avantcaire » film

henry rollins introduces shirin neshat to les hipsters.

ra — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:48:49 +0000

miral ::: julian schnabel palestine flick ::: freida pinto | tom waits

ra — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 04:07:54 +0000

the infidel [david baddiel | omid djalili] @tribecafilmfest

ra — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:09:46 +0000

baddiel + djalili. 2010 tribeca film festival.

will prolly be in line for rush tkts sat nite.

Tribeca Film Festival: Where to Begin (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com)

four lions | chris morris goes jihadist.

ra — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 16:08:15 +0000

no one knows about persian cats.

ra — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 22:21:33 +0000

no one knows about persian cats a fun sounding documentary by bahman ghobadi opens at ifc today.

hoping to watch this weekend. more misuc from iran.
Related articles by Zemanta

400 Screens, 400 Blows – I Know About ‘Persian Cats’ (cinematical.com)
Film: Review: Movie Review:No One Knows About Persian Cats (avclub.com)
Movie Review | ‘No One Knows About Persian Cats’: Indie Rock in Iran in Bahman Ghobadi’s New Work (nytimes.com)
No One Knows About Persian Cats | Film review (guardian.co.uk)

shirin neshat | dima el horr | homayoun [new directors new films '10] @ndnf

ra — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 22:23:41 +0000

lots of film goodies here including:

Women Without Men
Directed by Shirin Neshat in collaboration with Shoja Azari
Winner of the Silver Lion for best director at the 2009 Venice Film Festival, Shirin Neshat’s feature-film debut represents an assured shift from the gallery-based moving images for which she is known, to the grand screen of the cinema. Devotees of Neshat’s earlier work will recognize her signature visual virtuosity and narrative grace in the story of four women in early 1950s Iran, played by Pegah Ferydoni, Arita Shahrzad, Shabnam Tolouei, and Orsi Toth. Then as now, the ambitions and actions of these women from across the spectrum of Iranian society inform and affect the course of events—public, private, and often political. With history as a backdrop, and imagination extending the limits of lives lived under oppressive conditions, Neshat offers an exquisitely framed window onto these women’s world. An Indiepix release.

Tehroun
Directed by Nader T. Homayoun
A man holds a sickly child in his arms, begging for money from passersby with a tale of how his wife has recently died and he desperately needs help. We soon learn the man is Ibrahim, a recent arrival in the big city, and that the child isn’t really his—the boy’s actually rented from a local gang-lord to make Ibrahim a more effective beggar. Welcome to Tehroun, as Iranians call their capital city.
Nader Homayoun’s debut feature presents a searing portrait of the city’s hidden, seamier side, a world of child trafficking, smuggling of just about anything, and assorted other criminal activities. A sensation in the Critics’ Week at last year’s Venice Film Festival, where it won the audience award, Tehroun marks a new chapter in the fascinating evolution of Iranian cinema.

Every Day Is a Holiday (Chaque jour est une fête)
Directed by Dima El-Horr
A stunning first scene immediately establishes the highly charged atmosphere in Dima El-Horr’s carefully controlled first feature, filled with absurd moments and symbolic gestures. Three women (Hiam Abbass, Manal Khader, Raïa Haïdar) with very different motives board a bus on the Lebanese Day of Liberation to visit their husbands in jail. When the bus is stopped short by a stray bullet, the women are left to find their own way in the hot sun through mountains full of mines, amid sounds of muffled explosions, throngs of refugees, and rumors of massacres. Their perilous journey becomes an internal one towards liberation, as individual life and collective memory blend, and the personal and political are blurred.

Film: The New Directors/New Films Series Begins (nytimes.com)
Shirin Neshat – Turbulent (video) (wfmu.org)
New Directors/New Films Series Sets Lineup (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com)

one man village | london screening [simon el habre].

ra — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:13:34 +0000

londoners, this is essential viewing. evangelize.

one man village london screening.
April 7 and 8 at 7pm

Directions: The Mosaic Rooms, A.M. Qattan Foundation, Tower House, 226 Cromwell Road, London SW5 0SW. Nearest Tube: Earl’s Court (Earl’s Court Road Exit). Buses: 74, 328, C1, C3.

Tickets: £5, £3 concessions.
Please reserve places in advance and pay at door by cash or
cheque. No credit cards.
Tel: 0207 370 9990, email info@mosaicrooms.org
Bar Available

arab israelis [the economist].

ra — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 04:24:44 +0000

the economist tries to figure out arab israelis through football and film.

is ajami the follow up to sakhnin (home to the largest group of sufis in israel says wikipedia)?

i have been curious about the israeli arab identity ever since i took in elia souleiman‘s diatribe expressing his confused reaction to the partial israeli funding of his film- chronicle of a disappearance which was premiering at the 96 or 97 london film festival- and his near-apology for existing as an israeli arab. it’s a talk i am not likely to forget (the impact was in part due to the surprise and disbelief that the on-screen silent character could all of a sudden be transformed into this loquacious off-screen director delivering this impassioned soliloquy).
can israeli arabs become the much needed bridge between israeli and arab peoples? ahmed recently poopoos the idea of a bridge people (with help from edvard beneš), i think they are crucial conduits and catalysts of cross-cultural understanding.
and even if in the meantime israeli arabs are still living with a mix of hope and despair, i remain optimistic that they will play a crucial role in fostering mutual understanding.

David Saranga: ‘Ajami’ and the Oscars: Who Really Represents Israel? (huffingtonpost.com)
Film: Review:Ajami (avclub.com)
Fabio Periera: Deconstructing Ajami (huffingtonpost.com)
Film casts harsh light on Israel’s other Arab conflict (telegraph.co.uk)
Q&A: Israeli Arabs (news.bbc.co.uk)

ny screening | stolen kisses [kobolat masroqah] | khaled el hagar.

ra — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 19:30:09 +0000

alwan are screening khaled el hagar’s stolen kisses tuesday mar 20 at tribeca cinemas.

can’t say the trailer looks promising so probably skipping this. let me know if you’ve seen it and think otherwise.

Screening: Stolen Kisses (Kobolat Masroqah) by Khaled El Hagar
Tue, March 30, 2010 7:00 pm at Tribeca Cinemas
Alwan for the Arts and 3rd i Collaborative Monthly Series Present:
Stolen Kisses (Kobolat Masroqah) by Khaled El Hagar, 2009, 120 min, 35 mm, Egypt, drama in Arabic with English subtitles.

A strong portrayal of nine Egyptians in their twenties, director Khaled El Hagar sketches a picture of modern Cairo by focusing on themes such as family conflicts, unemployment, sexual frustration, prostitution and violence.
The film, known for its bold, steamy scenes that strayed away from the lines of “Clean Cinema”, narrates the stories of several couples: Ahmed Azmy and Yousra El Lozy who love each other but cannot get married lawfully because of the vast class differences between them; the relationship between Farah Yousef and Basem Samra that is frustrated by Farah’s ambition for a more luxurious life, and Randa El Beheiry and Mohamed Karim, who strive to make a living and keep the balance in their relationship.
Socio-economic woes place enormous pressures on each character, affecting their relationships and ultimately leading to catastrophic actions including betrayal, murder, and false accusations.
This film series is supported in part by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

pledge profane @kickstarter @UsamaAlshaibi

ra — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:17:51 +0000

usama alshaibi has a kickstarter campaign to raise finishing funds for his film profane.

Sneak Peak from Motion Picture “PROFANE” from Usama Alshaibi on Vimeo.

although i fear this may be overly controversy-seeking, it’s always good to see people pushing boundaries, presenting alternative perspectives and questioning from within. it looks pretty too.

i pledged last week, you should too. doesn’t kickstarter rock?