The 57th edition of Karlovy Vary International film festival has a number of focuses and one special titled “Another Birth. Iranian Cinema Here and Now”, but Behrooz Karamizade's debut feature “Empty Nets” was selected to compete for The Crystal Globe. This muliti-layered drama is set on the northern Caspian Sea coast, and stars the brilliant Sadaf Asgai as Narges (recently seen in Ali Asgari & Alireza Khatami's Un Certain Regard contender “Terrestrial Verses”) and the charismatic Hamid Reza-Abbasi as Amir.
Karamizade's script revolves around a young man from a working class family whose wish to propose to his big love becomes sabotaged by a number of impediments. Narges comes from a wealthy, influential family with high expectations of a future son-in-law. He should be successfull, respected and cultured, none of which the simple and good-hearted Amir is. At the beginning, the young couple's encounters are unburdened by class differences,...
Karamizade's script revolves around a young man from a working class family whose wish to propose to his big love becomes sabotaged by a number of impediments. Narges comes from a wealthy, influential family with high expectations of a future son-in-law. He should be successfull, respected and cultured, none of which the simple and good-hearted Amir is. At the beginning, the young couple's encounters are unburdened by class differences,...
- 7/5/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Baran Kosari with Behzad Dorani, left, and Babak Karimi in The Wastetown. Ahmad Bahrami: 'The personal reason that I've worked on these types of topics is that I want to show this brutal situation so that others see what is happening and how to avoid it in the future' Photo: Courtesy of Poff Iranian director Ahmad Bahrami’s continues bleak consideration of his homeland with The Wastetown[film] - the second part of an intended trilogy after his Venice Horizons-winning [film]The Wasteland. Set against the backdrop of a car breakers yard, it sees Bemani (Baran Kosari), who has been temporarily released from jail after 10 years, attempting to find out the whereabouts of the son she was forced to give up in prison.
The film co-stars Ali Bagheri as Bemani’s brother-in-law, who previously also starred in The Wasteland, Babak Karimi and Behzad Dorani. A tense drama that, like many of the films of Bela Tarr,...
The film co-stars Ali Bagheri as Bemani’s brother-in-law, who previously also starred in The Wasteland, Babak Karimi and Behzad Dorani. A tense drama that, like many of the films of Bela Tarr,...
- 1/12/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
If there is something we could call a trend judging from the selection of Asian films at PÖFF, it is stories about strong women told by men who are listening to female’s voices and observe what is going on around them. In the light of current events in Iran, Ahmad Bahrami’s monochrome drama “The Wastetown” is devastatingly mind-boggling. The script draws directly from the wellspring of everyday life in Iran, focusing on one woman’s fight for personal justice. With dialogues crafted with straightforward simplicity of conversation that happen off screen, but pregnant with meaning, Bahrami returns to a solitary hero with an impossible mission. Entirely shot on a scrapeyard battered by the wind and surrounded by snowy mountains, the film profits from the claustophobic setting that makes its protagonists feel the full weight of psychological entrapment.
The only time we see someone outside this gated graveyard is...
The only time we see someone outside this gated graveyard is...
- 12/4/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Ahmad Bahrami’s sinister drama “The Wastetown” about one woman’s quest to find her child, brought him deservingly the Best Director Award at this year’s edition of Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. In this second part of his trilogy whose every chapter is dedicated to one individual fighting to end their plights, Bahrami leans on one part of his first tale told in “The Wasteland”, his tripple Venice winner in 2020 where it bagged Best Film in the Horizons Competition, the Fipresci- and Lavoro Ambiente Award, before it went to conquer other international festivals and win some more. It is a clever, small thing that bridges both films without making them dependent on each other. This is why one of the key characters from “The Wasteland” resurrects in “The Wastetown”, not quite as the same person, but equally troubled and outcasted. More details about it are in the interview that follows…...
- 12/2/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
The 45th Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF45) today announced 14 Firebird Award and Fipresci Prize winners, including The Day is Over, The Wasteland, Mr. Bachmann and His Class and Motorcyclist’s Happiness Won’t Fit Into His Suit.
In naming Qi Rui’s The Day is Over Best Film of this year’s Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language), the jury praised it for “aptly portraying contemporary society’s lack of care for the young generation and the subsequent impact on the development of their personal values”. In the same section, Summer Blur garnered two awards – Best Director for Han Shuai for his “impressive ability in portraying the characters’ psyche” and Best Actress for Huang Tian for “intelligently guiding the audience into the tender inner world of a young girl”. The Best Actor Award went to Wuhai’s Huang Xuan, who “brilliantly exhibits the anguish and torment experienced by a man...
In naming Qi Rui’s The Day is Over Best Film of this year’s Young Cinema Competition (Chinese Language), the jury praised it for “aptly portraying contemporary society’s lack of care for the young generation and the subsequent impact on the development of their personal values”. In the same section, Summer Blur garnered two awards – Best Director for Han Shuai for his “impressive ability in portraying the characters’ psyche” and Best Actress for Huang Tian for “intelligently guiding the audience into the tender inner world of a young girl”. The Best Actor Award went to Wuhai’s Huang Xuan, who “brilliantly exhibits the anguish and torment experienced by a man...
- 4/11/2021
- by Adriana Rosati
- AsianMoviePulse
Mainland China youth drama “The Day is Over” was named the best Chinese-language film in the Firebird Young Cinema competition at the Hong Kong International Film Festival. The already celebrated Iranian film “The Wasteland,” directed by Ahmad Bahrami won the equivalent award in the overseas section.
The 45th edition of the festival kicked off on April 1 and will complete its run on Monday.
“The Day is Over,” directed by Qi Rui, tells a tale of mounting tragedies for a young girl who is humiliated by her classmates and ultimately hides out in a pond. The jury praised it for “aptly portraying contemporary society’s lack of care for the young generation and the subsequent impact on the development of their personal values”.
In the same section, “Summer Blur” garnered two awards: best director for Han Shuai for his “impressive ability in portraying the characters’ psyche” and best actress for Huang Tian.
The 45th edition of the festival kicked off on April 1 and will complete its run on Monday.
“The Day is Over,” directed by Qi Rui, tells a tale of mounting tragedies for a young girl who is humiliated by her classmates and ultimately hides out in a pond. The jury praised it for “aptly portraying contemporary society’s lack of care for the young generation and the subsequent impact on the development of their personal values”.
In the same section, “Summer Blur” garnered two awards: best director for Han Shuai for his “impressive ability in portraying the characters’ psyche” and best actress for Huang Tian.
- 4/11/2021
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
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