Persian helmers Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami have teamed again to make a movie about what they call “one step forward”. Built in the form of 12 short, completely separated stories that bare the names of their main protagonists, “Terrestrial Verses” shows different situations of oppression, some of them completely absurd and some uncomfortable, with most of them handled with a great dose of deadpan humor.
At the international premiere of their movie in the Uncertain Regard competition program of the festival, Alireza Kathami addressed the packed Debussy theatre with words about the current situation in Iran.
Asian Movie Pulse met the directors to ask them about their idea to make a film out of twelve tableaux, about the inspiration found in old Persian form of poetry, about the importance of humor to battle one's rights and taking that actual one step forward.
Terrestrial Verses is screening at Cannes Official poster...
At the international premiere of their movie in the Uncertain Regard competition program of the festival, Alireza Kathami addressed the packed Debussy theatre with words about the current situation in Iran.
Asian Movie Pulse met the directors to ask them about their idea to make a film out of twelve tableaux, about the inspiration found in old Persian form of poetry, about the importance of humor to battle one's rights and taking that actual one step forward.
Terrestrial Verses is screening at Cannes Official poster...
- 5/26/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari‘s “Terrestrial Verses,” the sole Iranian film premiering in Cannes’ Official Selection, has been acquired for distribution in key European territories.
Represented by Films Boutique, “Terrestrial Verses” has been acquired for France (Arp Selection), Benelux (September Films) and Germany/Austria (Neue Visionen). All three banners are leading distributors in their respective territories. Those deals were closed following the film’s well-received world premiere.
“Terrestrial Verses” marks the first collaboration between Khatami and Asgari, who are both acclaimed directors.
Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.
The film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad. When describing the film, Gabor Greiner,...
Represented by Films Boutique, “Terrestrial Verses” has been acquired for France (Arp Selection), Benelux (September Films) and Germany/Austria (Neue Visionen). All three banners are leading distributors in their respective territories. Those deals were closed following the film’s well-received world premiere.
“Terrestrial Verses” marks the first collaboration between Khatami and Asgari, who are both acclaimed directors.
Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.
The film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad. When describing the film, Gabor Greiner,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
A daunting task faces the protagonists in Terrestrial Verses (Ayeh haye zamini): Each of them is trying to reason with a government bureaucrat or other self-important authority figure. They’re all residents of Tehran, and there’s something specific to Iran in the oppressive regulations and catch-22s that hinder them, but there’s universal resonance, too, in the escalating lunacy and bleak implications.
In 10 of the feature’s 11 subtly interlocking segments, a single character faces an offscreen interlocutor. The fixed camera holds each one in an unwavering embrace as they try to make sense of arbitrary rules and demands. Inspired by the intricate rhymes of ghazal, a classic form of Persian poetry, writer-directors Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami have constructed a thoroughly modern work of bracing concision, elegance and blistering deadpan humor, one that pulses with sorrow and outrage over the absurdity of authoritarian dictates that aim to crush souls.
In 10 of the feature’s 11 subtly interlocking segments, a single character faces an offscreen interlocutor. The fixed camera holds each one in an unwavering embrace as they try to make sense of arbitrary rules and demands. Inspired by the intricate rhymes of ghazal, a classic form of Persian poetry, writer-directors Ali Asgari and Alireza Khatami have constructed a thoroughly modern work of bracing concision, elegance and blistering deadpan humor, one that pulses with sorrow and outrage over the absurdity of authoritarian dictates that aim to crush souls.
- 5/23/2023
- by Sheri Linden
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Films Boutique, the Berlin-based company behind “Pacifiction” and “The Burdened,” has come on board three international movies slated for the Cannes Film Festival. These include a pair of films set for Cannes’ Un Certain Regard, “Terrestrial Verses” and “The Buriti Flower,” as well as “Tiger Stripes” which will bow at Critics’ Week.
“Terrestrial Verses,” directed by Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari, is the sole Iranian film premiering in the Official Selection. The movie marks the first collaboration between these two critically acclaimed directors.
Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.
While the plot remains under wrap, the film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad.
“Terrestrial Verses,” directed by Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari, is the sole Iranian film premiering in the Official Selection. The movie marks the first collaboration between these two critically acclaimed directors.
Khatami previously wrote and directed “Oblivion Verses” which won best screenplay and the Fipresci prizes at Venice in 2017. Asgari, meanwhile, previously directed “Until Tomorrow” which premiered at Berlin last year, and presented two shorts at Cannes, “More Than Two Hours” in 2013 et “Il Silenzio” in 2016.
While the plot remains under wrap, the film’s title is a reference to a poet by famed Iranian Poet Forugh Farrokhzad.
- 4/26/2023
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Launching with the opening night world premiere of Marc Turtletaub’s “Jules,” a crowdpleaser sales title starring Ben Kingsley, the 26th annual Sonoma International Film Festival (March 22-26) drew its highest audience attendance to date. The wine country film festival combined a robust film slate programmed by newly appointed artistic director Carl Spence (working with Executive Director Ginny Krieger), from upcoming specialty fare like Paul Schrader’s “The Master Gardener,” starring Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver, and Searchlight’s period biopic “Chevalier,” starring Kelvin Harrison Jr., with a smattering of yummy wine and food events with top chefs, from Martin Yan’s Shaking Beef with Three Onions to Joanne Weir’s herb-covered goat cheese tarte.
The five-day festival curated by Spence along with senior programmers Amanda Salazar and Ken Jacobson, showcased 110 films, including seven films making their US premieres as well as films acclaimed on the festival circuit. Thirty-two countries...
The five-day festival curated by Spence along with senior programmers Amanda Salazar and Ken Jacobson, showcased 110 films, including seven films making their US premieres as well as films acclaimed on the festival circuit. Thirty-two countries...
- 3/26/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
French sales house to market premiere ‘Bright Women’ at Rendez-Vous.
MPM Premium has boarded French drama Bright Women (Brillantes) and has unveiled more sales for Until Tomorrow, Umami and Ghosts ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.
MPM will market premiere Bright Women for buyers at Rendez-Vous, where it will kick off global sales for the film ahead of its debut in French theatres on January 18 via Alba Films.
The first feature from Sylvie Gautier, Bright Women follows a housekeeper and mother who is asked to lead a movement of unionised workers and finds herself in a moral dilemma.
MPM Premium has boarded French drama Bright Women (Brillantes) and has unveiled more sales for Until Tomorrow, Umami and Ghosts ahead of Unifrance’s annual Rendez-Vous in Paris this week.
MPM will market premiere Bright Women for buyers at Rendez-Vous, where it will kick off global sales for the film ahead of its debut in French theatres on January 18 via Alba Films.
The first feature from Sylvie Gautier, Bright Women follows a housekeeper and mother who is asked to lead a movement of unionised workers and finds herself in a moral dilemma.
- 1/9/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Ali Asgari started studying film directing when he moved to Italy, with experience already gathered in the field as an assistant producer and assistant director in Iran. He made his first short film “Tonight Is Not a Good Night For Dying” (2011) as a freshman, and stayed faithfull to the short format ever since. “Until Tomorrow“, his sophomore feature length drama that has just screened in Berlinale’s Panorama section, was also supposed to be a short drama, but the topic was of such importance for the Iranian director that he felt the urge to tell the story in more detail.
In the script co-written with Alireza Khatami, Asgari shows one afternoon in the life of a single mother Fereshteh (played by the fantastic Sadaf Asgari) who, after her parents announce their sudden arrival to Tehran, is frantically looking for a sleep-over for her out-of-the-wedlock baby daughter just for one night.
In the script co-written with Alireza Khatami, Asgari shows one afternoon in the life of a single mother Fereshteh (played by the fantastic Sadaf Asgari) who, after her parents announce their sudden arrival to Tehran, is frantically looking for a sleep-over for her out-of-the-wedlock baby daughter just for one night.
- 2/23/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Fereshteh (Sadaf Asgari) needs help ‘only’ until the next day, but this will prove dificult since she is asking for a dangerous kind of favour. She is in a position no young woman in Iran would like to be in: a single mom with a baby out of wedlock that nobody but one person knows about. Asgari plots his story around the consequences of a love affair that, in certain societies, weigh heavy on women who are expected to do everything ‘by the book’: wait with sex until they get married and only then start a family.
Until Tomorrow screened at Berlin International Film Festival
In the opening couple of minutes, there is nothing strange about a young mother taking care of her baby. Fereshteh looks tired but happy, and also, she seems to be doing fine job-wise as a freelance graphic designer. So, when a phonecall from her...
Until Tomorrow screened at Berlin International Film Festival
In the opening couple of minutes, there is nothing strange about a young mother taking care of her baby. Fereshteh looks tired but happy, and also, she seems to be doing fine job-wise as a freelance graphic designer. So, when a phonecall from her...
- 2/21/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
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