Asghar Farhadi’s Parallel Tales has been critically panned, but our reviewer found its tribute to the work of Kieślowski remarkably touching.
The Kieślowski Universe
Tag: Iran
Simple Plans Are Never Simple
A simple plan goes fiendishly out of hand in Dying Twice, Living Thrice, Karim Lakzadeh’s existential critique of modern day Iran.
The Mysteries of the Festival Organism
Operating under public funding cuts, the Festival of Auteur Films in Belgrade reflects on Balkan division, politics and the potential for change.
Between Dreams and Hope. Between Risk and Compromise.
Farnoosh Samadi’s blistering thriller Between Dreams and Hope captures the compromises of a young trans man navigating the difficulties of modern-day Iran.
Berlinale Shorts 2025 Part One: Dreams and Nightmares
From oddball animation to Asian coming-of-age stories to big tech’s uncanny valley, we look at ten shorts from the Berlinale Shorts programme.
in retrospect Expertly Captures German Xenophobia
in retrospect explores the double-standards of Germany’s immigration policies: inviting people to come then demonising them for coming.
Parsing the Puzzling Persian of Universal Language
Matthew Rankin’s culture-bending comedy fable throws up all kinds of intellectual questions, but rarely engages on a deeper, emotional level.
Critical Zone Fails to Hold Interest
A stoner comedy without the comedy; an arthouse drama without the art; a deep dive into social ills without going too deep; Critical Zone is inessential.
Empty Nets. Empty Catch.
Love fights the forces of economics and corruption in the underwhelming Iranian drama Empty Nets — live from Karlovy Vary Film Festival.
Berlinale 2023 Perspektive Deutsches Kino: German Soft Power
The explicitly German section of the Berlinale, Perspektive Deutsches Kino is a fascinating example of film festival soft power diplomacy.