trial

Zhang Zhan, a former lawyer-turned-citizen journalist, has been sentenced to four years in prison, becoming the first publicly acknowledged person to be tried and convicted for contradicting the Chinese government’s official account of the Covid-19 pandemic. The trial lasted less than three hours, after which Zhang was sentenced on a vague charge often used against critics of the Chinese government.

At the trial, Zhang, who went on a well-publicized hunger strike before being force-fed by Chinese authorities, appeared in a wheelchair and was, according to her lawyer, unrecognizable from only a few weeks before, having lost significant weight.

Zhang left her home in Shanghai for Wuhan in...

Mumbai, Dec 28 (Ians) The Song Of Scorpions, the last film of late actor Irrfan Khan, will release on the big screen in early 2021.

Directed by Anup Singh, the drama revolves around an independent young tribal woman, who tries to overcome a brutal betrayal so as to find her voice. Irrfan, who died in April this year, will be seen in the role of a camel trader.

Also featuring Waheeda Rehman and Iranian star Golshifteh Farahani, the film had its world premiere at the 70th Locarno Film Festival in 2017.

"‘The Song Of Scorpions' is a special story and it is truly an honour for us to present Irrfan Khan's final performance in it. We will be offering this film to the audiences as a tribute to the beloved star of Indian cinema," said Abhishek Pathak of Panorama Spotlight, one of the producers of the film.

"We feel blessed that we are...

Award-winning actor announced a cancer diagnosis in 2018.

Indian actor Irrfan Khan has died aged 53 following a two-year battle with cancer.

Khan starred in The Lunchbox, which won the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award at Cannes in 2013, and was also known for his work in international films including Mira Nair’s The Namesake (2006), Slumdog Millionaire (2008), Life Of Pi (2012), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), Jurassic World (2015) and Inferno (2016).

The actor announced in 2018 that he’d been diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour, but made a partial recovery following treatment in London and continued to act in Indian productions such as Angrezi Medium (2020).

He was admitted...

Irrfan Khan, the wide-eyed actor who enjoyed art house acclaim in his native India and crossover-success with major Hollywood roles including “Life of Pi,” "The Lunchbox," “Jurassic World” and “Inferno,” died on Wednesday. He was 53.

Khan was previously diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour in 2018 and underwent extensive treatment in London. He recovered well enough to shoot what would turn out to be his last film “Angrezi Medium,” the release of which was abruptly cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic in March.

On Tuesday, he was admitted into the intensive care unit of Mumbai’s Kokilaben hospital with a colon infection.

After a brief stint in television, Khan made his film debut with a cameo in 1988 with Mira Nair’s Oscar-nominated “Salaam Bombay.” He returned to Indian television for the next decade. He shot to global prominence playing the lead in Asif Kapadia’s BAFTA winner “The Warrior” in 2001.

His major breakthrough...

Singapore-based Aurora Media and Darpan Global have picked up producing options for Indian author Dhruv Bhatt's best-seller Timirpanthi (Pilgrims in the Dark) and its screenplay by Jay Bhatt.

Aurora Media is one of Southeast Asia’s leading media and entertainment asset incubation, investment and management entities. The company's slate includes Storm Boy headlined by Geoffrey Rush and Jai Courtney, Indonesian title Abracadabra with Reza Rahadian, Stano starring Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello, Irfan Khan-starrer The Song of Scorpions and The Long Walk, directed by Mattie Do.

Darpan is a leading distributor and producer of art house, independent and Bollywood titles in Southeast ...

Singapore-based Aurora Media and Darpan Global have picked up producing options for Indian author Dhruv Bhatt's best-seller Timirpanthi (Pilgrims in the Dark) and its screenplay by Jay Bhatt.

Aurora Media is one of Southeast Asia’s leading media and entertainment asset incubation, investment and management entities. The company's slate includes Storm Boy headlined by Geoffrey Rush and Jai Courtney, Indonesian title Abracadabra with Reza Rahadian, Stano starring Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello, Irfan Khan-starrer The Song of Scorpions and The Long Walk, directed by Mattie Do.

Darpan is a leading distributor and producer of art house, independent and Bollywood titles in Southeast ...

Singapore-based Aurora Media Holdings, one of Southeast Asia’s leading media companies, has optioned and boarded India-South Korean co-production “The Yellow Jade” as a producer, alongside India’s Stray Factory and India/Singapore outfit Magic Hour Films. The deal was struck at Busan’s Asian Project Market. Aurora group managing partner Justin Deimen, pictured above, will produce with Stray Factory’s Mathivanan Rajendran and Magic Hour’s Samir Sarkar. Vijay Jayapal (“Revelations”) will direct. The companies are meeting potential Korean co-producers at the market.

Aurora has also completed the funding that Stray Factory, Magic Hour, Uncombed Buddha, Stop Whinging and Harman Ventures sought for Jayapal’s “Nirvana Inn” at the Asian Project Market.

“The Yellow Jade” cuts between the past and the present. In the past, Korean King Suro dreamed that the heavens would choose his bride. A South Indian princess sailed across the seas in a red vessel, and...

Set within the deep desert landscapes of rural Rajasthan, is the poetic tale of The Song Of Scorpions. Starring Irrfan Khan and Golshifteh Farahani (About Elly) and with a cameo by the legendary actress Waheeda Rehman, this Anup Singh directed film is being showcased at the London Indian Film Festival.

To set the stage for our tale, here is the trailer:

In a brilliant and inspiring conversation, Mr. Singh talks about the creation of this beautiful film, working with Irrfan Khan, and, more than anything, leaves you with some beauty for the world.

The Dream

In the last 10-15 years there has been a growing violence against women in India of quite a horrific kind. When I was shooting my last film, Qissa, there was an attack on a woman on a public bus in Delhi. It was such a brutal and violent attack that I think it had a...

The picture is expected to premiere at a major film festival this year.

Source: Elle Driver

‘Girls Of The Sun’

Screen can reveal an exclusive first look (above) at Golshifteh Farahani in the role of a female Kurdish fighter in French director Eva Husson’s Girls Of The Sun.

Farahani plays Bahar, the commander-in-chief of a Kurdish female battalion known as “The Girls of the Sun”, who is preparing to take back the town where she and her family were captured by extremists.

Cannes best actress winner Emmanuelle Bercot (Mon Roi) co-stars as journalist Mathilde who is embedded with the female fighters to cover the early days of the offensive.

Through their encounter, Bahar’s experiences since the arrival of the extremists who changed the course of her life slowly resurface.

The role comes amid a busy period for versatile, Paris-based Farahani who also recently played the lead in The Song Of Scorpions, appeared in Pirates...

Exclusive: Rajasthan-set drama will receive its world premiere at the upcoming Locarno film festival.

The Match Factory has picked up international rights to Anup Singh’s third film, The Song Of Scorpions, which will receive its world premiere in a Piazza Grande screening at the upcoming Locarno film festival.

Starring Golshifteh Farahani and Irrfan Khan, the film follows a carefree, independent tribal woman who is learning the ancient art of healing from her grandmother, a revered scorpion-singer.

A camel trader in the Rajasthan desert hears her sing and falls in love, but before they get to know each other, she is poisoned by a treachery that sets her on a perilous journey to avenge herself and find her song.

Produced by Swiss production company Feather Light Films, founded by Saskia Vischer and Shahaf Peled, and Michel Merkt’s Monaco-based Knm, the Swiss-French-Singapore co-production also stars Waheeda Rehman, Shashank Arora and Tillotama Shome.

It was produced...

Just a couple of days back we shared you the first look of Irrfan Khan in his next international venture The Song Of Scorpions...

Atomic Blonde, The Big Sick, The Song Of Scorpions among line-up.

The line-up for the 70th Locarno Festival (Aug 2-12) in Switzerland has been announced.

Scroll down for the full line-up

The 16-strong Piazza Grande strand features 11 world premieres, including opening night film Tomorrow And Every Other Day directed by Noemie Lvovsky and starring Mathieu Amalric, and closing night music doc Gotthard - One Life, One Soul, about the swiss rock band.

Other Piazza Grande films include Atomic Blonde with Charlize Theron, Good Time starring Robert Pattinson, Kumail Nanjiani’s The Big Sick, What Happened to Monday? with Glenn Close and the world premiere of Anup Singh’s The Song of Scorpions, starring Irrfan Khan, who will attend the festival.

Actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz will receive the festival’s 2017 excellence award and Nastassja Kinski will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award.

Michel Merkt (Toni Erdmann, Elle) will receive the festival’s best independent producer award.

As...

Irrfan Khan nails with his rustics and rugged look for his Hollywood next The Song Of Scorpions...

Exclusive: Film revolves around native American family. Bac Film showing first images in Cannes.

Swiss producer Michel Merkt has boarded Babak Jalali’s upcoming drama Land about a native American family dealing with the scourge of alcoholism and the death of a loved one serving in Afghanistan.

Merkt, whose recent credits include the Oscar-nominated My Life As A Courgette, Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only The End Of The World and Toni Erdmann, has helped close a post-production financing gap.

The deal was begun during the Doha Film Institute’s talent development event Qumra in March, where Land was presented as a work-in-progress. “It’s a great asset for us. Michel’s doing a fantastic job and is behind so many high-quality cinema productions right now,” said lead producer Ginevra Elkann of Rome-based Asmara Films.

The picture is now close to picture lock with Belgian editor Nico Leunen attached and sights set on an autumn festival release...

Screen investigates which films from around the world could launch on the Croisette, including on opening night.

With just over a month to go before the line-up for this year’s Cannes Film Festival is unveiled in Paris, Croisette predictions and wish lists are hitting the web thick and fast.

Screen’s network of correspondents and contributors around the world have been putting out feelers to get a sense of what might or might not make it to the Palais du Cinéma or one of the parallel sections.

Just like the Oscars, this year’s festival is likely to unfold amid a politically-charged atmosphere. Beyond Trump and the rise of populism across the globe, France will be digesting the result of its own presidential election on May 7. Against this background, the festival will be feting its 70th edition.

Below, Screen reveals which titles might - and might not - be in the running for a place at the...

Waheeda Rehman, Shashank Arora (Titli, pictured) and Tillotama Shome (Qissa) have joined the cast of Anup Singh’s third feature The Song of Scorpions, which was first pitched at Film Bazaar 2013.

As previously reported, French-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani and Irrfan Khan lead the cast. Rehman, an Indian acting legend who has appeared in more than 85 films since the 1950s, plays Farahani’s grandmother, a singing healer.

Qissa director Singh will start the 7-week shoot for the new film on Nov 26 in Rajasthan.

Saskia Vischer, Shahaf Peled, Michel Merkt and Thierry Lenouvel are producing the Swiss-French co-production. Rakesh Mehra’s Kriti Productions is serving as the Indian co-producer.

The film has backing from Swiss federal fund Bak, regional fund Cinéforom, and the Cnc’s Aide aux cinemas du monde.

Set in the mystical Thar Desert of Rajasthan, Singh’s original story is about a shaman woman who travels the desert and heals scorpion poisoning with a song. When...