Browsing: Feature Story

OUR UNIFORM, directed by Yegane Moghadam and nominated for the Short Animation Oscar in 2024 is the story of an Iranian girl unfolds her school memories through the wrinkles and fabrics of her old uniform. She admits that she’s nothing but a “female” and explores the roots of this idea in her school years. The following is our interview with Yegane Moghadam about making of OUR UNIFORM: https://vimeo.com/920218076?share=copy Yegane Moghaddam is an Iranian animator and illustrator who has a strong passion for nature, culture and the reality she lives in. Her works are usually centered around the theme of nature…

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Our choice for Movie of the Month is FAMILIA, a wonderful and masterfully made movie directed by Rodrigo Garcia. We introduce our picks for Movie of the Week through a video presentation of the film. https://vimeo.com/916833373?share=copy Leo owns an olive ranch in the Guadalupe Valley. He also has four children: Rebeca, Julia, Mariana, and Benny. Each month he brings the family together for a catch-up, but this time, there is another more important reason to meet. We will discover the secrets, memories, dreams, and motivations of each member of the family, as we delve deeper into the most private and…

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Burbank, CA – January 14th 2024. Today Palm Springs International Film Festival announced its 2024 winners and GREEN BORDER (Poland/France/Czech Republic/Belgium) by Agnieszka Holland won MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award. The Honorary Mentions went to THE OLD OAKS (United Kingdom/France/Belgium) by Ken Loach The Borders Award  is presented by Cinema Without Borders and award sponsored and prize provided by MOZAIK  The winner of Bridging the Borders Award will receive a cash prize of $2000. https://youtu.be/4jXePIrRSuQ Here is MOZAIK Bridging The Borders Award jury statement: “This year we considered ten feature films for the MOZAIK Bridging the Borders Award that addresses…

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The US Academy’s 2024 international feature film shortlist of 15 titles includes many of the films most expected to appear on it, while also throwing in a few surprises. Films considered to be leading contenders for this award are present and correct, including the four eligible titles from the Golden Globe nominations for best foreign-language picture: The Zone Of Interest (UK), Society Of The Snow (Spain), Fallen Leaves (Finland) and Io Capitano (Italy). The Globes also nominated Anatomy Of A Fall and Past Lives, but France didn’t submit the former for the Oscar, and US film Past Lives is ineligible for the award. Other leading contenders making this season’s Oscar shortlist are The Taste Of Things (France), Perfect…

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PRAGUE, Czech Republic — After some years away from these pages working in Europe, I am excited to be returning to Cinema Without Borders with the relaunch of my news and views column, Border Crossings. I’m equally pleased to be on board with a special project I’ve created for CWB readers: a comprehensive and ongoing film retrospective of the greatest decade of world cinema : the 1960s. Most of us baby boomers remember the era and its cinema well, because we came of age when many of these films were first released or re-released. Their stories marked our passage through some of…

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The award winning documentary film director and producer, Susan Morgan Cooper, grew up in a tiny village in Wales where her parents produced plays to raise money for charity. Shortly after arriving in America, she landed a small role in a Clint Eastwood film, but found film editing more fascinating than acting. In 1991, when Susan met a 16-year-old girl from Croatia, displaced by The Balkan War, she felt compelled to make her first documentary, Mirjana- One Girl’s Journey. She went on to produce and direct a documentary television series called Heroes and Sheroes about ordinary people doing extraordinary things…

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Lily Afshar’s internationally admired Iranian/American musician and a professor of music passed away at the age of 63. She will be buried in her birthplace, city of Tonekabon in Iran. Lily Afshar personal story began in her native land Iran. Born in Tehran to a family with ancient roots in the northern region of Azerbaijan, at ten years of age she first encountered the guitar while visiting a cousin who was taking lessons. She told her father she loved the guitar; the next day he presented her with her first instrument and arranged for lessons. Her prodigious skill and love…

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I grew up watching films in movie theaters, and never enjoyed those private screenings for critics, or watching films along the usual festival crowds. I loved to sit in a dark theater and witness the reaction of ordinary movie goers to the films. I loved movies that entertained the audiences, but at the same time their bug was biting them. letting them carry the film outside the theater and live with it for a while or for the rest of their lives. That was the reason I fell in love with Hawks’ RED RIVER, Ford’s THE SEARCHERS, Hitchcock’s VERTIGO, Georges…

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Coming from two countries at odds with each other, Iranian-American Leila (Layla Mohammadi) strives to find balance and embrace her opposing cultures, while boldly challenging the labels society is so quick to project upon her. When her family reunites in New York City for her father’s heart transplant, Leila navigates her relationships at arm’s length in an effort to keep her “real” life separate from her family life. However, when her secret is unceremoniously revealed, so are the distinct parallels between her life and that of her mother Shireen (Niousha Noor). Punctuated by a bright color palette, snappy comedic relief,…

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The Ancient Trees , is a beautifully and masterfully written, produced, and ‏directed series by young and talented Iranian filmmaker Hamid Koreyli. The The Ancient Trees series is a successful effort to introduce and comprehensively and expertly review the exceptionally-old trees of Iran along with providing unseen pictures and detailed history and information. This collection is produced in the form of a documentary series in six approximately fifty-minute episodes, each episode is focused on the introduction of one of Iran’s tree species. https://vimeo.com/872420790?share=copy In order to introduce these trees, a trip was made to the habitat of each tree and–while…

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