Jafar Panahi Articles

Jafar Panahi, condemned by the powers-that-be in Iran’s theocracy for “assembly and colluding with the intention to commit crimes against the country’s national security” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic,” has been sentenced to six years in prison. Additionally, Panahi has been banned from making movies, writing screenplays, leaving the country, or talking to the media for the next 20 years. (As if Iran’s power-hungry [...]

Juliette Binoche, William Shimell in Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy (top); Javier Bardem in Alejandro González-Inarritu’s Biutiful (middle); Elio Germano in Daniele Luchetti’s Our Life (bottom) UNCLE BOONMEE WHO CAN RECALL HIS PAST LIVES Wins Palme d’Or Juliette Binoche and Javier Bardem, both of whom have already received Academy Awards in the past, took home the acting awards for their performances in, respectively, Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified [...]

Jamel Debbouze, Roschdy Zem, Sami Bouajila, the stars of Rachid Bouchareb’s Days of Glory, join forces once again in Bouchareb’s Outside the Law First, Cannes Film Festival organizers pissed off Silvio Berlusconi’s right-wing government by showing Sabina Guzzanti’s documentary Draquila: Italy Trembles, which delves into the corruption and decay found in Berlusconi’s Italy. Today came Rachid Bouchareb’s Outside the Law, which seriously pissed off members [...]

Juliette Binoche, William Shimell in Abbas Kiarostami’s Certified Copy "The fact that a filmmaker has been imprisoned is itself intolerable. If the Iranian government continues to refuse to release Jafar, then we need explanations. Jafar Panahi was inclined to make his films under clandestine, illegal circumstances, but that’s not his responsibility alone. The responsibility is that of the authorities who prevent him from carrying out [...]