‘Subtraction’ Exclusive Trailer: Mani Haghighi’s New Trippy Thriller Is Set To Debut At TIFF

If you look at the previous two films from director Ali Abbasi, “Border” and “Shelley,” you are probably taken aback by the visual style and unique storytelling used by the filmmaker. And you probably wouldn’t assume that his next film would be a David Fincher-esque serial killer thriller.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Imprison Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s “No Bears” has sold into North America, with Sideshow and Janus Films acquiring U.S. rights, and Films We Like buying the movie for Canada. “No Bears,” which premiered earlier this month at the Venice Film Festival, portrays two parallel love stories. “In both, the lovers are troubled by hidden, inevitable obstacles, the force of superstition and the mechanics of power,” reads an official synopsis. The film is written, produced, and directed by Panahi, and stars Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobaseri, Bakhtiar Panjei, Mina Kavani, Narjes Dalaram and Reza Heydari.

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

arrested by Iranian authorities after he had inquired about the status of two other detained Iranian directors. The government has now forced him to serve out a six-year jail sentence originally issued to Panahi in December 2010. At that time, he was banned for 20 years from directing movies, writing screenplays or giving any form of interview with an Iranian or foreign press, though he has since showcased other films such as “This Is Not a Film,” “Closed Curtain,” “Taxi” and “3 Faces” in defiance of his order and state-attempted censorship.

Clayton Davis Zar Amir Ebrahimi (also known as Zahra) should be basking in the glow of her best actress win at Cannes for “Holy Spider.” Instead, she’s in a reflective mood when she sits down with Variety for a Zoom interview, recounting the tumultuous 16 years that culminated with earning a prominent role in one of the best-reviewed movies of 2022.   But before the red carpets and splashy premieres, this Iranian actress’s career was derailed and her personal life was upended following the release of a sex tape. As punishment, she faced possible stoning and lashing in her native country. Despite all that she endured, Ebrahimi has persevered and Hollywood is taking notice.

Neon, has bought U.S. rights to “Sanctuary,” Zachary Wigon’s much-buzzed-about thriller starring Margaret Qualley as a dominatrix who becomes entangled with a wealthy client, played by Christopher Abbott. The movie world premiered at Toronto, where it earned strong reviews (it currently holds a 93% “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes). The acquisition of “Sanctuary” underscores Neon’s ambition to scale up its Super label with higher-profile titles. The company beat out three other distribution banners that bid for the movie, according to a source close to the production.

Michaela Zee editor CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour revealed that an interview with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday night was canceled, after she declined the president’s last-minute demand to wear a headscarf. “I politely declined,” Amanpour wrote on Twitter. “We are in New York, where there is no law of tradition regarding headscarves. I pointed out that no previous Iranian president has required this when I have interviewed them outside Iran.” According to Amanpour, an aide told the veteran journalist that President Raisi suggested that she wear a headscarf “because it’s the holy months of Muharram and Safar.”

said in a Twitter thread, when an aide of President Raisi approached her. “The president, he said, was suggesting I wear a headscarf, because it’s the holy months of Muharram and Safar,” she tweeted. “I politely declined.

CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour said that she declined to do an interview with Iran’s president in New York after one of his staffers informed her that she would be required to wear a headscarf.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Iranian action drama “World War III,” which won two awards at the recent Venice festival, will feature among the main competition titles at next month’s Tokyo International Film Festival. The festival will operate as an in-person event with foreign filmmakers, media and other guests in attendance from Oct. 24-Nov. 2, 2022. “World War III” is joined in the competition section by the world premiere of Milcho Manchevski’s “Kaymak,” Spanish director Carlos Vermut’s “Manticore” and Roberta Torre’s “The Fabulous Ones,” Michale Boganim’s “Tel Aviv Beirut,” and Youssef Chebbi’s debut film “Ashkal.”

Alissa Simon Film Critic Overline: Hed: By Alissa Simon “Subtraction,” from idiosyncratic Iranian helmer-writer Mani Haghighi (“Men at Work,” “Modest Reception,” “A Dragon Arrives!”) is a tense Hitchcockian thriller set in Tehran, where a heavy, non-stop rainfall signals a lingering malaise. There, a young couple come across their doppelgängers. The film premiered at the Toronto festival. The idea for the plot grew out of the helmer’s long-ago trip to Southwest Iran to look at places where the Iran-Iraq war took place.

Houman Seyyedi’s darkly comic drama World War III has been named as Iran’s entry for Best International Feature at the 95th Academy Awards, taking place at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 12th, 2023.

The Queen's state funeral is set to be one of the biggest international events the UK has ever seen.

President Joe Biden has arrived in London, where he will join other world leaders at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday. 

Another olive branch extended. King Charles III has invited senior royals to meet with world leaders one day before Queen Elizabeth II‘s funeral — with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle joining the bunch.

Addie Morfoot Contributor “Nothing Compares,” a documentary about the life and career of Sinead O’Connor, will be released in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Sept. 23 for a one-week run that qualify it for Academy Award consideration. The film’s theatrical release will come days ahead of the docu’s Sept. 30 Showtime streaming and on-demand debut. The 97-minute film, directed by Kathryn Ferguson, traces O’Connor’s rise to worldwide fame after “Nothing Compares 2 U” was released in 1990, as well as the Irish singer’s eventual exile from pop mainstream after she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II on “Saturday Night Live” in 1992. The docu also examines other headline-grabbing controversies, like O’Connor’s refusal to perform at a New Jersey stadium amid the Persian Gulf War unless stadium officials agreed to forgo the playing of the national anthem. At the time, the star’s political and religious outrage was met with outrage. Told through a contemporary feminist lens, Ferguson’s portrait doc argues that O’Connor was 30 years ahead of her time.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hasn't been invited to Queen Elizabeth's funeral. The 69-year-old politician and other Kremlin representatives have all been blacklisted by Buckingham Palace, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine earlier this year. Dignitaries from Belarus and Myanmar have also been overlooked by the palace, while Iran will only be represented at the funeral on an ambassadorial level.

Sister Radio is the very first play to take place in Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s exciting new studio.