City Tehran Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Fans of the celebrated Iranian film director Dariush Mehrjui have woken to the shocking news of his murder at home by an unknown assailant. He was 83.

The co-creators of Fauda and Tehran have detailed how they are helping the relief efforts as Ted Sarandos pays tribute to Lior Weitzman, a sound technician on Netflix’s first Hebrew-language original series, who was killed on Saturday during the Hamas-led attack on Israel.

EXCLUSIVE: The Thessaloniki Film Festival’s Agora Series, a hybrid film-series industry strand, returns this year for its sophomore outing with Paper Entertainment CEO and Tehran executive producer Julien Leroux serving as program consultant. 

President Joe Biden said that the Hamas attack on Israel was “an act of sheer evil,” sternly describing horrific reports of the terrorists’ brutality in targeting Jewish men, women, children and babies.

“Israel has a right to defend itself,” said President Joe Biden in an address to the nation and the world Saturday as the Jewish state is under a full-scale attack from Hamas. “Full stop”.

EXCLUSIVE: SonyLIV has already found success adapting Israeli scripted hits Your Honor and Fauda and the Indian streamer is now remaking a third title from the firm the network behind them, Yes TV.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi has launched an impassioned appeal for production designer Leila Naghdipari to be released from jail following her recent arrest during demonstrations marking the one year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death. Naghdipari was one of hundreds of Iranians arrested on Sept.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Documentary festival IDFA, which runs Nov. 8 to 19 in Amsterdam, has revealed Guest of Honor Wang Bing‘s top 10 Chinese films of recent decades.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Iranian director Farhad Delaram was in the midst of shooting his subversive road movie “Achilles” when Mahsa Amini died in Tehran on Sept. 16, 2022, while being detained for allegedly violating the country’s hijab law that mandates covered hair. Amini’s death triggered months of nationwide demonstrations and riots under the slogan “Woman, Life, Freedom.” The ongoing protests mark the most serious challenge to the country’s regime since the Islamic Republic was founded in 1979.

The Clinton Global Initiative next week will feature a session on protecting freedom of the press, with a focus on Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been held in Russia for more than 160 days

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Indian channels aggregator, Tata Play Binge, is soon to incorporate Apple TV+, a first-of-its-kind collaboration for Apple TV+ in India. The move means that series such as “Ted Lasso,” “Shrinking,” “Silo,” “Hijack,” “Foundation,” “Tehran,” “Servant,” “Platonic,” “Severance,” “The Morning Show,” “Bad Sisters,” “Slow Horses” and “Prehistoric Planet,” and Apple Original Films including “CODA” and “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” “Ghosted,” and the recently premiered “The Beanie Bubble” will be available on the platform.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Actor Noah Centineo touched down at the Toronto International Film Festival this weekend to rally support for Saeed Roustaee, an Iranian filmmaker sentenced to prison by his government over the latter’s film “Leila’s Brothers.” Over Friday cocktails at festival headquarters, the TIFF Bell Lightbox, the “Black Adam” star appealed to top representatives from film festivals around the world on behalf of Roustaee, who was sentenced to six months in prison after screening his feature at the Cannes Film Festival without authorization from Iran’s culture ministry. Furthermore, he would not amend the film after the ministry requested corrections.

Marta Balaga “Holy Spider” breakout Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Guy Nattiv are set to make history with “Tatami,” the first feature co-directed by an Iranian and an Israeli filmmaker. Premiering in Venice Film Festival’s Horizons section, “Tatami” shows Iranian female judo fighter Leila (played by “The L Word: Generation Q” star Arienne Mandi) heading to the world championships with her coach Maryam (Ebrahimi). Soon, they receive an ultimatum: in order to avoid squaring off against an Israeli opponent, Leila should immediately fake an injury and drop out.

EXCLUSIVE: The Walking Dead spinoffs Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Live and Interview with the Vampire are set to resume production after AMC Networks struck agreements with SAG-AFTRA.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer SAG-AFTRA has granted approval for three AMC Networks shows to restart production, under its controversial provision allowing “independent” projects to continue despite the strike. The shows include “Interview With the Vampire,” which was shooting in Prague when the strike started, and two “Walking Dead” spinoffs: “The Ones Who Live” and “Daryl Dixon.” The latter project was on hiatus and can resume shooting in France. SAG-AFTRA has granted “interim agreements” to more than 300 projects since the strike began in mid-July.

EXCLUSIVE: The Walking Dead spinoffs Daryl Dixon and The Ones Who Live and Interview with a Vampire are set to resume production after AMC Networks struck agreements with SAG-AFTRA.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Alireza Khatami, the Iranian director who co-helmed “Terrestrial Verses” — which denounced the country’s authority and was the only film from Iran at Cannes this year — is directing “Things That You Kill,” a political drama about the patriarchy set in Turkey and featuring a starry cast. Shooting recently wrapped in Turkey on Khatami’s new film, which stars Turkish A-listers Ekin Koç (“Burning Days”), Erkan Kolçakköstendil (“Familya,” “Magnificent Century: Kosem”), Hazar Ergüçlü (“The Protector”) and Ercan Kesal (“Once Upon a Time in Anatolia,” “The Three Monkeys”).

Ahead of its world premiere in competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival, Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, which follows the Presleys from the perspective of the King’s young bride, has secured a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement.

Iranian documentary filmmaker and female rights activist Mojgan Ilanlou was arrested in Tehran on Sunday and then held for 24 hours, to be freed late Monday.

An Iranian filmmaker and his producer reportedly face prison time and being barred from filmmaking after they showcased a movie at the Cannes Film Festival without government approval, drawing immediate criticism internationally from leading American director Martin Scorsese and others.

Saeed Roustayi and Javad Noruzbegi, the director-producer duo behind family drama Leila’s Brothers, will see jail time in Iran after premiering the film at last year’s Cannes Film Festival without government approval, according to local media reports.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Iranian director Saeed Roustaee has been sentenced to six months to prison for showing his latest film, “Leila’s Brothers,” at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, according to an Iranian report. The Islamic Revolutionary Court convicted both Roustaee and Javad Noruzbegi for “contributing to the propaganda of the opposition against the Islamic system,” according to the Iranian daily Etemad.

Iranian filmmaker Ali Ahmadzadeh clinched the Golden Leopard in the main international competition of the 76th Locarno Film Festival with his latest feature Critical Zone (Mantagheye Bohrani).

Marta Balaga The hype is real: Ali Ahmadzadeh’s “Critical Zone” (“Mantagheye bohrani”) has picked up the top Golden Leopard at Locarno. It has been a bumpy ride for the film, set in Tehran over the course of one lonely night and described by the fest as “a hymn to freedom and resistance.” As reported by Variety, Iranian authorities have been pressuring Ahmadzadeh to pull it from the Swiss festival – arguing it was shot without permission – and with the director himself banned from leaving the country. “Instead of actors, I worked with real people.

SAG-AFTRA has revealed more thinking behind its interim agreements, with leadership saying the initiative is “designed to undermine the production slates and timing of the AMPTP companies and ensure that they come back to the table”.

The beloved family western drama, “When Calls the Heart,” is set to ride on despite the ongoing strike, thanks to an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA.

SAG-AFTRA, which launched a strike against Hollywood studios on July 14, launched its interim agreements program that allows independent productions with no direct ties to members of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to continue filming.

The Gray House, a Civil War spy drama series that is being produced by Kevin Costner and Morgan Freeman, is the latest high-profile project to land an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA.

When Calls The Heart, the long-running family western drama from Hallmark Media, is set to continue filming after being awarded an interim agreement by SAG-AFTRA.

SAG-AFTRA has granted more waivers in recent days that give permission to indie projects to shoot during the current strike, including the independent film The Summer Book starring Glenn Close. Other recent projects that will be allowed to shoot include the TV series Underdeveloped and Sight Unseen.

Naman Ramachandran Ali Ahmadzadeh, director of Locarno competition title “Critical Zone,” is under threat from Iran’s ministry of security. The film, shot without Iranian authorities’ permission before the “Woman, Life, Freedom” revolution in Iran, is billed as an artistic reflection on the anger and the rage of the young generation of Iranians. “Guided by the voice of his GPS, Amir navigates the underworld districts of Tehran to comfort the troubled souls of the night,” reads the film’s description in the Locarno program. “Instead of actors, I worked with real people. In most situations, we had to hide the camera or find complicated tricks to work around the limitations. Making this film was a big rebellion. Showing it means an even bigger victory for us,” Ahmadzadeh said in his director’s statement.

Following SAG-AFTRA’s clearance of AppleTV+’s Israeli spy series Tehran and New Line’s horror movie Watchers –prolific projects from AMPTP studios that the guild remains in talks with– in their interim agreement process, some producers and filmmakers in town have been miffed.

Tehran, the Israeli spy thriller that airs globally on Apple TV+, has become one of the most high-profile TV series to land a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement.

K.J. Yossman “Reginald the Vampire” producer December Films has inked a first-look deal with Cineflix Studios (“Tehran”). The first project to come out of the deal is a new ten-part series, “Carpe Demon” from showrunner Emily Andras (“Wynonna Earp”). Based on the Julie Kenner novels of the same name, the series about a demon hunting suburban mom is in development for Paramount+ Canada. Canada and LA-based December Films launched in 2020, founded by Julie DiCresce and Todd Berger. The company has numerous series in productions and is in post on feature “Out Come the Wolves” for IFC Films, Altitude Films and Level Film and rom-com “Bootcamp.”

Amber Dowling In 1998, Glen Salzman and Katherine Buck launched Montreal-based Cineflix Media with one of its first series, “Dogs with Jobs.” Unable to secure Canadian financing, they pitched the series at the Banff World Media Festival to international broadcasters during a market simulation session. From there, the company produced five seasons of the factual series, which continues to sell internationally. More impressively, it was the beginning of Cineflix growing from a company with three factual shows into one of Canada’s largest independent producers, with creative, production and distribution arms in Montreal, Toronto, New York, London and Dublin.