Iran’s government may support Russia’s of Ukraine, but the bulk of the country’s film community is outraged by the war — and some more openly than others.
Prominent Iranian actor Hamid Farokhnezhad, best known internationally for starring in Asghar Farhadi’s “Fireworks,” has posted a video widely circulated on social media in which he denounces “the brutal attack of Russia against Ukraine.”
Farokhnezhad (pictured above), in protest against the Russian invasion, expressed his wish in the video to return the best actor statuette he received from the Moscow Film Festival in 2005 for his role in anti-war drama “Big Drum Under Left Foot,” directed by Kazem Ma’asoumi.
As Iranian multi-hyphenate Babak Karimi, speaking from Tehran, puts it, “Iran has experienced eight years of war with Iraq, which had similarities to the war in Ukraine.”
“The memory of war is very much alive here,” he notes. “So it’s obvious...
Prominent Iranian actor Hamid Farokhnezhad, best known internationally for starring in Asghar Farhadi’s “Fireworks,” has posted a video widely circulated on social media in which he denounces “the brutal attack of Russia against Ukraine.”
Farokhnezhad (pictured above), in protest against the Russian invasion, expressed his wish in the video to return the best actor statuette he received from the Moscow Film Festival in 2005 for his role in anti-war drama “Big Drum Under Left Foot,” directed by Kazem Ma’asoumi.
As Iranian multi-hyphenate Babak Karimi, speaking from Tehran, puts it, “Iran has experienced eight years of war with Iraq, which had similarities to the war in Ukraine.”
“The memory of war is very much alive here,” he notes. “So it’s obvious...
- 3/11/2022
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
After a festival tour back in 2006 and a now-out-of-print DVD release, Asghar Farhadi’s Fireworks Wednesday has been theatrically re-released by the newly established Grasshopper Films. The drama is another precisely calibrated, culturally specific demonstration of Farhadi’s skills in constructing empathy machines. Further in line with the director’s filmography, this story has a nesting-doll structure that combines ingrained social hierarchies, domestic drama, and a tragic intersection of misunderstandings. And while it doesn’t feel as revelatory as the other recent Farhadi re-release, the claustrophobic, L’Avventura-esque About Elly, it’s more than merely an artifact from one of our best contemporary directors. If anything, it’s a testament to the fastidious construction of latter-day work such as A Separation and The Past.
Fireworks Wednesday resembles much of Farhadi’s work in how it shifts on the repercussions of an inciting incident. The event, this time, is less literal...
Fireworks Wednesday resembles much of Farhadi’s work in how it shifts on the repercussions of an inciting incident. The event, this time, is less literal...
- 3/21/2016
- by Michael Snydel
- The Film Stage
Grasshopper Films are moving quickly. Within a week of their unveiling, the new distributor have released a trailer and poster for their first release — no small start, either. The film is Fireworks Wednesday, an Asghar Farhadi-helmed feature that received some U.S. outlets years ago, but never on the scale that Grasshopper, VOD platform and all, can now offer.
A slate of new showings is one thing; sweetening the deal is, based on this first trailer, a major cleaning-up of the ruddy DVD transfer we’ve had to settle with for several years. (“Settle with” if you could acquire said DVD for a reasonable price, that is.) Much as About Elly‘s was recently given 35mm and Blu-ray presentations, this new coating should really, truly ensure that viewers are treated to something that feels new. Let the fun begin!
Have a look below:
Synopsis:
Rouhi (Taraneh Alidoosti), a young...
A slate of new showings is one thing; sweetening the deal is, based on this first trailer, a major cleaning-up of the ruddy DVD transfer we’ve had to settle with for several years. (“Settle with” if you could acquire said DVD for a reasonable price, that is.) Much as About Elly‘s was recently given 35mm and Blu-ray presentations, this new coating should really, truly ensure that viewers are treated to something that feels new. Let the fun begin!
Have a look below:
Synopsis:
Rouhi (Taraneh Alidoosti), a young...
- 2/24/2016
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi has earned international prominence thanks to pictures like "A Separation" and "The Past," and his upcoming effort "The Salesman" is one of the most anticipated films of the year. However, the filmmaker has a rich back catalog of work that for years has been kept away from U.S. cinemas due to rights issues. Thankfully, that situation is changing. Last year, his 2009 film "About Elly" finally got a proper release (read our review), and this year his 2006 picture "Fireworks Wednesday" is hitting cinemas. Today we have the exclusive U.S. trailer. Read More: Oscar Winner Asghar Farhadi Talks 'The Past,' What Awards Recognition Means To Him & His Next Project Starring Taraneh Alidoosti, Hediyeh Tehrani, Hamid Farokhnezhad, and Pantea Bahram, the film centers around the titular Persian holiday, and follows a young maid as she watches the domestic discord of her employers unfold. Here's the official.
- 2/22/2016
- by Edward Davis
- The Playlist
The Private Lives of Mr. and Mrs. M
Directed by Rouhollah Hejazi
Iran, 2014
When asked what his wife, Ava, does for a living, Mohsen responds that she’s an interior decorator and graphic artist. It’s a lie, told only to impress Mohsen’s boss who has promoted him, and it’s one even Ava is impressed with later, praising her husband for endowing her with such an interesting occupation. During these early stages of The Private Lives of Mr. and Mrs. M, Ava, played by Mahtab Keramati, is meek and and quiet, taking harsh criticisms from her husband in dutiful silence – he thinks her clumsy and thoughtless and her hobby as a wedding table decorator is meaningless. These demeaning evaluations of Ava are poorly disguised as constructive criticisms meant to empower her, but instead keep her dependent on Mohsen’s “expertise.” However, Hamid Farokhnezhad plays Mohsen with a humorous...
Directed by Rouhollah Hejazi
Iran, 2014
When asked what his wife, Ava, does for a living, Mohsen responds that she’s an interior decorator and graphic artist. It’s a lie, told only to impress Mohsen’s boss who has promoted him, and it’s one even Ava is impressed with later, praising her husband for endowing her with such an interesting occupation. During these early stages of The Private Lives of Mr. and Mrs. M, Ava, played by Mahtab Keramati, is meek and and quiet, taking harsh criticisms from her husband in dutiful silence – he thinks her clumsy and thoughtless and her hobby as a wedding table decorator is meaningless. These demeaning evaluations of Ava are poorly disguised as constructive criticisms meant to empower her, but instead keep her dependent on Mohsen’s “expertise.” However, Hamid Farokhnezhad plays Mohsen with a humorous...
- 2/21/2014
- by Jae K. Renfrow
- SoundOnSight
The Iranian director of A Separation has made another icily cool and controlled film about marriage that is filled with emotional explosions
Admirers of A Separation by the Iranian director Asghar Farhadi will be looking forward to his new movie The Past, to be released here in late March. They will also relish the ongoing discovery of his back catalogue: About Elly from 2009 was intriguing, and now his 2006 film Fireworks Wednesday, co-written with Mani Haghighi, has been released here on DVD. This is a thoroughly engrossing and densely textured drama, showing Farhadi's cool skill in dissecting the Iranian middle classes and the unhappiness of marriage.
It is set in Teheran, during the traditional boisterous New Year celebrations, involving fireworks in the street; Jafar Panahi's This Is Not a Film was set around this time as well. There are, of course, some emotional explosions. Taraneh Alidoosti (who played the fleeting...
Admirers of A Separation by the Iranian director Asghar Farhadi will be looking forward to his new movie The Past, to be released here in late March. They will also relish the ongoing discovery of his back catalogue: About Elly from 2009 was intriguing, and now his 2006 film Fireworks Wednesday, co-written with Mani Haghighi, has been released here on DVD. This is a thoroughly engrossing and densely textured drama, showing Farhadi's cool skill in dissecting the Iranian middle classes and the unhappiness of marriage.
It is set in Teheran, during the traditional boisterous New Year celebrations, involving fireworks in the street; Jafar Panahi's This Is Not a Film was set around this time as well. There are, of course, some emotional explosions. Taraneh Alidoosti (who played the fleeting...
- 2/7/2014
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
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