City Tehran Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Films Boutique has closed a flurry of deals on “Subtraction,” Mani Haghighi’s Iranian noir thriller which world premiered at Toronto in the competition Platform section. The Berlin-based company has closed deals in France (Diaphana in association with Kinovista), Russia and CIS (A One), Canada (Films We Like), Ex-Yugoslavia (MCF Megacom), Middle East (Fron Row), Poland (Mayfly), Taiwan (Proview Ent.), Australia and New Zealand (Vendetta), Switzerland (Trigon) and Benelux (September Films). The movie is headlined by Taraneh Alidoosti, the Iranian star of “The Salesman” and “Leila’s Brothers” and Navid Mohammadzadeh (“Leila’s Brothers”). Both Haghighi and Alidoosti have recently been targeted by Iranian authorities. Alidoosti was temporarily arrested, while Haghighi had his passport confiscated as he was about to board a flight to attend the BFI London Film Festival. 

Armando Iannucci’s space comedy Avenue 5 has been officially canceled by HBO.

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi has been released from Evin prison in Tehran.

Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, French filmmaker Alice Diop and Romanian director Cristian Mungiu have demanded that Iran’s Fajr International Film Festival remove their films from the line-up of its current edition, running from February 1 to 11.

The closure of Israeli public broadcaster Kan by Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government has been delayed indefinitely, according to a spokesman for the Communications Minister.

Jafar Panahi’s wife Tahereh Saeedi issued a fresh appeal for her imprisoned husband to be released as his period of captivity entered 200 days, in an Instagram post on Thursday.

EXCLUSIVE: Apple TV+ has picked up Drops of God, a series set in the world of fine wine based on a Japanese manga property, from Legendary Entertainment.

EXCLUSIVE: Ido Samuel (Fill The Void) and Lihi Kornowski (Crimes Of The Future) are the latest to join Hulu Originals limited series We Were The Lucky Ones in recurring roles.

Robert Niro and his Tribeca Festival Co-Founder Jane Rosenthal have joined the chorus of calls for Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti to be released from prison, along with “other members of Iran’s art and entertainment community who have risked their lives to speak out against the government.”

“I always had a very specific sense of urgency with this idea,” said Holy Spider director Ali Abbasi of wanting to make a film noir based on the true story of the “Spider Killer” Saeed Hanaei, who saw himself as on a mission from God as he killed 16 women between 2000 and 2001.

Reza Dormishian, Iranian filmmaker and producer of Dariush Mehrjui’s A Minor, which is set to have it world premiere in competition at the on-going International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa, has not been granted a permit to leave Iran, so is unable to attend the event.

Iranian director Emad Aleebrahim-Dehkordi’s feature directorial debut A Tale Of Shemroon won the top Étoile d’Or—the Festival Grand Prize – at the Marrakech International Film Festival on Saturday.

EXCLUSIVE: Kyle Chandler and Glenn Close are set to join Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx in the Netflix action-comedy Back In Action. The project drew headlines when it was announced in June on Foxx’s social media accounts as it marks Diaz’s return to acting after retiring from acting in 2018.

A cross-party group of councillors in Renfrewshire have come together to show their support for demonstrators in Iran.

It appears Britney Spears has made an enemy of the the Iranian government.

, showed her support for women and girls in Iran with a black T-shirt featuring the slogan “Women, Life, Freedom” written in Farsi. Meghan wore the top for a Women@Spotify event at the company’s LA headquarters, where she was joined by Archewell president Mandana Dayani and executive vice president of global communications Ashley Hansen, who are both Iranian.“At an event today, Meghan spoke about the revolution being led by women and young girls in Iran, the courage and bravery they show every day, and their leadership and advocacy of basic human rights,” Dayani wrote as she shared a series of images from the event on .

Iranian protesters have demanded "justice" for a woman who was assaulted by anti-riot police, with one officer forcibly grabbing her bottom and then pushing her on the ground.  The video, captured on a security camera at the Argentina Square in Tehran on Wednesday, shows police surrounding the woman. When they start to cart her away, one officer grabs the woman’s bottom before she drops to her knees.  Another woman can be heard saying that the officers were pulling the victim’s hair as she knelt on the ground.  Tehran’s Police Public Relations office has said the incident will be investigated, the BBC reported, but the police provided no statement as to what might have happened.

Mani Haghighi is the latest film director who has been impacted by Iran’s ongoing restraint on filmmakers.

Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi will no longer attend the London Film Festival premiere of his latest film Subtraction after authorities stopped him from boarding a flight to London. 

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi had his passport confiscated at the airport as he was about to board a flight to attend the BFI London Film Festival. Haghighi was expected to present there the U.K. premiere of his latest film, “Subtraction.”  A BFI London Film Festival spokesperson confirmed the news to Variety and issued the following statement: “The Iranian filmmaker Mani Haghighi was due to travel to London today to support the UK premiere of his film Subtraction which is screening tomorrow at the BFI London Film Festival, but has been prevented from boarding his flight to the UK.  He was turned away by authorities in Iran and has his passport confiscated.  He has returned to his home in Tehran. We understand that no reason has been given to Mani Haghighi for the confiscation. The BFI London Film Festival supports Haghighi and all filmmakers in their freedom to make their films and present them around the world.

Women and girls of Iran are leading the most significant challenge to the existence of the Islamic Republic of Iran in this century, according to veteran experts of Iran.  Their opposition to the theocratic state and its radical Islamic law requiring head coverings for women has drawn sharp criticism with respect to Tehran’s role on the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.

U.S. citizen Siamak Namazi is back in an Iranian prison today after being temporarily released by authorities in Tehran earlier this month.  Waving Iran flag above skyline of Tehran at sunset.  (istock) "His furlough, which started on October 1, was renewable and had already been renewed once on October 8," a statement released by Namazi's pro bono counsel Jared Genser explained.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor One of the new honors the Grammy Awards will introduce at their next ceremony is song for social change — a special-merit award that “recognizes creators of message-driven music that responds to the social issues of our time and has the potential for positive global impact.” While the honor is “curated by a blue-ribbon committee,” there’s little question that the number of submissions will have an impact — and according to the Recording Academy, 95,000 of the 115,000 submissions received have been for Iranian musician Shervin Hajipour’s song, “Baraye,” a protest song about 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested and beaten by Iran’s so-called morality police for not wearing a proper head covering, in line with the country’s Islamic law.

Dua Lipa has expressed support for the women of Iran following protests in the nation. The Levitating singer took to Instagram on Saturday to bring attention to the demonstrations, which have been staged to highlight the death of Mahsa Amini. Last month, the 22-year-old passed away in a hospital in Tehran under suspicious circumstances.

Sevdaliza, a Dutch-Iranian experimental pop songwriter who was born in Tehran, has shared “Woman Life Freedom,” a new song that was written “in support of women in Iran,” according to a press statement. Iran is currently gripped by protests which began over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, a woman who was reportedly killed by the country’s Morality Police in September over a violation of the country’s mandatory hijab law.

Dua Lipa has shared her support for women in Iran following a number of recent protests in the country.The musician posted on Instagram yesterday (October 8) to share a post about the recent deaths of young women in Iran as protests continue following the death of Masha Amini, 22.Amini died in Tehran earlier last month (September 16) after being arrested for not wearing her hijab in accordance with government standards. Police claimed she suffered heart failure at the station, although witnesses have claimed Amini was severely beaten by the authorities.Lipa shared a number of photos of women who have also since died on Instagram.

a United Nations report, Amini was arrested on Sept. 13 and taken to a morality «re-education center» in Tehran where, per Iranian authorities, she died of a heart attack three days later.

Marion Cotillard, Juliette Binoche, Isabelle Huppert and a handful of female actresses and singers from France are lending their support to the people of Iran amid the mass protests following the death of Mahsa Amini.Amini, 22, was killed by Iran's morality police on Sept. 16 for improperly wearing her hijab — a violation of the country's strict dress codes for women in public.According to a United Nations report, Amini was arrested on Sept. 13 and taken to a morality «re-education center» in Tehran where, per Iranian authorities, she died of a heart attack three days later.

Michaela Zee editor Joan Hotchkis, veteran stage and screen actor known for ABC’s “The Odd Couple” and “Legacy,” died Sept. 27 of congestive heart failure in Los Angeles, according to her daughter Paula Chambers. She was 95. Hotchkis starred opposite William Windom in the NBC sitcom “My World and Welcome to It,” and played the on-again/off-again girlfriend of Jack Klugman’s Oscar Madison in “The Odd Couple.” As a playwright, she wrote 1974’s “Legacy,” a one-woman play about an upper-class housewife who deteriorates mentally. The following year, she wrote and starred in the film adaptation of “Legacy,” which won the best newcomer award at the Tehran International Film Festival.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Award-winning filmmakers Alice Diop (“Saint Omer”), Audrey Diwan (“Happening”), Julia Ducournau (“Titane”), Michel Hazanavicius (“The Artist”), Jacques Audiard (“Dheepan”), and actors Juliette Binoche, Marion Cotillard, Isabelle Huppert, Lea Seydoux are among nearly 1,000 prominent French film figures who have signed an open letter to support Iranian women and civil rights activists in their revolt over the death of 22 year-old Mahsa Amini, as well as denounce the “murderous violence” of the Iranian regime. Amini, a Kurdish woman, died in custody on Sept. 16, three days after being arrested in Tehran because she allegedly breached the Islamic republic’s strict dress code for women. Her death has sparked protests across Iran, including in Tehran, Isfahan and Yazd, and in cities around the world, including in Paris, Istanbul and Los Angeles. Amnesty International said Iranian authorities have been “intentionally using lethal force against the protesters,” causing more than more 52 deaths (as of Sept. 30). The organization has urged international action “beyond statements of condemnation” to prevent more people from being killed.

Iranian authorities appear to be following through with threats to “deal” with celebrities publicly voicing support for the wave of anti-government protests that have swept Iran following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police earlier this month.

An Iranian government official has warned that action will be taken against celebrities who publicly show support for anti-government protests, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody.

It has been over a week since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested in Tehran by the Islamic Republic of Iran's morality police for not wearing her hijab properly. Amini, who died in a hospital after falling into a coma, was allegedly beaten for not wearing a proper headscarf.

Iranian director Jafar Panahi remains behind bars in Tehran but his cinema continues to travel.

Yungblud spoke out about the death of Mahsa Amini during his set at Firefly Music Festival in Delaware this weekend (September 24).Amini, 22, died in Tehran earlier this month (September 16) after being arrested for not wearing her hijab in accordance with government standards. Police claimed she suffered heart failure at the station, although witnesses have claimed Amini was severely beaten by the authorities.

Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi is imploring everyone worldwide to unite “in solidarity” with protesters following the death of Mahsa Amini while in the custody of Iran’s morality police.