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As Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s It Was Just An Accident was declared winner of the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or on Saturday evening, one of the first questions from the Deadline team was: “Could it go to the Oscars?”.

It’s an obvious question given the Oscar track record of recent Palme d’Or winners Anora, Anatomy of a Fall and Parasite.

However, it is unlikely that Iran’s Islamic Republic government will allow Panahi’s film to be put forward as the country’s Best International Feature Film submission for the 2026 Oscars.

Aside from Panahi’s outspoken stance against its stranglehold on democracy which has twice landed him in prison, the film is highly critical of Iran’s penal system on the back of the director’s own firsthand experiences.

Billed as “a powerful statement for humanity” by Deadline critic Pete Hammond in his review, It Was Just An Accident...

With four features under his belt, three of them ambitious and sprawling ensemble pieces, 35-year-old Iranian wunderkind Saeed Roustaee is the kind of director who takes a big swing for the fences with each new film. His 2019 drug thriller, Just 6.5, was like The French Connection meets The Wire in contemporary Iran. His 2022 family epic, Leila’s Brothers — which, like his new film, premiered in competition in Cannes — had hints of both The Godfather and the searing social dramas of Asghar Farhadi, with some of the best acting in any movie that year.

Roustaee attempts another big swing with Mother and Child, a grandiose modern melodrama filled with love, death, heartache, anger, jealousy, vengeance and possible murder. It’s a lot to take in, and not all of it works despite some more great performances, including from regular leading man Payman Maadi (also an early Farhadi regular in About Elly and...

Cannes film festival

Saeed Roustaee’s new film takes aim at a slippery, entitled male who thinks he can lord it over a widow he plans to marry

A strange, sad, sombre movie from Iranian director Saeed Roustaee whose last entry at Cannes was the family drama Leila’s Brothers in 2022. This is a story about the randomness of life in the big city, a melodramatic convulsion of grief, rage and pain which has a TV soap feel to its succession of escalating crises. Like Leila’s Brothers, it is about the entitlement of Iran’s menfolk, and how a man – however shiftless, casual and low-status – can somehow pull rank on a woman in the marriage market.

Payman Maadi (from Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation) plays Hamid, an ambulance driver in his late 40s with a certain roguish ladies-man charm whose unmarried status raises eyebrows among some of his acquaintances, but who...

The Little Sister unfolds as a delicate adaptation of Fatima Daas’s autofictional novel, guided by actress-turned-director Hafsia Herzi. Set in the working-class suburbs of Paris, the film follows Fatima (a striking debut from Nadia Melliti), the youngest daughter in a French-Algerian household, whose quiet devotion to Islam collides with the stirrings of a hidden love for women. Herzi divides this journey into seasonal chapters, each marking shifts in Fatima’s academic life—from the crowded hallways of lycée to the philosophical halls of university—and in her personal world.

Central to the drama is the tension between faith and self-discovery: Fatima navigates family rituals at home while experimenting with lesbian dating apps, all under the watchful lens of Dp Jérémie Attard. Moments of whispered confession in a moonlit bedroom contrast with the cello-led score by Amine Bouhafa, whose restrained themes echo Fatima’s guarded heart. Ji-Na (Ji-Min Park) emerges as both mirror and catalyst,...

Alexandre Mallet-Guy’s Memento has bought Harry Lighton’s sexy romance “Pillion” which is world premiering in Un Certain Regard.

The Paris-based Memento, which is at Cannes with three movies in competition, will release the A24 movie in France. Speaking to Variety, Mallet Guy said, “It’s a gay Bdsm rom-com, and it’s pretty wild.”

“Alexander Skarsgård plays the biker, and Harry Melling, who you might know from ‘Harry Potter,’ plays the submissive. The film is hilarious but also quite disturbing, simply because it’s a romantic comedy set in such a specific, unconventional world. But it really works — it’s surprisingly emotional, and there’s something incredible about seeing two stars take such bold risks,” he added.

Memento’s Cannes competition lineup includes Joachim Trier’s “Sentimental Value,” Jafar Panahi’s “A Simple Accident” and Tarik Saleh’s “Eagles of the Republic,” as well as Laura Wandel’s...

Two-time Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (A Separation, The Salesman) has cast a who’s who of French stars for his next feature, Parallel Tales.

Gallic A-listers Isabelle Huppert (Elle), Virginie Efira (Benedetta), Vincent Cassel (Black Swan) and Pierre Niney (The Count of Monte-Cristo) are set to headline the French-language feature, alongside Adam Bessa, an up-and-comer nominated for a French César as best newcomer this year for his turn in Jonathan Millet’s Ghost Trail. The film will also feature a cameo from French film legend Catherine Deneuve.

Parallel Tales is set to begin shooting in Paris this fall, marking Farhadi’s first French feature since 2013’s The Past starring Tahar Rahim and Berenice Bejo. The film is being set up as a French-Italian-Belgian coproduction between Alexandre Mallet-Guy’s Memento Production, Andrea Occhipinti’s Lucky Red, and André Logie’s Panache Productions and Gaëtan David’s La Compagnie Cinématographique. U.

Asghar Farhadi will shoot his next film Parallel Tales in Paris this coming fall, with Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Adam Bessa in the cast.

It is the Oscar-winning Iranian director’s first feature since A Hero, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2021.

Parallel Tales marks Farhadi’s second French-language film after The Past with Tahar Rahim and Berenice Bejo, who won Best Actress award for her performance at Cannes in 2013.

The feature will be produced by Alexandre Mallet-Guy alongside Farhadi and David Levine. Mallet-Guy has worked with Farhadi on all of his films starting with and since The Past, having originally connected with the director as the French distributor of his earlier titles including About Elly and A Separation.

The film is an official French-Italian-Belgian coproduction between Mallet-Guy’s Memento Production in France, Andrea Occhipinti’s Lucky Red in Italy, and André Logie...

This review may contain spoilers.

In celebration of Nowruz, we visit an often undersung film in Iranian cinema. Though hailed as the precursor to Asghar Farhadi‘s “A Separation” (2011), Abbas Kiarostami‘s “The Report” (“Gozaresh“) has been seldom written about in the legendary director’s oeuvre. This is somewhat surprising, considering that Kiarostami’s first feature includes icons in today’s landscape of New Wave Iranian cinema: prolific cinematographer Alireza Zarrin Dast; Oscar-nominated Shohreh Aghdashloo; and least to say, Kiarostami himself. The film is fascinating as a time-capsule, too. In this glimpse of pre-1979 Revolution Tehran, we see a pinhole view into a world that no longer exists.

“The Report” observes the middle-class world of civil servant Mahmad Firouzkoui (Kurosh Afsharpanah) crumble within a week. At work, he is pardoned from his job after an accusation of bribery. At home, his young but often neglected wife, Azam (Shohreh Aghdashloo) threatens...

Chinese distribution company Hishow has launched We Love Cinema, a new label dedicated to highlighting arthouse films from around the world in mainland China.

The new programme, unveiled at the Hong Kong FilmMart, will focus on distribution, marketing and exhibition for movies across arthouse and genre. We Love Cinema will be developing innovative marketing initiatives, for instance a WeChat mini app boasting exclusive contents and bonuses, as well as early screenings and Q&a with filmmakers. As part of the programme, Hishow will also be setting up a network of arthouse cinemas.

The Beijing-based distributor has been ramping acquisitions of international prestige movies. One of its recent acquisitions include Walter Salles’ Brazilian family drama “I’m Still Here” which just won best international feature film at the Oscars, along with Salles’ 1998 film “Central Station.” Other recent pickups include the Oscar-nominated animated feature “Memoir of a Snail” from Australian stop-motion master Adam Elliot,...

Chinese distributor Hishow Entertainment is launching a marketing, distribution and exhibition program, We Love Cinema, to promote arthouse titles in the mainland China market.

The Beijing-based company has also recently acquired Best International Oscar winner I’m Still Here, directed by Brazilian auteur Walter Salles, along with Salles’ 1998 film Central Station, adding to its expanding roster of prestige titles.

In addition to acquiring specialist titles for mainland China theatrical distribution, the We Love Cinema program involves building a marketing strategy and loyalty program for cinema fans. The company is developing online communities and a WeChat mini app through which members can enjoy exclusive contents and bonuses including early screenings, Q&As with filmmakers, limited edition merchandise and special gifts.

The program also involves establishing a network of arthouse-friendly cinemas, working towards a platform releasing strategy, starting off with release in a select number of cinemas for each title, potentially expanding wider...

Memento Intl., the well-established Paris-based international sales company behind “Call Me by Your Name,” is rebranding as Paradise City Sales and is bringing “My Notes on Mars,” starring Greta Lee and Andrew Scott, to the EFM.

Emilie Georges, who founded Memento Intl. 20 years ago, launched the production vehicle Paradise City a few years ago with London-based Naima Abed. The pair have had great success with the pics they delivered, notably 2025 Sundance hit ”Atropia,” starring Alia Shawkat and Channing Tatum, and Anthony Chen’s 2023 drama ”Drift,” with Cynthia Erivo. “My Notes of Mars,” Hungarian director Lili Horvát’s English-language debut feature, is the latest co-production on Paradise City’s slate.

The rebranding comes at a pivotal time as Georges and Abed seek to build a closer bond between production and sales. As such, the sales outlet will now operate under the same Paradise City banner, which has offices in Paris and London,...

The American Film Institute defines courtroom drama as a genre of film in which a system of justice plays a critical role in the movie's narrative. In the United States, courtroom dramas have been a popular movie genre since the 1930s. Courtroom dramas have had a propensity to earn a wealth of critical acclaim thanks in part to the genre's frequent exploration of timely social themes. The genre also consistently allows actors the opportunity to deliver epic monologues, which has led to countless iconic performances within the genre.

In the twenty-first century, courtroom dramas have continued to thrive critically and commercially. Courtroom dramas such as Erin Brockovich, Michael Clayton, The Social Network, and Bridge of Spies have all earned Academy Award nominations for Best Picture. Internationally, courtroom dramas like A Separation, The Third Murder, Saint Omer, and Anatomy of a Fall each rank among the greatest films released since 2000.

Related...

Entries for the 2025 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 97th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 3, 2025 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) 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 November 1, 2023, and September 30, 2024. The deadline for submissions to the Academy is October 2, 2024.

A shortlist of 15 finalists is scheduled to...

Germany has picked The Seed of the Sacred Fig from Iranian dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof to represent the country at the 2025 Oscars in the best international feature category.

This is the first time an Iranian film has been put forward by Germany for the international Oscar race. Rasoulof qualified for the selection because the film is an Iranian-French-German co-production and because he is now a German resident, having fled Iran earlier this year to escape an eight-year prison sentence.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which won a special jury prize at Cannes, has been banned in Iran. Given Rasoulof’s outspoken attacks on the Tehran regime, the film would never have been submitted by the government for the Oscars.

Neon has North American rights for the film.

Both German and Iranian directors have a good record at the Academy Awards. Germany has won the best international feature trophy four times,...

Amazon Prime Video is the place to go for movies this month, with a plethora of original films as well as new library additions for just about every movie fan. The Emma Roberts-led original Space Cadet hits the streaming service aptly on the Fourth of July, for anyone looking for a fish-out-of-water style comedy. My Spy the Eternal City, the newest film in the Dave Bautista-led family action series also drops on July 18.

Action film fans are also in for a treat with recent films The Beekeeper and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning coming to Prime Video in July.

As far as TV shows go, the most notable addition this month is the adult animated series Sausage Party: Foodtopia, a continuation of the 2016 film Sausage Party.

Here’s everything coming to Prime Video and Freevee in July – Amazon originals are designated with an asterisk.

New on Amazon Prime Video...

This July, beat the heat with the latest additions at Prime Video and Freevee!

It’s a light month for original series, films, and specials as we head into the summer lull, but there is still plenty to watch throughout the month: over 140 classic films between the two Amazon streamers will be added this month, from horrors such as the genre-changing “The Silence Of The Lambs” and last year’s newest “Evil Dead” franchise installment “Evil Dead Rise,” the first five films of the “Rocky” franchise, and comedies like “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Animal House,” “13 Going On 30,” and much, much more.

But after the majority of the film load drops on July 1, don’t forget to head back to the services’ additions throughout the month, including Season 2 of the critically acclaimed “Troppo,” the new “Legally Blonde“-like comedy “Space Cadet,” and a new documentary from award-winning documentary filmmaker Dawn Porter,...

For more than two decades, Iman (Misagh Zare) has functioned as a civil servant, doing work that his kids — who represent Iran’s younger generation — would be ashamed of. Better to keep them in the dark. At last, for his loyalty, Iman has been given a promotion, not to judge (the job he wants) but to inspector (a job no one wants). Inspectors are the goons who interrogate students his daughters’ age when they’re arrested for protesting, the ones who sign off on death sentences for alleged dissidents. Iman doesn’t just work for the Iranian regime; he is the regime.

With livid, thinking-person’s thriller “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” director Mohammad Rasoulof responds to his own imprisonment in 2022 by examining Iranian tensions within the context of a well-placed Tehran family. For most of this slow-boiling nearly-three-hour movie, the main character is not Iman but his submissive,...

Payman Maadi brings a fierce intelligence to his portrayal of a refugee seeking a secure new home for his family in Sweden

Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher from 2015 and Sean Durkin’s recent The Iron Claw show the sport of wrestling as deeply dysfunctional; wrestling fans might wonder if their favourite pastime is ever going to be depicted in the movies as vital and dramatic, like football, or even tragically noble and masculine, like boxing. Well … not in this film.

Motståndaran, or Opponent, is a tense, complex drama from Iranian-born and Denmark-based director Milad Alami, drawing on some of his own experiences as a refugee in northern Sweden. Payman Maadi (from Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation) plays Imam, a grizzled Iranian wrestling champ seeking asylum in Sweden with his pregnant wife Maryam (Marall Nasiri) and their two young daughters. He and his family left behind a good, prosperous life in Tehran,...

Iranian authorities have rejected as “baseless” allegations that director Asghar Farhadi stole the idea for his acclaimed 2021 feature A Hero.

A former student of the two-time Oscar winner, director of A Separation and The Salesman, sued Farhadi for allegedly pilfering her premise for A Hero. Farhadi had always denied the allegations.

On Wednesday, a group of three professors at Tehran University specializing in copyright law, along with four official art experts, rejected the claims as invalid and baseless, clearing Farhadi of all blame.

The student, Azadeh Masihzadeh, claimed Farhadi plagiarized the story for A Hero from a documentary (titled All Winners, All Losers) she made for his class. Both the documentary and Farhadi’s fiction film share the same basic story of an inmate in debtors’ prison who, while on leave, finds a bag of gold coins and struggles with the decision to keep the money or return it. Masihzadeh...

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:

Oscars | Emmys | Grammys | Tonys

2024 Oscars Predictions:

Best International Feature Wim Wenders’ ‘Perfect Days’

Weekly Commentary: The United Kingdom is poised to win its first Academy Award with Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” and what a deserved win it will be.

But while I have the floor: it’s time for the...

The director Noora Niasari deeply understands the personal struggles of people who often go unnoticed by the mainstream flow of life. Her last short film, the 2020 thriller Tâm, about a Vietnamese woman trapped in a cataclysmic sexual encounter, is a haunting gut punch.

Noora and I are from different generations and cultures. Yet she lived in the same suburb of Melbourne that I grew up in, and we were both raised by isolated single mothers in predominantly female environments. So the moment I read Shayda — Noora’s first feature script...

A cross-country journey in search of a mysterious treasure puts the nature of faith to the test in “The Great Yawn of History,” the feature debut of Iranian director Aliyar Rasti, which premieres Feb. 22 in the competitive Encounters section of the Berlin Film Festival.

The film tells the story of a man of wavering religious conviction who dreams of a box of gold hidden in a cave. Convinced he’s forbidden by Islamic law to claim the treasure himself, he turns to a non-believer to assist him, setting into motion an arduous journey of both physical and spiritual dimensions as the two men grapple with notions of faith in their pursuit of a miracle.

Written and directed by Rasti, “The Great Yawn of History” stars Mohammad Aghebati and Amirhossein Hosseini and is produced by Tehran-based Para-Doxa. Heretic is handling world sales.

A visual artist with no formal film schooling, Rasti...

Totem Films, the Paris-based sales and production company known for arthouse breakouts such as “Compartment No. 6” and “Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry,” has boarded sales on “My Favourite Cake” by Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha. The Iranian writing-directing duo’s latest feature was just announced in competition at the upcoming Berlinale.

The film stars newcomer Lily Farhadpour as Mahin and renowned Iranian actor Esmail Mehrabi as Faramarz.

Seventy-year-old Mahin lives alone, until she decides to break her solitary routine and revitalize her love life. But as she opens up to romance, an unexpected encounter quickly evolves into an unforgettable evening.

Moghaddam and Sanaeeha said: “’My Favourite Cake’ is based on the reality of the everyday lives of middle-class women in Iran. The realities of women’s lives in Iran have hardly ever been told, yet this is a playful tale about hope and joy in life, as well as the absurdity of death.

Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi first co-directed the short Solar Eclipse, and they have teamed up again for In the Land of Brothers, a feature debut for each. The film tells the story of three members of an Afghan family who flee to Iran as refugees and struggle to find acceptance and security. In The Land of Brothers‘ editor is Hayedeh Safiyari, who has edited many of contemporary Iran’s best-known filmmakers. Below, she discusses the novel challenges of editing a film with sharply delineated chapters and the importance of an editor connecting emotionally to the script. See […]

The post “The Turning Points of the Story are Painful and Challenging Moments”: Editor Hayedeh Safiyari on In The Land of Brothers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi first co-directed the short Solar Eclipse, and they have teamed up again for In the Land of Brothers, a feature debut for each. The film tells the story of three members of an Afghan family who flee to Iran as refugees and struggle to find acceptance and security. In The Land of Brothers‘ editor is Hayedeh Safiyari, who has edited many of contemporary Iran’s best-known filmmakers. Below, she discusses the novel challenges of editing a film with sharply delineated chapters and the importance of an editor connecting emotionally to the script. See […]

The post “The Turning Points of the Story are Painful and Challenging Moments”: Editor Hayedeh Safiyari on In The Land of Brothers first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Asghar Farhadi is one of the most prominent directors in Iranian history. He got his start in TV before transitioning to features in the early 2000s, directing a string of dramatic gems beginning with 2003's Dancing in the Dust. His projects tend to be realistic dramas that delve into relationships and social dynamics, generally making subtle commentaries on modern life in his home country. Farhadi's most famous project is the acclaimed drama A Separation, which brought him significant international attention.

“Slow,” Marija Kavtaradze’s delicate romance, won the Crystal Arrow at the 15th edition of Les Arcs Film Festival from a jury presided over by Oscar-nominated Iranian director Asghar Farhadi (“A Separation”).

Kavtaradze’s sophomore outing, “Slow” world premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it won best director. The film revolves around the bond between Elena (Greta Grinevičiūtė), a contemporary dancer teaching to deaf youth, and Dovydas (Kęstutis Cicėnas), a sign language interpreter class.

“The Teachers’ Lounge,” meanwhile, won the jury prize. The satirical movie, directed Ilker Çatak, world premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, in the Panorama section, and was just shortlisted in the Oscar’s international feature film race. Leonie Benesch stars an idealistic teacher who tries to uncover a thief within her school and sparks chaos in the process.

Dimitra Vlagopoulou won best actress for her performance as an entertainer at an all-inclusive Greek resort in...

Danger is never very far away in Noora Niasari’s confident debut, a deeply personal tribute to a generation torn between tradition and modernity. Focusing on the title character, Shayda hangs on a vulnerable but powerful performance from Holy Spider’s Zar Amir Ebrahimi as an Iranian divorcée hiding out from her abusive ex, who may or may not be planning to smuggle their daughter Mona (Selina Zahednia) back to Iran.

This fear is played out in the jittery opening sequence, set in 1995, when Shayda and Joyce (Leah Purcell), a social worker of sorts, scope out an airport with Mona in tow. Both women impress upon Mona what to do if she should ever end up there against her will, noting repeatedly that blue uniforms equate with safety. Back at the women’s shelter, a shared hostel in a fiercely secret suburban location, Shayda wonders how she got to this...

Asghar Farhadi has arguably been a household name in world cinema since his 2011 breakout “A Separation.” But despite winning a Best International Feature Film Oscar for that movie, and doing so again for 2016’s “A Salesman,” Farhadi’s earlier films have never received a North American release. Until now, that is.

Read More: Fall Film Preview: 60+ Most Anticipated Movies To Watch

Farhadi’s debut film, 2003’s “Dancing In The Dust,” gets its first-ever release in the US, Mexico, and Canada today.

Continue reading ‘Dancing In The Dust’ Trailer: Asghar Farhadi’s Debut Film Gets Its First-Ever North American Release Today at The Playlist.

Each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit streaming platforms in the United States. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.

Age Out (A.J. Edwards)

The only thing worse than never getting your happy ending is having it within grasp and realizing you cannot accept it. To see salvation and turn around knowing it would be a lie is the type of heartbreaking choice we often have to make in order to keep on going. It’s the decision that separates man from monster: an admission of remorse, guilt, and regret. Our actions cause ripples that affect countless others we haven’t met yet or never will and while that truth allows some to sleep at night, the rest wonder what nightmares the collateral damage of their deeds endure as a result. You could say that the only thing separating those two groups is love.

Thanks to the breakout success of his Oscar-winning drama A Separation back in 2011, Asghar Farhadi’s earlier films have received newfound recognition thanks to new restorations in the subsequent years. Following his Cannes prize winner A Hero, the latest to get restored is his 2003 drama Dancing in the Dust. Arriving this Friday in a director-approved 2K digital restoration courtesy of Film Movement Classics in what will be the film’s first-ever North American release, we’re pleased to premiere the exclusive new trailer.

Here’s the synopsis: “Shortly following their impulsive wedding, the naive, young Nazar is pressured by his family into divorcing his new wife, Reyhane, after rumors circulate of her mother’s possible sex-work. Still deeply in love, he insists on paying back Reyhane’s marriage dowry despite his insolvency. Nazar is soon on the run from creditors and finds himself hiding out in the desert where he...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) 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 December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Dissident Iranian film professionals are calling on the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to consider an alternative film to represent Iran in 2024 Oscars’ Best International Feature Film category rather than the one submitted this week as the country’s official entry.

Iran’s government-controlled Farabi Cinema Foundation said Tuesday that it had selected Reza Mirkarimi’s The Night Guardian as the country’s submission to the 96th Academy Awards.

The announcement comes just days after the first anniversary of the beginning of the Woman Life Freedom protests, provoked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022, after her police detention for not wearing her veil correctly.

More than 500 protestors have been killed by Iranian security forces over the past year and thousands have been injured. A number of directors including Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof and most recently Saeed Roustayi have wound up in jail in a related...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) 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 December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Screen is profiling every submission for best international feature at the 96th Academy Awards.

Entries for the 2024 Oscar for best international feature are underway, and Screen is profiling each one on this page.

The 96th Academy Awards is set to take place on March 10, 2024 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

An international feature film is defined as a feature-length motion picture (over 40 minutes) 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 December 1, 2022, and October 31, 2023. The deadline...

Iran has submitted Reza Mirkarimi’s The Night Guardian for Best International Film category at the 96th Academy Awards, in a move that will likely prompt pushback from the country’s dissident film community.

A press release announcing the selection said the film had been selected by the government-controlled Farabi Cinema Foundation from three short-listed titles which also included Omid Shams’s Conjugal Visit and Ali Hazrati’s The Town.

The drama stars Touraj Alvand as the story of a rural worker forced to move to the city where he ekes out a living on the streets.

The announcement coincides with the first anniversary of the Woman Life Freedom protests provoked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16, 2022 after being held in police custody for not wearing her veil correctly.

The country’s hardline Islamist regime ratcheted up a crackdown on the country’s creative community as well...

What will the people choose?

In its final stretch, on Sunday, the Toronto International Film Festival will announce the film chosen by the public for the People’s Choice Award of its 48th edition. After “Poor Things” took home the Golden Lion at Venice, we look to the Canadian awards season staple to boost a film in the hunt for best picture.

The top prize has become one of the most vital predictors of awards season success. In past years, best picture winners such as Peter Farrelly’s “Green Book” (2018) and Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” (2020) made a winning stop at TIFF before getting Oscar glory. Other TIFF Audience Award recipients such as “The Fabelmans” (2022), “Belfast” (2021), “Jojo Rabbit” (2019), “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017) and “La La Land” (2016) are among the movies that went on to receive noms.

So, which movies are buzzing with support? The movie that wins at TIFF is...

Ze (Tergel Bold-Erdene) and Maralaa (Nomin-Erdene Ariunbyamba) in City Of Wind. Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir: 'For me, the film is also an attempt to kind of document this particular time and space that is modern day Mongolia' Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir’s feature debut City Of Wind has made a strong start to its festival run, screening at Venice and, soon, in Toronto. Set in Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar it is a coming-of-age tale about a young Shaman Ze (newcomer Tergel Bold-Erdene) as he considers his place in the world and navigates the conflicting pressures of being a Shaman and falling in love with fellow teenager Maralaa (Nomin-Erdene Ariunbyamba). We caught up with the director ahead of the Toronto screenings to chat about expressing Shamanism on film, modern Mongolia and the tip she got from A Separation Oscar-winner Asghar Farhadi.

A lot of people, if they like World Cinema, will have come to Mongolia via the countryside,...

Aporia introduces a new form of time travel where a machine kills a target in the past, unlike traditional time displacement devices. The movie establishes that any timeline change made by the machine is permanent, leading to high stakes and moral dilemmas for the characters. Aporia presents a thought-provoking take on time travel, potentially making it one of the best movies in the genre and keeping audiences engaged in its themes of morality.

Discover a new form of time travel with Aporia. Judy Greer leads the cast of the sci-fi drama as Sophie, a grieving widow and mother who is approached by her late husband's best friend with the opportunity to bring him back to life, though with the catch of unintended consequences on the world. Alongside Greer, the cast for Aporia includes For All Mankind's Edi Gathegi, A Separation's Payman Maadi and Shazam: Fury of the Gods' Faithe Herman.

Have you heard of a new movie about a team of quantum physicists who build a revolutionary device that, once it’s set off, may change the course of the world forever?

In the case that you have, you’re probably not thinking of Aporia, a cleverly crafted sci-fi indie whose budget was only an infinitesimal fraction of the one used for Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, but whose emotional repercussions are just as palpable, if not more so at times.

Written and directed by Jared Moshé (The Ballad of Lefty Brown), the high-concept and extremely low-fi feature follows a trio of Angelenos who utilize a homemade particle accelerator to kill people in the past, causing unpredictable fallout in the present. Subtly acted and deftly scripted, if a bit generic in its execution, the Well Go USA release should find a few cult followers in theaters and a bigger audience on streaming platforms.

The chance to undo a tragedy leads to time-bending sci-fi thrills in Aporia, and a new trailer unveiled today gives a glimpse of the emotional stakes and haunting morality choices made.

Aporia stars Judy Greer as a widow grappling with impossible choices when presented with a time machine.

The dramatic sci-fi thriller will make its world premiere at Fantasia Film Festival on July 27 ahead of the film’s August 11 US theatrical release from Well Go USA.

Aporia follows “Sophie (Greer), who since losing her husband Mal (Gathegi) in a drunk-driving accident, has struggled to manage crippling grief, a full-time job, and the demands of parenting her devastated teenage daughter (Herman). When her husband’s best friend (Maadi), a former physicist, reveals he has been building a time-bending machine that could restore her former life, Sophie will be faced with an impossible choice — and unforeseeable consequences, posing the question ‘If you...

Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda is a perceptive observer of families, keenly detecting the quirks that make an individual unique and the whole stronger and more complicated. 2018’s masterful Palme d’Or winner “Shoplifters” was perhaps the finest display of Kore-eda’s skills and preoccupations as a minimalist artist of mysterious domestic rhythms, informed by social and financial realities.

His make-shift family in last year’s arguably more populist “Broker” didn’t hit a note as high, but “Monster,” the director’s return to this year’s Cannes competition, feels closer to the subtly multilayered tales we came to expect from him.

A sweet, unknowable and often purposely misleading red herring of a whodunit that morphs into an unexpected tale of friendship, “Monster” feels like a departure for Kore-eda, mostly because of its intricate structure that recounts the same event from three different viewpoints. An obvious (and quite accurate) association point...

The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is set to run from from July 20th through August 9th at the Concordia Hall Cinema in Montreal, with additional screens at the Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée – and today the festival announced the first wave of titles that will be screening there this year! The festival runners promise this edition of the show will deliver “a whiplashing program of screenings, workshops, and launch events”, with a spotlight on South Korean cinema, a Canadian trailblazer Award being presented to Larry Kent, and World Premiere screenings of new films from the likes of Larry Fessenden, Xavier Gens, Jenn Wexler, The Adams Family, and Victor Ginzburg. They’ll also be hosting the International Premieres of Tsutomu Hanabusa’s blockbusters Tokyo Revengers 2 – Part 1 & 2.

2023 marks 60 years of diplomatic relations between Canada and the Republic of Korea, so Fantasia is teaming up with the Korean...

Exclusive: Well Go USA Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Aporia, a previously unannounced sci-fi thriller from Armian Pictures starring Judy Greer (Halloween Kills), Edi Gathegi (The Harder They Fall), Payman Maadi (A Separation) and Faithe Herman (Shazam!). The film, written and directed by Jared Moshé (The Ballad of Lefty Brown), is slated for release in theaters in August. (Check out the first still from it above.)

Aporia follows Sophie (Greer), who since losing her husband Mal (Gathegi) in a drunk-driving accident, has struggled to manage crippling grief, a full-time job, and the demands of parenting her devastated teenage daughter (Herman). When her husband’s best friend (Maadi), a former physicist, reveals he and Mal had been building a time-bending machine that could restore her former life, Sophie will be faced with an impossible choice — and unforeseeable consequences.

The film is produced by Neda Armian (Rachel Getting Married) and...

Grandave Intl. has acquired worldwide sales rights for the drama mystery feature “Wild Berries,” starring Shahab Hosseini, best actor award winner at Cannes for “The Salesman,” and Sepideh Moafi, whose credits include “The Killing of Two Lovers” and “The L Word: Generation Q.”

In addition to his Cannes award, Hosseini received the Berlinale acting prize for his role in “A Separation.” Moafi stars in the Golden Globe nominated Apple TV+ series “Black Bird,” and the FX series “Class of 09.”

Grandave Intl. will be introducing “Wild Berries” to buyers at the Cannes Film Market, May 16-27.

The past, present, and future collide in this story of an immigrant Iranian couple’s annual road trip on their wedding anniversary, while a mysterious stranger is following them.

The screenplay, written and directed by Soudabeh Moradian, is adapted from “Language of Wild Berries,” written by the playwright Naghmeh Samini. The movie is being produced by Julie R. Snyder.

EFM project ‘Maria Montessori’ has also sold robustly.

Paris-based Indie Sales has sold Belgian filmmaker Zeno Graton’s Berlinale Generation film The Lost Boys to Dark Star Pictures in the US, Pecadillo Pictures in the UK/Ireland and to the Filmin platform in Spain.

The film stars Khalil Gharbia alongside Julien de Saint Jean in a story of two young men attempting to keep their burgeoning relationship under wraps at a tough juvenile detention centre. The Lost Boys is produced by France’s Silex Films and Belgium’s Tarantula and will be released in Belgium by O’Brother and in...

Two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi, Iran’s best-known director, was at the Zurich Film Festival last September when protests following the death of Mahsa Amini erupted in his home country.

Since then, the auteur of “A Separation,” “The Salesman” and “A Hero” has not returned to Iran. He’s been working on a new film in Los Angeles and Europe. Interestingly, he says he plans to go back to his country before he shoots this film, even though he is not 100% sure they will let him out again. It’s clearly a risk that the enigmatic Farhadi is willing to take.

Farhadi was in Turin on Monday to give a masterclass at Italy’s National Museum of Cinema, where he also received a lifetime achievement award. In a rare interview, he took questions via e-mail from Variety.

Where are you living these days? I read that you are working on...

Saeed Roustayi’s tense policier about a cop hunting a drug kingpin deftly mixes brutality and gallows farce

This increasingly nerve-jangling narco policier from Life and a Day writer-director Saeed Roustayi, who has since made the feted 2022 Palme d’Or contender Leila’s Brothers, was hailed as Iran’s highest-grossing non-comedic domestic film. Not that Law of Tehran (Aka Just 6.5), which won the audience award at Iran’s Fajr film festival back in 2019, is without a pointedly nihilistic streak of jet-black humour. For proof, check out the horrifyingly absurdist opening salvo: a drug bust that turns into a breakneck, on-foot chase sequence, climaxing in a lethal disappearing act that combines the vérité grit of The French Connection with the physical slapstick of Buster Keaton. Really. It’s a deliberately bewildering cocktail of brutal tragedy and gallows farce that runs throughout this very arresting feature.

Playing out amid the human...

A barnstorming – and ultimately gruesome – opening sequence sets the grisly action-packed tone, as a morally ambiguous cop takes on a powerful drug lord

If Michael Mann made a movie in Iran it might look like this: a ferocious drama-thriller in which a haunted, morally ambiguous cop faces off with a despairing drug lord. We begin with a barnstorming chase sequence in which an officer runs after a drug dealer holding a bag of heroin; the scene climaxes with a shockingly nasty end for the dealer, setting a gruesome tone for the rest of the film.

The director is Saeed Roustayi, whose Leila’s Brothers was in competition at Cannes last year; this is in fact his previous film. Payman Maadi (from Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation) is police officer Samad, who is losing the “war on drugs”; gangsters have murdered the son of his subordinate, so his team’s dedication to...

The Berlinale (Berlin International Film Festival) comprises the annual pre-autumn festival circuit alongside Sundance, SXSW and Cannes. Though the competition isn’t exactly a pipeline to the Oscars, it has hosted premieres for past Best International Feature winners and nominees “A Fantastic Woman,” “On Body and Soul” and “A Separation.” Additionally, the festival launched “45 Years,” which earned Charlotte Rampling her first Academy Award nomination in 2016, and “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” which received nine bids and won four in 2015. The 73rd festival was held February 16 – 26.

This year’s jury was presided over by Academy Award nominee Kristen Stewart. The slate includes new efforts from Christian Petzold, Angela Schanelec and Christoph Hochhäusler, all three of whom belong to the Berlin school of filmmaking that emerged in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. 2023’s Golden Bear went to Nicolas Philibert’s “On the Adamant,” a documentary about a health care facility in...