Shirin Neshat's Women Without Men is the latest in a long line of great Iranian movies
The first decade of the 21st century has been an extraordinary time for Iranian film-makers, starting with joint Caméra d'Or wins for Hassan Yektapanah's Djomeh and Bahman Ghobadi's A Time for Drunken Horses at the 2000 Cannes film festival. Since then we have been treated to such wildly differing visions as Rafi Pitts's haunting It's Winter, with its oddly epic sense of domestic turmoil, and Jafar Panahi's Offside, arguably the best football movie ever made. In 2008 Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis picked up an Oscar nomination, while in 2010 Cannes favourite Abbas Kiarostami steered Juliette Binoche to a best actress award in Certified Copy.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering the problems of film-making in Iran (Panahi was unable to sit on the jury at Cannes this year because he was in prison for allegedly...
The first decade of the 21st century has been an extraordinary time for Iranian film-makers, starting with joint Caméra d'Or wins for Hassan Yektapanah's Djomeh and Bahman Ghobadi's A Time for Drunken Horses at the 2000 Cannes film festival. Since then we have been treated to such wildly differing visions as Rafi Pitts's haunting It's Winter, with its oddly epic sense of domestic turmoil, and Jafar Panahi's Offside, arguably the best football movie ever made. In 2008 Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis picked up an Oscar nomination, while in 2010 Cannes favourite Abbas Kiarostami steered Juliette Binoche to a best actress award in Certified Copy.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering the problems of film-making in Iran (Panahi was unable to sit on the jury at Cannes this year because he was in prison for allegedly...
- 8/21/2010
- by Mark Kermode
- The Guardian - Film News
Exiled artist Shirin Neshat's first film is about the lives of four women in her native Iran – but it won't get past the country's censors
Shirin Neshat sits in the cafe of a London park enthusing about pirate DVDs. The artist and first-time film director is unconcerned with the effect on ticket sales, instead praising the ingenuity of black market sellers who have made illegal copies of her film, Women Without Men.
"My sister managed to buy five copies in a store, with a new cover and everything," she tells me. "She sent someone to buy some more, but the guy said, 'Lady, we have already sold 500.' I was really happy." The store was in Iran, where the film is set, and the DVDs are likely to be the only way anyone in the country will see her film. Neshat is confident it will never get past the censors.
Shirin Neshat sits in the cafe of a London park enthusing about pirate DVDs. The artist and first-time film director is unconcerned with the effect on ticket sales, instead praising the ingenuity of black market sellers who have made illegal copies of her film, Women Without Men.
"My sister managed to buy five copies in a store, with a new cover and everything," she tells me. "She sent someone to buy some more, but the guy said, 'Lady, we have already sold 500.' I was really happy." The store was in Iran, where the film is set, and the DVDs are likely to be the only way anyone in the country will see her film. Neshat is confident it will never get past the censors.
- 6/13/2010
- by Homa Khaleeli
- The Guardian - Film News
Iran in turmoil is the backdrop to this enigmatic and impressive debut. By Peter Bradshaw
The Anglo-Iranian comic Shappi Khorsandi recently revealed that Jon Snow had told her about a conversation he had once had some years ago with the then prime minister, Tony Blair. The premier had asked Snow, plaintively, why Iran hated the British so much. Snow replied hesitantly: "Well, you know, because of Mossadeq …" – that is, the left-leaning Iranian leader, toppled in 1953 by a coup instigated by the British and American governments because of his determination to nationalise oil. Blair replied blankly: "Who?" Perhaps watching this excellent movie would be a way for Blair, and the rest of us, to brush up on British and Iranian history.
With this debut feature, the photographer-turned-director Shirin Neshat has made a picture with vision, poetry, sexual frankness and historical sinew. It brings together, on screen, the personal and the political...
The Anglo-Iranian comic Shappi Khorsandi recently revealed that Jon Snow had told her about a conversation he had once had some years ago with the then prime minister, Tony Blair. The premier had asked Snow, plaintively, why Iran hated the British so much. Snow replied hesitantly: "Well, you know, because of Mossadeq …" – that is, the left-leaning Iranian leader, toppled in 1953 by a coup instigated by the British and American governments because of his determination to nationalise oil. Blair replied blankly: "Who?" Perhaps watching this excellent movie would be a way for Blair, and the rest of us, to brush up on British and Iranian history.
With this debut feature, the photographer-turned-director Shirin Neshat has made a picture with vision, poetry, sexual frankness and historical sinew. It brings together, on screen, the personal and the political...
- 6/10/2010
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
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.