Asghar Farhadi’s “Forushande” or “The Salesman” was a last-minute addition to the official competition and it is a refreshing, intelligent watch coming in the wake of the vampire-top-model hokum of “The Neon Demon” and the mawkishness of “The Last Face” this late in the festival. Unlike most of the other competition entries, “The Salesman” boasts …
Every time it feels like Hollywood has decided to remake a property that couldn’t be more sacred, they one up the ante. Michael Bay has been prepping a remake of Alfred Hitchcock’s suspense/horror classic The Birds, and Variety reports that the project has now found its director: Dutch filmmaker Diederik Van Rooijen. Van Rooijen has …
The real magic of the I for Iran series in Toronto lies in curation: the talent they have recruited to present and contextualize the various films screened is a testament to their commitment to offering the best possible cinematic experience. More so than not, each film is accompanied by a presenter – a variety of …
Camp X-Ray Written and directed by Peter Sattler USA, 2014 Director Peter Sattler leads us down the path of purported empathy and compassion in his debut film, Camp X-Ray, only to come up short in depicting the relationship between a female soldier assigned to Guantanamo Bay and a man she befriends who has been imprisoned there …
“You can’t understand until it happens to you.” Roya, played by Mahnaz Afshar, listens to this line left on her answering machine repeatedly. It is a part of her husband, Ali’s, confession to his infidelity with one of Roya’s piano students, with whom he’s run off. Ali sees himself as a victim of his passion, …
Every thirty days, I like to post a list of my favorite films I’ve recently watched. Here are the best films I’ve seen throughout the month of September. This list is based on movies theatrically released here in Canada, and I do not include what I have seen at film festivals. **** 1: The Turin …
A Separation Written and directed by Asghar Farhadi Iran, 2011 A Separation is one of those multi-purpose titles that suggests many different conditions under examination in this richly textured film. The most obvious separation is the dissolution of the marriage between two main characters, Simin (Leila Hatami) and Nader (Peyman Moadi). Simin has a visa …
A Separation Written and directed by Asghar Farhadi Iran, 2011 A Separation is one of those multi-purpose titles that suggests many different conditions under examination in this richly textured film. The most obvious separation is the dissolution of the marriage between two main characters, Simin (Leila Hatami) and Nader (Peyman Moadi). Simin has a visa …