Stunned to discover that her son has vanished while studying abroad in Athens, an Iranian woman sets off on a desperate search across the Greek capital to find him. Navigating a foreign and forbidding landscape, she’s forced to also travel deep within herself, uncovering buried truths and offering a chance for her own reinvention.
“Pari” is the feature debut of writer-director Siamak Etemadi, who was born and raised in Iran and lives in Athens. Produced by Heretic (Greece), Le Bureau (France), Topkapi (Netherlands), and The Chouchkov Brothers (Bulgaria), it had its world premiere Feb. 25 in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival. Heretic Outreach is handling world sales.
Conceived in part as what Etemadi calls a “love letter” to his mother, the film is a portrait of a woman (Melika Foroutan) unbowed by her own fears and inhibitions, driven by an almost blind determination to find her son.
“Pari” is the feature debut of writer-director Siamak Etemadi, who was born and raised in Iran and lives in Athens. Produced by Heretic (Greece), Le Bureau (France), Topkapi (Netherlands), and The Chouchkov Brothers (Bulgaria), it had its world premiere Feb. 25 in the Panorama section of the Berlin Film Festival. Heretic Outreach is handling world sales.
Conceived in part as what Etemadi calls a “love letter” to his mother, the film is a portrait of a woman (Melika Foroutan) unbowed by her own fears and inhibitions, driven by an almost blind determination to find her son.
- 2/26/2020
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
So, remember Tom Shadyac? He's the guy who was at one time a box office comedy titan, thanks to "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective," "The Nutty Professor," "Liar Liar" and "Bruce Almighty." But then he decided after making millions upon millions of dollars that there was more to life and made a documentary. "I Am"was a lot of feel good, New Age-y mumbo jumbo, that found him talking with folks like David Suzuki, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lynne McTaggart, Ray Anderson, John Francis, Coleman Barks, and Marc Ian Barasch about like the world, man. That was a couple of years ago, and while he briefly popped up as a contender to direct a remake of Arthur Lubin's 1964 film "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" that had Zach Galifianakis attached to star, it didn't happen. But now another remake might bring him back in the ring. Deadline reports that...
- 2/28/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Tom Shadyac’s documentary I Am will kick off Own: Oprah Winfrey Network’s Super Soul Sunday programming block on January 1, 2012. Onetime hit feature director Shadyac’s life took quite a turn after he suffered a concussion in a cycling accident that left him unable to work for months. The director of Liar Liar, The Nutty Professor and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective underwent a profound transformation that he chronicles in the movie. I Am follows Shadyac’s quest to answer two questions: “What’s wrong with the world” and “What can we do about it?”. He interviews notable men and women from the worlds of science, philosophy, academia and faith — including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, David Suzuki, Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Lynne McTaggart, Ray Anderson, John Francis, Coleman Barks and Marc Ian Barasch. Oprah Winfrey’s separate interview with Shadyac introduces the documentary. Super Soul Sunday airs 8-11 Am with an encore beginning at noon.
- 12/11/2011
- by THE DEADLINE TEAM
- Deadline TV
Reviewed by Jay Antani
(March 2011)
Directed by: Tom Shadyac
Starring: Marc Ian Barasch, Coleman Barks, Noam Chomsky, John Francis, Lynne McTaggart, Tom Shadyac, Desmond Tutu and Howard Zinn
After enduring a prolonged battle with post-concussion syndrome following a bike accident, filmmaker Tom Shadyac — the helmer behind such slapstick blockbusters as “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “The Nutty Professor” and “Bruce Almighty” — decided to steer his life and priorities in a new direction. He had already moved out of his mansion and into a Malibu trailer park, given up his car in favor of his bike and, in general, renounced his Hollywood lifestyle in a quest to get at the essence of what brings inner peace. Now he was determined to share his story with the world. The result of this soul-searching is his personal documentary “I Am,” a well-meaning metaphysical inquiry that hits all the right sentiments but manages precious little substance.
(March 2011)
Directed by: Tom Shadyac
Starring: Marc Ian Barasch, Coleman Barks, Noam Chomsky, John Francis, Lynne McTaggart, Tom Shadyac, Desmond Tutu and Howard Zinn
After enduring a prolonged battle with post-concussion syndrome following a bike accident, filmmaker Tom Shadyac — the helmer behind such slapstick blockbusters as “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “The Nutty Professor” and “Bruce Almighty” — decided to steer his life and priorities in a new direction. He had already moved out of his mansion and into a Malibu trailer park, given up his car in favor of his bike and, in general, renounced his Hollywood lifestyle in a quest to get at the essence of what brings inner peace. Now he was determined to share his story with the world. The result of this soul-searching is his personal documentary “I Am,” a well-meaning metaphysical inquiry that hits all the right sentiments but manages precious little substance.
- 3/11/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Reviewed by Jay Antani
(March 2011)
Directed by: Tom Shadyac
Starring: Marc Ian Barasch, Coleman Barks, Noam Chomsky, John Francis, Lynne McTaggart, Tom Shadyac, Desmond Tutu and Howard Zinn
After enduring a prolonged battle with post-concussion syndrome following a bike accident, filmmaker Tom Shadyac — the helmer behind such slapstick blockbusters as “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “The Nutty Professor” and “Bruce Almighty” — decided to steer his life and priorities in a new direction. He had already moved out of his mansion and into a Malibu trailer park, given up his car in favor of his bike and, in general, renounced his Hollywood lifestyle in a quest to get at the essence of what brings inner peace. Now he was determined to share his story with the world. The result of this soul-searching is his personal documentary “I Am,” a well-meaning metaphysical inquiry that hits all the right sentiments but manages precious little substance.
(March 2011)
Directed by: Tom Shadyac
Starring: Marc Ian Barasch, Coleman Barks, Noam Chomsky, John Francis, Lynne McTaggart, Tom Shadyac, Desmond Tutu and Howard Zinn
After enduring a prolonged battle with post-concussion syndrome following a bike accident, filmmaker Tom Shadyac — the helmer behind such slapstick blockbusters as “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “The Nutty Professor” and “Bruce Almighty” — decided to steer his life and priorities in a new direction. He had already moved out of his mansion and into a Malibu trailer park, given up his car in favor of his bike and, in general, renounced his Hollywood lifestyle in a quest to get at the essence of what brings inner peace. Now he was determined to share his story with the world. The result of this soul-searching is his personal documentary “I Am,” a well-meaning metaphysical inquiry that hits all the right sentiments but manages precious little substance.
- 3/11/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Check out the trailer for I Am, the upcoming 2011 documentary from Writer-Director Tom Shadyac.
I Am comes to theaters on February 8th, 2011.
About I Am:
I Am, a prismatic and probing exploration of our world, what’s wrong with it, and what we can do to make it better, represents Tom Shadyac’s first foray into non-fiction following a career as one of Hollywood’s leading comedy practitioners, with such successful titles as “Ace Ventura,” “Liar Liar,” and “Bruce Almighty” to his credit. I Am recounts what happened to the filmmaker after a cycling accident left him incapacitated, possibly for good. Though he ultimately recovered, he emerged a changed man. Disillusioned with life on the A-list, he sold his house, moved to a mobile home community, and decided to start life anew. Armed with nothing but his innate curiosity and a camera crew, Shadyac embarks upon a journey to...
I Am comes to theaters on February 8th, 2011.
About I Am:
I Am, a prismatic and probing exploration of our world, what’s wrong with it, and what we can do to make it better, represents Tom Shadyac’s first foray into non-fiction following a career as one of Hollywood’s leading comedy practitioners, with such successful titles as “Ace Ventura,” “Liar Liar,” and “Bruce Almighty” to his credit. I Am recounts what happened to the filmmaker after a cycling accident left him incapacitated, possibly for good. Though he ultimately recovered, he emerged a changed man. Disillusioned with life on the A-list, he sold his house, moved to a mobile home community, and decided to start life anew. Armed with nothing but his innate curiosity and a camera crew, Shadyac embarks upon a journey to...
- 12/27/2010
- by Terry Boyden
- BuzzFocus.com
I love films that are uplifting and inspiring, and Tom Shadyac's new documentary I Am gives us exactly that.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Shadyac, he is the director of several silly comedies such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar, Liar, and Bruce Almighty. The director ended up getting into a terrible bike accident that changed his whole view of the world. He sold his mansion and gave away all of his possessions. He ended up moving into a trailer and started thinking about the world and how it could be changed into a better place. For those of you that want to learn more about Shadyac's experience, here's a great article from the La Times that gives a detailed description.
Here is the films description:
I Am, a prismatic and probing exploration of our world, what’s wrong with it, and what...
For those of you who aren't familiar with Shadyac, he is the director of several silly comedies such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, The Nutty Professor, Liar, Liar, and Bruce Almighty. The director ended up getting into a terrible bike accident that changed his whole view of the world. He sold his mansion and gave away all of his possessions. He ended up moving into a trailer and started thinking about the world and how it could be changed into a better place. For those of you that want to learn more about Shadyac's experience, here's a great article from the La Times that gives a detailed description.
Here is the films description:
I Am, a prismatic and probing exploration of our world, what’s wrong with it, and what...
- 12/16/2010
- by Venkman
- GeekTyrant
In the 1990s Tom Shadyac was one of the most successful directors in Hollywood. From Ace Venture: Pet Detective, to The Nutty Professor and Liar, Liar, he was making the kind of huge hit comedies studios dream of. Then Shadyac was in a bad bicycle accident that changed everything. His physical injuries healed but the experience changed his outlook on life. He sold his mansion, moved into a trailer, gave away his money and possessions and began thinking about a movie that would explore how we, as humans, can change the way we live and make the world better. That documentary, I Am, will be out in February. Check out the inspirational trailer and read the plot synopsis after the break. Here's the trailer for Shadyac's I Am. If you'd like to know about Shadyac's situation, the Los Angeles Times [1] did a great profile. That has Oscar 2012 written all over it,...
- 12/16/2010
- by Germain Lussier
- Slash Film
As profiled in a recent La Times article, Tom Shadyac – at one time the hottest comedy director in Hollywood, with hits like Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Bruce Almighty and Liar Liar to his credit – had a brush with death after a serious bicycle accident, suffered from a post-concussion depressive state and gave away most of his possessions, including his 17,000 square foot mansion.
Now Shadyac returns with a bare-bones documentary, I Am. We just got sent the trailer and you can view it below.
Here’s the synopsis:
“I Am,” a prismatic and probing exploration of our world, what’s wrong with it, and what we can do to make it better, represents Tom Shadyac’s first foray into non-fiction following a career as one of Hollywood’s leading comedy practitioners, with such successful titles as “Ace Ventura,” “Liar Liar,” and “Bruce Almighty” to his credit. “I Am” recounts what happened...
Now Shadyac returns with a bare-bones documentary, I Am. We just got sent the trailer and you can view it below.
Here’s the synopsis:
“I Am,” a prismatic and probing exploration of our world, what’s wrong with it, and what we can do to make it better, represents Tom Shadyac’s first foray into non-fiction following a career as one of Hollywood’s leading comedy practitioners, with such successful titles as “Ace Ventura,” “Liar Liar,” and “Bruce Almighty” to his credit. “I Am” recounts what happened...
- 12/15/2010
- by Anthony Vieira
- The Film Stage
Tom Shadyac's first foray as a docu filmmaker appears to be lighting small fires on the U.S. film festival circuit and Mark Urman's Paladin are looking to give more oxygen to what might be one of those inspiring, highly personalized account by the man who gave us a slew of Jim Carrey comedies (Bruce Almighty). Simply titled I Am and coming with the tagline "the shift is about to hit the fan", the doc film represents a 180 in Shadyac's personal life. Hitting the Hamptons Film Festival next week, Paladin is planning an eventual February release. I Am recounts what happened to the filmmaker after a cycling accident left him incapacitated, possibly for good. Though he ultimately recovered, Shadyac emerged a changed man. Disillusioned with life on the A-list, he sold his house, moved to a mobile home community, and decided to start life anew. Armed with nothing...
- 10/6/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
It was the poet Shelley who wrote that "the poet is the unacknowledged legislator of the world." Not much has changed since he wrote those words nearly three hundred years ago. But, after watching these most captivating minutes of video, one may certainly walk away with the sense of how poets change the world not merely by their words, but by their example. Every War Has Two Losers is a documentary based on the journals of midwestern poet William Stafford who declared himself a conscientious objector to World War II and, from 1942 through 1946, was interned at the Civilian Public Service Camps as a pacifist. The film has already aired on selected PBS stations, and features some of this country's finest poets, W.S. Merwin, Coleman Barks, Robert Bly, Maxine Hong Kingston, Alice Walker, reading from Stafford's work Stafford, who was born in...
- 8/24/2010
- by Jayne Lyn Stahl
- Huffington Post
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.