Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha’s My Favourite Cake in is screening in Competition at the Berlinale today (February 16) but the directors are unable to attend the festival, having been prevented from leaving Iran by its government.
“Six months ago security guards raided our editor’s office, and took all the computers, hard drives and copies of the film,” said Sanaeeha. “They told us there will be a court case, and because of that we can’t leave the country.”
The government still holds their passports and has tried to make them withdraw the film from Berlin. “It feels like...
“Six months ago security guards raided our editor’s office, and took all the computers, hard drives and copies of the film,” said Sanaeeha. “They told us there will be a court case, and because of that we can’t leave the country.”
The government still holds their passports and has tried to make them withdraw the film from Berlin. “It feels like...
- 2/16/2024
- ScreenDaily
Iranian drama film “Empty Nets” was Monday named winner of the Aff Feature Fiction Award at the Adelaide Film Festival. Directed by Behrooz Karamizade, it collected an A$10,000 cash prize.
The festival’s competition section is one of the oldest in Australia and seeks to reward bold filmmaking. This year’s competition mostly comprised films by directors making their feature debuts. They included “Blaga’s Lessons,” from Bulgarian director Stephan Komandarev; “Embryo Larva Butterfly,” by Greek-Cypriot writer-director Kyros Papavassiliou; “On The Go,” from directors Julia de Castro and Maria Gisele Royo; “Sahela,” directed by Australia’s Raghuvir Joshi; and “You’ll Never Find Me,” from Adelaide-based duo Josiah Allen and Indianna Bell.
“’Empty Nets’ is a searing portrait of the bleak socioeconomic reality for young people without family money in contemporary Iran, distinguished by atmospheric visuals, an evocative sense of place, stirring lead performances and a powerful grasp of the sea as...
The festival’s competition section is one of the oldest in Australia and seeks to reward bold filmmaking. This year’s competition mostly comprised films by directors making their feature debuts. They included “Blaga’s Lessons,” from Bulgarian director Stephan Komandarev; “Embryo Larva Butterfly,” by Greek-Cypriot writer-director Kyros Papavassiliou; “On The Go,” from directors Julia de Castro and Maria Gisele Royo; “Sahela,” directed by Australia’s Raghuvir Joshi; and “You’ll Never Find Me,” from Adelaide-based duo Josiah Allen and Indianna Bell.
“’Empty Nets’ is a searing portrait of the bleak socioeconomic reality for young people without family money in contemporary Iran, distinguished by atmospheric visuals, an evocative sense of place, stirring lead performances and a powerful grasp of the sea as...
- 10/23/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon East-West Award
Huang Jianxin
International Contribution to Chinese Cinema Award
Norman Wang
Fei Mu Awards
Fei Mu Awards: Best Film
“Only the River Flows” Dir. Wei Shujun.
Fei Mu Awards: Best Director
Geng Zihan for “A Song Sung Blue”
Film Review: A Song Sung Blue (2023) by Zihan Geng
Fei Mu Awards: Best Actress
Lyu Xingchen for “Carefree Days” (dir. Xu Lingling)
Fei Mu Awards: Best Actor
Zhang Yu for “Records Without Words” (dir. Li Lizhong)
Fei Mu Awards: Jury Award
“Dance Still” Dirs. Qin Muqiu, Zhan Hanqi
Fei Mu Awards: Special Mention (joint winners)
“The Night Rain South Township” Dir. Li Binbin.
“Undoing Time” Dir. Li Pu
Fei Mu Awards: Best Short Film
“Questions to Heaven” Dirs. Wenqi, Zheng Ziyi.
Roberto Rossellini Awards
Roberto Rossellini Awards: Best Film
“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” Dir. Pham Thien An
Roberto Rossellini Awards: Best Director
Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir for “City of Wind...
Huang Jianxin
International Contribution to Chinese Cinema Award
Norman Wang
Fei Mu Awards
Fei Mu Awards: Best Film
“Only the River Flows” Dir. Wei Shujun.
Fei Mu Awards: Best Director
Geng Zihan for “A Song Sung Blue”
Film Review: A Song Sung Blue (2023) by Zihan Geng
Fei Mu Awards: Best Actress
Lyu Xingchen for “Carefree Days” (dir. Xu Lingling)
Fei Mu Awards: Best Actor
Zhang Yu for “Records Without Words” (dir. Li Lizhong)
Fei Mu Awards: Jury Award
“Dance Still” Dirs. Qin Muqiu, Zhan Hanqi
Fei Mu Awards: Special Mention (joint winners)
“The Night Rain South Township” Dir. Li Binbin.
“Undoing Time” Dir. Li Pu
Fei Mu Awards: Best Short Film
“Questions to Heaven” Dirs. Wenqi, Zheng Ziyi.
Roberto Rossellini Awards
Roberto Rossellini Awards: Best Film
“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” Dir. Pham Thien An
Roberto Rossellini Awards: Best Director
Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir for “City of Wind...
- 10/17/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Two titles which debuted at Cannes this year were named as the major prize-winners at the seventh edition of the Pingyao International Film Festival in China.
Wei Shujun’s black comedy-thriller “Only the River Flows” won the festival’s Fei Mu prize for best Chinese film. “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” by Vietnamese feature film debutant Pham Thien An, won the Roberto Rossellini prize for best international film. The picture is a Vietnam, Singapore, France, Spain co-production and won Cannes’ Camera d’Or for best first film.
Other prizes went to Hong Kong-based Norman Wang, a veteran consultant, marketeer and festival scout, and to Huang Jianxin, a leading mainland Chinese director-screenwriter and producer whose directing career has ranged from satire to propaganda. He also produced Sun Zhou’s Gong Li- and Tony Leung-starring “Zhou Yu’s Train.”
The festival, originally conceived by Jia Zhangke and Marco Mueller, is held in the Unesco-heritage,...
Wei Shujun’s black comedy-thriller “Only the River Flows” won the festival’s Fei Mu prize for best Chinese film. “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell,” by Vietnamese feature film debutant Pham Thien An, won the Roberto Rossellini prize for best international film. The picture is a Vietnam, Singapore, France, Spain co-production and won Cannes’ Camera d’Or for best first film.
Other prizes went to Hong Kong-based Norman Wang, a veteran consultant, marketeer and festival scout, and to Huang Jianxin, a leading mainland Chinese director-screenwriter and producer whose directing career has ranged from satire to propaganda. He also produced Sun Zhou’s Gong Li- and Tony Leung-starring “Zhou Yu’s Train.”
The festival, originally conceived by Jia Zhangke and Marco Mueller, is held in the Unesco-heritage,...
- 10/17/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Wei Shujun’s Only The River Flows was presented with Best Film in the Fei Mu Awards at this year’s Pingyao International Film Festival (Pyiff), while Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell, directed by Vietnam’s Pham Thien An, won Best Film in the festival’s Roberto Rossellini Awards.
The Fei Mu Awards recognise up-and-coming Chinese filmmakers selected in the festival’s Hidden Dragons section. The Roberto Rossellini Awards are presented to films in the Crouching Tigers section for emerging international filmmakers.
Both Only The River Flows and Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell premiered at this year’s Cannes film festival, the former in Un Certain Regard and the latter in Directors Fortnight where it won the Camera d’Or.
Geng Zihan won Best Director in the Fei Mu Awards for A Song Sung Blue, which also premiered in Cannes Directors Fortnight. Luc Besson, who was in Pingyao with Dogman,...
The Fei Mu Awards recognise up-and-coming Chinese filmmakers selected in the festival’s Hidden Dragons section. The Roberto Rossellini Awards are presented to films in the Crouching Tigers section for emerging international filmmakers.
Both Only The River Flows and Inside The Yellow Cocoon Shell premiered at this year’s Cannes film festival, the former in Un Certain Regard and the latter in Directors Fortnight where it won the Camera d’Or.
Geng Zihan won Best Director in the Fei Mu Awards for A Song Sung Blue, which also premiered in Cannes Directors Fortnight. Luc Besson, who was in Pingyao with Dogman,...
- 10/16/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
There are a growing number of compelling, young Iranian filmmakers that are reinvigorating and rethinking Iranian cinema. It's exactly what Iranian cinema needs now, and I'm glad they're making such interesting films. They're also films that I'm happy to talk about and recommend, which is vital to their success outside of film festivals. One of the most well known is Panah Panahi, son of Jafar Panahi, who won over everyone with his feature debut Hit the Road (from Cannes 2021). One of the next new filmmakers to make his mark is Behrooz Karamizade, who was born in Iran but moved away with his parents, eventually growing up in Germany. His feature directorial debut is an Iranian love story film called Empty Nets, which premiered at the 2023 Karlovy Vary Film Festival in the Crystal Globe Competition section this summer. It tells a tragic story, as usual for Iran, about how painfully harsh and unrelenting society is there.
- 7/9/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The Karlovy Vary Film Festival organization has announced winners from the 2023 event, with the Bulgaria/Germany co-production “Blaga’s Lessons” (“Urotcite na Blaga”) and the Germany/Iran co-production “Empty Nets” (“Toorhaye khali”) taking home top honors.
“Blaga’s lessons” won the Grand Prix Award, which includes a $25,000 cash prize for director Stephan Komandarev, to be split with the film’s producer.
Meanwhile, “Empty Nets” won the Special Jury Prize, securing a $15,00 prize for its director, Behrooz Karamizade, also to be split with the film’s producer.
Other winners include Best Director for Babak Jalali for the American production “Fremont,” and the French entry, “The Edge of the Blade,” directed by Vincent Perez, which won the The Pravo Audience Award.
Read on for the complete winner’s list.
Also Read:
‘We Have Never Been Modern’ Review: Czech Drama Looks at Sexuality Through the Lens of 1937
Crystal Globe Competition
Jury members:
Dora Bouchoucha,...
“Blaga’s lessons” won the Grand Prix Award, which includes a $25,000 cash prize for director Stephan Komandarev, to be split with the film’s producer.
Meanwhile, “Empty Nets” won the Special Jury Prize, securing a $15,00 prize for its director, Behrooz Karamizade, also to be split with the film’s producer.
Other winners include Best Director for Babak Jalali for the American production “Fremont,” and the French entry, “The Edge of the Blade,” directed by Vincent Perez, which won the The Pravo Audience Award.
Read on for the complete winner’s list.
Also Read:
‘We Have Never Been Modern’ Review: Czech Drama Looks at Sexuality Through the Lens of 1937
Crystal Globe Competition
Jury members:
Dora Bouchoucha,...
- 7/8/2023
- by Ross A. Lincoln
- The Wrap
Stephan Komandarev’s Blaga’s Lessons, a Bulgarian/German co-production, has been chosen as the winner of the top prize — the Crystal Globe, which comes with a $25,000 prize — of the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. The festival announced the winners during its closing ceremony on Saturday. The film’s star, Eli Skorcheva, was named best actress. (See THR‘s review of the film here.)
Meanwhile, the top Czech festival’s special jury prize, which comes with a $15,000 check, was awarded to Behrooz Karamizade’s German-Iranian co-production Empty Nets (see THR’s review). Its audience award went to Vincent Perez’s The Edge of the Blade, a French film (see THR’s interview with Perez), and a special jury mention was designated for Cyril Aris’ Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano, a German-Lebanese entry (see THR’s review).
Babak Jalali was honored as best director for the American film Fremont,...
Meanwhile, the top Czech festival’s special jury prize, which comes with a $15,000 check, was awarded to Behrooz Karamizade’s German-Iranian co-production Empty Nets (see THR’s review). Its audience award went to Vincent Perez’s The Edge of the Blade, a French film (see THR’s interview with Perez), and a special jury mention was designated for Cyril Aris’ Dancing on the Edge of a Volcano, a German-Lebanese entry (see THR’s review).
Babak Jalali was honored as best director for the American film Fremont,...
- 7/8/2023
- by Georg Szalai and Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Prizes also for ‘The Hypnosis’, ‘Fremont’.
Stephan Komandarev’s Bulgarian-German drama Blaga’s Lessons led the winners at the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff), taking three prizes including the Crystal Globe Grand Prix.
The eighth feature from Bulgarian filmmaker Komandarev also received the best actress prize, for Eli Skorcheva; and a non-statutory Grand Prize from the ecumenical jury.
The main Grand Prix from the Crystal Globe jury consists of $25,000, to be shared equally between the director and producers, the latter of which are Komandarev and Katya Trichkova.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Blaga’s Lessons...
Stephan Komandarev’s Bulgarian-German drama Blaga’s Lessons led the winners at the 57th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival (Kviff), taking three prizes including the Crystal Globe Grand Prix.
The eighth feature from Bulgarian filmmaker Komandarev also received the best actress prize, for Eli Skorcheva; and a non-statutory Grand Prize from the ecumenical jury.
The main Grand Prix from the Crystal Globe jury consists of $25,000, to be shared equally between the director and producers, the latter of which are Komandarev and Katya Trichkova.
Scroll down for the full list of winners
Blaga’s Lessons...
- 7/8/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Bulgarian crime story “Blaga’s Lessons” by Stephan Komandarev scored the top prize and $25,000 at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival on Saturday, capping a week of celebrating art film, stars and bold global work.
Calling his film a tribute to his parents’ generation, many of whom have become victims of the rough transition to capitalism, Komandarev accepted his Crystal Globe from actor Robin Wright and fest president Jiri Bartoska.
Wright, on winning the fest president’s prize moments earlier, said festgoers in the Czech spa town have shown a love for experiencing cinemas onscreen, urging them to keep up that passion as streaming platforms erode cinema audiences that have still not fully rebounded from pandemic days. “I thank all of you for supporting cinema. Let’s bring it back – Covid put a bit of downer on that.”
With sold out screenings ranging from Russell Crowe introducing “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World...
Calling his film a tribute to his parents’ generation, many of whom have become victims of the rough transition to capitalism, Komandarev accepted his Crystal Globe from actor Robin Wright and fest president Jiri Bartoska.
Wright, on winning the fest president’s prize moments earlier, said festgoers in the Czech spa town have shown a love for experiencing cinemas onscreen, urging them to keep up that passion as streaming platforms erode cinema audiences that have still not fully rebounded from pandemic days. “I thank all of you for supporting cinema. Let’s bring it back – Covid put a bit of downer on that.”
With sold out screenings ranging from Russell Crowe introducing “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World...
- 7/8/2023
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
It’s hard to watch “Empty Nets” and not think of “Luzzu,” the recent, poignant Sundance prizewinner from Malta: In both films, enterprising young men left in the lurch by a national financial crisis must resort to black-market fishing to, well, stay afloat. (All we need is a third film paddling in such forbidden waters to declare a new neo-realist trend.) In “Luzzu,” the protagonist was a lifelong fisherman passionate about his trade, while Behrooz Karamizade’s lean, engrossing, Iran-set debut centers on a handy novice merely looking to make a quick buck. In this economy, however, such differences prove immaterial. It doesn’t matter where you’re coming from, unless you’re coming from money: You’re otherwise all sinking below the surface.
Premiering in the main competition at Karlovy Vary, this is a confidently quiet, elegiac first feature from Iranian-German writer-director Karamizade — who brings a certain European arthouse...
Premiering in the main competition at Karlovy Vary, this is a confidently quiet, elegiac first feature from Iranian-German writer-director Karamizade — who brings a certain European arthouse...
- 7/6/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The only way Amir (Hamid Reza Abbasi) and Narges (Sadaf Asgari) can spend time together is in their secret, open ‘living room' in a never finished luxury hotel overlooking one of the long, sandy beaches of the Caspian Sea in North Iran. The concrete shell, long time abandoned by its makers, serves as their zone of comfort, where they dream about a bright future together. The problem is that Amir comes from a poor, working class family and Narges is a daughter of wealthy, influential parents who want to secure her future by finding an ideal suitor who won't have trouble paying a sky-rocket high dowry.
The film kicks off with a scene in which the lovebirds spend time on a completely desolated beach, but although there is no one to be seen, Narges refuses to join her boyfriend for a swim. In his boyish desire to impress, he will...
The film kicks off with a scene in which the lovebirds spend time on a completely desolated beach, but although there is no one to be seen, Narges refuses to join her boyfriend for a swim. In his boyish desire to impress, he will...
- 7/6/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
The 57th edition of Karlovy Vary International film festival has a number of focuses and one special titled “Another Birth. Iranian Cinema Here and Now”, but Behrooz Karamizade's debut feature “Empty Nets” was selected to compete for The Crystal Globe. This muliti-layered drama is set on the northern Caspian Sea coast, and stars the brilliant Sadaf Asgai as Narges (recently seen in Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami's Un Certain Regard contender “Terrestrial Verses”) and the charismatic Hamid Reza-Abbasi as Amir.
Karamizade's script revolves around a young man from a working class family whose wish to propose to his big love becomes sabotaged by a number of impediments. Narges comes from a wealthy, influential family with high expectations of a future son-in-law. He should be successfull, respected and cultured, none of which the simple and good-hearted Amir is. At the beginning, the young couple's encounters are unburdened by class differences,...
Karamizade's script revolves around a young man from a working class family whose wish to propose to his big love becomes sabotaged by a number of impediments. Narges comes from a wealthy, influential family with high expectations of a future son-in-law. He should be successfull, respected and cultured, none of which the simple and good-hearted Amir is. At the beginning, the young couple's encounters are unburdened by class differences,...
- 7/5/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
The festival closed on July 1.
Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s experimental mix of documentary and fiction Four Daughters won the main €50,000 Arri award for best international film in the CineMasters competition at Filmfest München on July 1.
The film’s German co-producer Thanassis Karathanos of Berlin-based Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion quipped he had written so many cheques to Arri in the past and it was nice to be having one now coming in the other direction, when accepting the award at the festival’s closing ceremony,
Four Daughters is the second collaboration between Karathanos and Martin Hampel’s Twenty Twenty...
Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s experimental mix of documentary and fiction Four Daughters won the main €50,000 Arri award for best international film in the CineMasters competition at Filmfest München on July 1.
The film’s German co-producer Thanassis Karathanos of Berlin-based Twenty Twenty Vision Filmproduktion quipped he had written so many cheques to Arri in the past and it was nice to be having one now coming in the other direction, when accepting the award at the festival’s closing ceremony,
Four Daughters is the second collaboration between Karathanos and Martin Hampel’s Twenty Twenty...
- 7/3/2023
- by Martin Blaney
- ScreenDaily
Behrooz Karamizade’s Iranian drama “Empty Nets,” which has its international premiere in the Crystal Globe Competition at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, offers a sobering look at the increasingly difficult, sometimes hopeless lives of young working-class people in Iran as they strive for better lives.
Set on Iran’s northern Caspian Sea coast, the film follows Amir (Hamid Reza Abbasi), a young man who, desperate to marry his girlfriend Narges (Sadif Asgari), seeks work at a local fishery with the hope of earning enough money for an appropriate dowry and winning over her upper-class parents. Once there, illicit opportunities present themselves and he is soon drawn into the dangerous but lucrative business of sturgeon poaching and the black market caviar trade.
The Iranian-German director, who grew up in Germany, says he always wanted to shoot his first feature film in Iran. “I’m very impressed by Iranian cinema and...
Set on Iran’s northern Caspian Sea coast, the film follows Amir (Hamid Reza Abbasi), a young man who, desperate to marry his girlfriend Narges (Sadif Asgari), seeks work at a local fishery with the hope of earning enough money for an appropriate dowry and winning over her upper-class parents. Once there, illicit opportunities present themselves and he is soon drawn into the dangerous but lucrative business of sturgeon poaching and the black market caviar trade.
The Iranian-German director, who grew up in Germany, says he always wanted to shoot his first feature film in Iran. “I’m very impressed by Iranian cinema and...
- 6/28/2023
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
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