Iran Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Police have responded to rumours that escaped prisoner and the country's most wanted man Daniel Khalife has been arrested.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jake Gyllenhaal just released his first work as an author, the children’s book “The Secret Society of Aunts and Uncles,” and it includes an unexpected reference to one of his biggest movie failures: Disney’s 2010 video game adaptation “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.” Gyllenhaal’s lead role in the film is often cited in conversations about Hollywood whitewashing. “The Secret Society of Aunts and Uncles,” co-written by Gyllenhaal and his best friend Greta Caruso, follows a 10-year-old aspiring dancer who goes on an adventure with his uncle. As reported by Entertainment Weekly, book illustrator Dan Santat snuck in a “Prince of Persia” easter egg during a moment where the boy struggles to dance in front of an audience.

William Friedkin’s last film The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial will make its U.S. premiere on October 6 on Paramount+ with Showtime.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Busan International Film Festival put aside many of its recent internal and local political problems to Tuesday unveil a large selection ranging from bleeding edge art titles to international festival favorites. “The difficult times are not behind us, but hard work has made this year’s festival better than ever,” said programmer and interim festival chief Nam Dong-chul, speaking at an online press conference. International guests expected to attend the festival include Luc Besson, Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing, Japanese directors Hamaguchi Ryusuke and Kore-Eda Hirokazu, Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, and Korean Americans Justin Chon (“Gook”) and Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”). Hong Kong-based superstar Chow Yun-fat has been named as Busan’s Asian Filmmaker of the Year and will be in person to receive the award.

Catherine Bray Billed as the first feature film to be co-directed by an Iranian and an Israeli filmmaker, “Tatami” goes all in with a lean and tense narrative that is part sport movie, part political thriller — with both parts equally neatly realized. Directed by Guy Nattiv and “Holy Spider” lead actor Zar Amir Ebrahimi (who also stars), from a screenplay by Nattiv and Elham Erfani, the film is set during the Judo World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, in which Iranian judo fighter Leila (Arienne Mandi) starts to perform better than anyone except perhaps her coach Maryam (Amir Ebrahimi) expected.

Marta Balaga Venice Film Festival’s red carpet swapped glamour for politics on Saturday, hosting a flash mob in solidarity with the Iranian people, fighting against repression, as well as filmmakers who are being oppressed – and arrested – because of their work. Such as “Leila’s Brothers” director Saeed Roustaee, recently sentenced to six months in prison for showing the film in Cannes. He has also been banned from making movies.

Jane Campion, Damien Chazelle, Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Guy Nattiv joined a flash mob on the Venice Film Festival’s red carpet on Saturday in support of the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in Iran.

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.

Ali Asgari, whose latest film “Terrestrial Verses” (co-directed by Alireza Khatami) world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, has been banned by the Iranian authorities from leaving the country and directing movies until further notice. The sole Iranian movie to play in Cannes Official Selection this year, “Terrestrial Verses” earned a warm critical response at the festival, where it played in Un Certain Regard, and was sold by Films Boutique around the world.

A college student is blaming her decision to stab a blind date during sex on an alleged psychotic episode that made her think she was Salma Hayek‘s character from From Dusk Till Dawn! Last year, Nika Nikoubin match

Australia has selected Shayda, from Iranian-Australian debut writer and director Noora Niasari, as its submission for the Best International Feature Film Oscar race.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent New York-based sales company Visit Films has boarded “Achilles,” the Iran-set feature debut of Farhad Delaram, a promising filmmaker whose short “Tattoo” won the Crystal Bear in the Generation 14plus at Berlin in 2019. “Achilles” is set to world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, followed by a European premiere at San Sebastian. The film follows Farid –nicknamed Achilles– a former filmmaker turned orthotic doctor, who works nights in Iran’s capital.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The upcoming Venice Film Festival has announced it will hold a flash mob on the red carpet in solidarity with the women and men of Iran “who are fighting for their freedom and against the ongoing repression” and also “the filmmakers and artists who have been arrested or imprisoned,” the fest said in a statement on Friday. Festival organizers specified that the flash mob is partly in reaction to the conviction earlier this month in Iran of director Saeed Roustaee (pictured), who was sentenced to six months in prison for showing his latest film “Leila’s Brothers” at last year’s Cannes Film Festival and banned from making movies. Roustaee had been in the Venice Horizons section in 2019 with the film “Just 6.5.” Venice also held a red carpet flash mob last year in solidarity with then incarcerated auteur Jafar Panahi.

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”).

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.

CMU’s sister media ThreeWeeks is currently covering the Edinburgh Festival, the world’s biggest cultural event, which takes over the Scottish capital for three weeks with a packed programme of comedy, theatre, music, musicals, dance, cabaret, spoken word and a whole lot more.Here in the CMU Daily we are picking out some of the highlights of this year’s coverage.

Hozier released his mega hit song, “Take Me To Church”, 10 years ago, and in a new interview, is looking back on the impact.

Jennifer Lopez is wearing her heart on her tee and you can too.

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.

to share with everybody, and it is written across her t-shirt. While the statement tees popular in the 2000s tended to feature ironic messages and suggestive puns, JLo's 2023 version is a lot more earnest and way more highbrow because it's quote by the Persian poet Rumi.“You are the soul of the universe and your name is love,” reads Lopez's t-shirt, which she wore with a pair of black yoga pants, colorful watch, and a large shoulder bag. Plus her traditional oversized sunglasses and a delicate silver heart necklace.

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.

Even though there’s a lot of questions surrounding which films are arriving this fall, due to the ongoing WGA and SAG strikes, at least there are bright spots like “The Persian Version” to look forward to. As seen in the new trailer for “The Persian Version,” the film follows the story of a young woman trying to find balance in her life as both an American and Iranian.

It wasn’t a quest to find new delicacies or the chance to go on road trips that inspired Padma Lakshmi to launch Taste the Nation on Hulu. Rather, it was the 2016 election and all the talk about border politics that prompted the executive producer and former co-star of Top Chef to want to launch a show that focused on the intersection of great food and our nation’s diverse population.

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.

The recent gloomy weather has got us prematurely reaching for our Autumn favourites,, including swapping our beachy bronzed makeup for an altogether darker, more moody look. A dark lip is a signature style for most people as the weather gets colder, and although it’s technically still summer, the darker evenings and rainy weather is already giving us all the Autumn feels.

Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) head Kate Taylor has put together what she describes as an “eclectic and lively” mix of titles for her first year at the helm. 

EXCLUSIVE: Two-time Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, who is an executive producer on Noora Niasari’s debut film Shayda, will not be attending the pic’s Aug. 12 closing night at the Locarno Film Festival out of support for the SAG-AFTRA Strike. Niasari and the movie’s star Zar Amir Ebrahimi will still attend the movie’s play at Locarno.

Follow OK! on Threads here: https://www.threads.net/@ok_mag Beyoncé's six-year-old daughter Rumi was the star of the show in a legendary picture with Madonna while backstage at Beyoncé's Renaissance tour. The pictures, which appeared on Madonna's own Instagram on Monday night, 31 July, also featured her daughters Mercy, 17, and twins Stella and Estere, 10, as the family went out to see the icon Beyoncé perform.

It is summer in Erbil, Iraq, and all day, the dusty streets have been baking. In the punishing 40 degree heat anyone who can stays inside, and those who are out can only move with the pace the day allows.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Starring “Bones and All’s” Taylor Russell, Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn, “Mother, Couch!” the feature debut of Sweden’s Niclas Larsson, features in a currently 11-title lineup of San Sebastian’s 2023 New Directors section, the most important sidebar at the highest-profile movie event in the Spanish-speaking world. Of just announced titles, also in the mix is “The Other Son,” Juan Sebastian Quebrada’s anticipated coming-of-age drama picked up by Film Factory. “Carefree Days,” the second feature from Chinese actor-director-screenwriter Liang Ming (“Wisdom Tooth”), will open New Directors.

Millions of people live with the reality that one wrong step could kill them - and you can understand their experience like never before.

Filmmaker Ali Ahmadzadeh is under pressure from Iranian authorities to pull his latest feature Critical Zone from Locarno’s Main Competition after he was summoned to the country’s Ministry of Security.

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.

Evil ISIS rigged games controllers and mobile phones with lethal explosives in order to target children, it has been revealed.