Societal threats are already heavy for medical student Mariam when bereavement leaves her undefended and the story untethers from realism
Pakistan’s patriarchal society is a too credible source of horror in this promising feature debut from Canadian-Pakistani writer/director Zarrar Khan, whose gallery of violent, predatory and swindling menfolk represent a living nightmare for its disempowered women. The story firmly grounds itself in everyday Karachi life before drifting into more supernatural realms, which makes it a revealing slice of social realism as much as a horror film.
Things are oppressive from the outset for 25-year-old medical student Mariam (Ramesha Nawal); a male stranger throws a brick through her car window, apparently for the offence of being female while driving. But as a result she befriends a relatively decent man: Asad, a student from liberal Canada. Their early romance progresses quickly and chastely (an official admonishes them for sitting too...
Pakistan’s patriarchal society is a too credible source of horror in this promising feature debut from Canadian-Pakistani writer/director Zarrar Khan, whose gallery of violent, predatory and swindling menfolk represent a living nightmare for its disempowered women. The story firmly grounds itself in everyday Karachi life before drifting into more supernatural realms, which makes it a revealing slice of social realism as much as a horror film.
Things are oppressive from the outset for 25-year-old medical student Mariam (Ramesha Nawal); a male stranger throws a brick through her car window, apparently for the offence of being female while driving. But as a result she befriends a relatively decent man: Asad, a student from liberal Canada. Their early romance progresses quickly and chastely (an official admonishes them for sitting too...
- 5/22/2024
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
On Monday, May 27th, 2024, at 9:00 Pm on TLC, viewers are in for another intriguing episode of “Seeking Sister Wife” with Season 5’s installment titled “Seeking Our Forever.” This reality show delves into the lives of families exploring the concept of polygamy as they search for a sister wife to join their family unit.
In this episode, tensions rise as potential sister wife Mariam sends mixed signals to Garrick, leaving him uncertain about their future together. Meanwhile, Nathalia expresses her feelings, adding another layer of complexity to the relationships within the group.
The Davises find themselves facing a significant decision following a sleepover with Jasmine, prompting them to reevaluate their priorities and aspirations for the future. Additionally, Becky and Justin are forced to confront their doubts and uncertainties about their relationship with Yary, raising questions about the viability of their potential partnership.
With emotions running high and relationships hanging in the balance,...
In this episode, tensions rise as potential sister wife Mariam sends mixed signals to Garrick, leaving him uncertain about their future together. Meanwhile, Nathalia expresses her feelings, adding another layer of complexity to the relationships within the group.
The Davises find themselves facing a significant decision following a sleepover with Jasmine, prompting them to reevaluate their priorities and aspirations for the future. Additionally, Becky and Justin are forced to confront their doubts and uncertainties about their relationship with Yary, raising questions about the viability of their potential partnership.
With emotions running high and relationships hanging in the balance,...
- 5/20/2024
- by Jules Byrd
- TV Everyday
Described as a ghostly parable about Pakistan’s insidious patriarchal order, Game Theory Films brings In Flames to stream at home on VOD, and we’ve got an exclusive clip for you today.
Written and Directed by Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Zarrar Kahn, In Flames was the first Pakistani film to play in Cannes Director’s Fortnight in nearly half a century.
The cast for Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames includes Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Mohammad Ali Hashmi and Jibran Khan.
In the thriller, “Mariam lives with her younger brother and their mother, Fariha, in a tiny apartment in Karachi. When Mariam’s maternal grandfather passes, his brother tries to manipulate them into signing over their apartment to him, a common occurrence in Pakistan, where women’s property rights are fragile.
“Mariam’s mother, grieving and isolated, is easy to influence. Mariam, distraught by her mother’s foolishness,...
Written and Directed by Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Zarrar Kahn, In Flames was the first Pakistani film to play in Cannes Director’s Fortnight in nearly half a century.
The cast for Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames includes Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Mohammad Ali Hashmi and Jibran Khan.
In the thriller, “Mariam lives with her younger brother and their mother, Fariha, in a tiny apartment in Karachi. When Mariam’s maternal grandfather passes, his brother tries to manipulate them into signing over their apartment to him, a common occurrence in Pakistan, where women’s property rights are fragile.
“Mariam’s mother, grieving and isolated, is easy to influence. Mariam, distraught by her mother’s foolishness,...
- 5/15/2024
- by Michael Roffman
- bloody-disgusting.com
Mayor of Kingstown returns in June, and as the show’s new trailer warns us: Season 3 is “next level.”
The crime drama starring Jeremy Renner will return on Sunday, June 2. To get a sense of just how high-stakes the action is this time around, press Play on the full trailer — which Paramount+ released Thursday — at the top of this post.
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In addition, take...
The crime drama starring Jeremy Renner will return on Sunday, June 2. To get a sense of just how high-stakes the action is this time around, press Play on the full trailer — which Paramount+ released Thursday — at the top of this post.
More from TVLineTVLine Items: ID's Nick and Aaron Carter Docuseries, Outlander Prequel Cast Additions and MoreTVLine Items: Outlaws Return Date, Dulé Hill Joins Pompeo Drama and MoreTVLine Items: Tom Brady Live Roast, Baking Show Renewed and More
In addition, take...
- 4/25/2024
- by Rebecca Iannucci
- TVLine.com
The path to paradise, so it has been foretold in Islamic scripture, is through loving and respecting one's own mother. As axiomatic yet clichéd as this sentiment may seem today, there is some merit to these words: to be connected to the family matriarch is to remain closely tied to one's own culture. To retain such a connection means to possess a greater understanding of who we are, not just as individuals but members of a greater cause. From a three-minute short to a one-woman play to a feature length debut, Fawzia Mirza's ‘The Queen of My Dreams' is an ambitious demonstration of what happens when that connection has been compromised, and the journey required to claim it back.
The Queen Of My Dreams is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase
After her father (Hamza Haq) dies tragically during a visit to Pakistan, Azra (Amrit Kaur...
The Queen Of My Dreams is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase
After her father (Hamza Haq) dies tragically during a visit to Pakistan, Azra (Amrit Kaur...
- 4/18/2024
- by JC Cansdale-Cook
- AsianMoviePulse
A supernatural-charged exploration of patriarchy in Pakistan, Zarrar Kahn's In Flames is now playing in theaters via Game Theory Films, and we have an exclusive clip to share with Daily Dead readers!
Below, you can enter the "door to the beach" and take a plunge into our exclusive clip from In Flames. Written and directed by Zarrar Kahn, In Flames stars Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Mohammad Ali Hashmi, and Jibran Khan.
"A psychological thriller, In Flames is a ghostly parable about Pakistan’s insidious patriarchal order. The film was the first Pakistani film to play in Director’s Fortnight in nearly half a century.
Mariam lives with her younger brother and their mother, Fariha, in a tiny apartment in Karachi. When Mariam’s maternal grandfather passes, his brother tries to manipulate them into signing over their apartment to him, a common occurrence in Pakistan,...
Below, you can enter the "door to the beach" and take a plunge into our exclusive clip from In Flames. Written and directed by Zarrar Kahn, In Flames stars Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Mohammad Ali Hashmi, and Jibran Khan.
"A psychological thriller, In Flames is a ghostly parable about Pakistan’s insidious patriarchal order. The film was the first Pakistani film to play in Director’s Fortnight in nearly half a century.
Mariam lives with her younger brother and their mother, Fariha, in a tiny apartment in Karachi. When Mariam’s maternal grandfather passes, his brother tries to manipulate them into signing over their apartment to him, a common occurrence in Pakistan,...
- 4/15/2024
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Described as a ghostly parable about Pakistan’s insidious patriarchal order, Game Theory Films brings In Flames to theaters on Friday, April 12, and we’ve got an exclusive clip for you today.
Written and Directed by Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Zarrar Kahn, In Flames was the first Pakistani film to play in Cannes Director’s Fortnight in nearly half a century.
The cast for Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames includes Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Mohammad Ali Hashmi and Jibran Khan.
In the thriller, “Mariam lives with her younger brother and their mother, Fariha, in a tiny apartment in Karachi. When Mariam’s maternal grandfather passes, his brother tries to manipulate them into signing over their apartment to him, a common occurrence in Pakistan, where women’s property rights are fragile.
“Mariam’s mother, grieving and isolated, is easy to influence. Mariam, distraught by her mother’s foolishness,...
Written and Directed by Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Zarrar Kahn, In Flames was the first Pakistani film to play in Cannes Director’s Fortnight in nearly half a century.
The cast for Zarrar Kahn’s In Flames includes Ramesha Nawal, Omar Javaid, Bakhtawar Mazhar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Mohammad Ali Hashmi and Jibran Khan.
In the thriller, “Mariam lives with her younger brother and their mother, Fariha, in a tiny apartment in Karachi. When Mariam’s maternal grandfather passes, his brother tries to manipulate them into signing over their apartment to him, a common occurrence in Pakistan, where women’s property rights are fragile.
“Mariam’s mother, grieving and isolated, is easy to influence. Mariam, distraught by her mother’s foolishness,...
- 4/11/2024
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Andrew Bird has announced his latest album, Sunday Morning Put-On, due out May 24th via Loma Vista Recordings. Recorded alongside the artist’s Andrew Bird Trio project, today’s announcement comes accompanied by two songs from the record, “I Fall in Love Too Easily” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.”
Bird has billed Sunday Morning Put-On as a tribute to mid-century, small group jazz, with the tracklist featuring compositions by musicians like Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Rodgers and Heart, and more. Drummer Ted Poor and bassist Alan Hampton join bird on the recordings, with additional contributions coming from Jeff Parker and Larry Goldings.
Get Andrew Bird Tickets Here
“Most Saturday nights [in my 20s], I’d stay up listening to a radio show called ‘Blues Before Sunrise’ on Wbez from 12:00 to 4:00 a.m,” the artist said of the album’s inspiration. “The DJ, Steve Cushing, played old, rare 78rpm records of blues,...
Bird has billed Sunday Morning Put-On as a tribute to mid-century, small group jazz, with the tracklist featuring compositions by musicians like Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, Rodgers and Heart, and more. Drummer Ted Poor and bassist Alan Hampton join bird on the recordings, with additional contributions coming from Jeff Parker and Larry Goldings.
Get Andrew Bird Tickets Here
“Most Saturday nights [in my 20s], I’d stay up listening to a radio show called ‘Blues Before Sunrise’ on Wbez from 12:00 to 4:00 a.m,” the artist said of the album’s inspiration. “The DJ, Steve Cushing, played old, rare 78rpm records of blues,...
- 4/11/2024
- by Jonah Krueger
- Consequence - Music
Exclusive: Bavc Media has named the latest group of nonfiction filmmakers to take part in its prestigious documentary film fellowship program. The octet announced today will receive $10,000 each in “unrestricted funding, mentorship, industry access, feedback sessions, and workshops during an immersive 9-month experience.”
The Bavc MediaMaker Fellowship was established in 1991 to support emerging filmmakers and diverse projects. This year’s cohort includes Ademola (Ellas Vinieron de Las Nubes / They Came From the Clouds); Chelsi Bullard (Unfiltered); Caron Creighton (Wood Street); Julia Hunter (This is Me Loving You); Patrick G. Lee (Untitled Kqt Project); Ivan MacDonald (When They Were Here); Khai Thu Nguyen (The Full Thao), and Pallavi Somusetty (Coach Emily). [Scroll for more about the filmmakers and their projects].
The fellowship provides “two intensive convenings in San Francisco, a slate of virtual workshops throughout the year, and all-access travel to the International Documentary Association’s biennial Getting Real conference in Los Angeles and the Camden International Film Festival in midcoast Maine.
The Bavc MediaMaker Fellowship was established in 1991 to support emerging filmmakers and diverse projects. This year’s cohort includes Ademola (Ellas Vinieron de Las Nubes / They Came From the Clouds); Chelsi Bullard (Unfiltered); Caron Creighton (Wood Street); Julia Hunter (This is Me Loving You); Patrick G. Lee (Untitled Kqt Project); Ivan MacDonald (When They Were Here); Khai Thu Nguyen (The Full Thao), and Pallavi Somusetty (Coach Emily). [Scroll for more about the filmmakers and their projects].
The fellowship provides “two intensive convenings in San Francisco, a slate of virtual workshops throughout the year, and all-access travel to the International Documentary Association’s biennial Getting Real conference in Los Angeles and the Camden International Film Festival in midcoast Maine.
- 4/2/2024
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Aflamuna Connection, formerly known as Beirut Cinema Platform, has selected 14 feature film projects to participate in its eighth edition, which will be the first edition to be held under the new name Aflamuna (Our films).
Reflecting emerging Arab filmmaker voices, the 14 projects range between fiction, docu-fiction and documentaries, and feature 11 projects in development and three in post-production. The selected projects come from Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Saudi Arabia.
Titles include Moondove, Lebanese filmmaker Karim Kassem’s docu-fiction about a female artist returning to a village outside Beirut after living abroad. Kassem’s documentary Octopus won...
Reflecting emerging Arab filmmaker voices, the 14 projects range between fiction, docu-fiction and documentaries, and feature 11 projects in development and three in post-production. The selected projects come from Sudan, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Saudi Arabia.
Titles include Moondove, Lebanese filmmaker Karim Kassem’s docu-fiction about a female artist returning to a village outside Beirut after living abroad. Kassem’s documentary Octopus won...
- 3/22/2024
- ScreenDaily
It’s not just the sudden brick through the car window that does it; it’s the fact that when Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) tells people about it afterwards, it’s suggested that she must have been partially to blame.
This is not an easy time to be a woman in Pakistan. Crimes apparently motivated by misogyny have increased in recent years, and even though the law offers protections, there’s no guarantee that the police will enforce it. Mariam’s encounter with unexpected violence is mirrored by another event in her life which has an equally shocking, albeit less physical impact: the death of her grandfather. Although the law gives women equal standing as heirs, custom does not, and many women don’t realise that they have any recourse if male relatives lay claim to the whole estate in such situations. In this case that means the home which Mariam...
This is not an easy time to be a woman in Pakistan. Crimes apparently motivated by misogyny have increased in recent years, and even though the law offers protections, there’s no guarantee that the police will enforce it. Mariam’s encounter with unexpected violence is mirrored by another event in her life which has an equally shocking, albeit less physical impact: the death of her grandfather. Although the law gives women equal standing as heirs, custom does not, and many women don’t realise that they have any recourse if male relatives lay claim to the whole estate in such situations. In this case that means the home which Mariam...
- 3/17/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
“The Queen of My Dreams” has been on its way to the big screen for more than ten years. Though not originally planned as a feature, writer and director Fawzia Mirza originally saw the story through life as both a short film and a stage play, based on her own experiences as a queer Pakistani-Canadian woman. The title is a literal translation of “Meri Sapno Ki Rani,” the wildly popular Hindi song from 1969’s “Aradhana.”
The film opens with narration from Azra (Amrit Kaur), Mirza’s self-insert, who has a complicated relationship with mother Mariam (Nimra Bucha) — but the two share an uncomplicated, undying love for the movie “Aradhana” starring Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna. When Azra’s father Hassan (Hamza Haq) suffers a fatal heart attack, Azra must join the family in Pakistan to mourn his passing — and salvage a rocky relationship with the only parent she has left.
The film opens with narration from Azra (Amrit Kaur), Mirza’s self-insert, who has a complicated relationship with mother Mariam (Nimra Bucha) — but the two share an uncomplicated, undying love for the movie “Aradhana” starring Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna. When Azra’s father Hassan (Hamza Haq) suffers a fatal heart attack, Azra must join the family in Pakistan to mourn his passing — and salvage a rocky relationship with the only parent she has left.
- 3/13/2024
- by Proma Khosla
- Indiewire
A narrative trifurcated across decades and generations, Fawzia Mizra’s “The Queen of My Dreams” follows a young Pakistani Canadian coming to terms with her upbringing. It hits all the familiar beats of a first-generation South Asian story and, despite its novel queer bent and tongue-in-cheek casting, it does little to separate itself, thematically or stylistically, from a now repetitive form of “third culture” storytelling.
The sound of a slide projector yanks the film’s opening images into place, as though it were a slideshow of family memories. The year is 1999. The place is Toronto. Azra is a wannabe actress — a profession of which her mother disapproves. She lives with her white, female “roommate” (her parents are none the wiser), to whom she excitedly shows the 1969 Hindi classic “Aradhana” starring Sharmila Tagore. “The Queen of My Dreams” is an English translation of the title of that movie’s most famous song,...
The sound of a slide projector yanks the film’s opening images into place, as though it were a slideshow of family memories. The year is 1999. The place is Toronto. Azra is a wannabe actress — a profession of which her mother disapproves. She lives with her white, female “roommate” (her parents are none the wiser), to whom she excitedly shows the 1969 Hindi classic “Aradhana” starring Sharmila Tagore. “The Queen of My Dreams” is an English translation of the title of that movie’s most famous song,...
- 3/10/2024
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Variety Film + TV
The greatest cinema is often an exciting cocktail for the senses: sound and image in perfect harmony, intricately woven to create an immersive experience that transports us to another world. But what happens when one of those senses is numbed? Silent movies formed the foundations of visual grammar for audiences, and sound was a luxury audiences lived without for many years. Few films have attempted the inverse, plunging the viewer into darkness and relying on sound alone to guide them from one experience to another. Enter Galician filmmaker Lois Patiño's bold and beautiful “Samsara”, a meditative drama set between Laos and Zanzibar that tracks a soul moving between states of existence, and the lives that are touched in big and small ways by this cosmic rite of passage. The term ‘samsara' itself is the cycle of death and reincarnation as seen by Buddhism, and while it may sound familiar...
- 3/9/2024
- by Simon Ramshaw
- AsianMoviePulse
This Sunday at 7:15 Pm on Showtime, viewers are in for a riveting episode of “Mayor of Kingstown.” In Season 2 Episode 9, titled “Peace in the Valley,” the intricate web of alliances and power struggles in the eponymous town takes center stage.
Mike and Milo, played by the stellar ensemble cast, engage in intense negotiations over a potential trade, adding layers of suspense and intrigue. Bunny, known for her bold moves, takes a daring step that ripples through the narrative, leaving audiences on the edge of their seats. Meanwhile, Mariam’s quest to locate Jacob introduces a compelling mystery element.
As tensions escalate, Evelyn directs her anger squarely at Mike, setting the stage for a showdown that promises to be both explosive and emotionally charged. Fans of the series can expect a rollercoaster of emotions and plot twists in this latest installment of “Mayor of Kingstown.” Tune in at 7:15 Pm...
Mike and Milo, played by the stellar ensemble cast, engage in intense negotiations over a potential trade, adding layers of suspense and intrigue. Bunny, known for her bold moves, takes a daring step that ripples through the narrative, leaving audiences on the edge of their seats. Meanwhile, Mariam’s quest to locate Jacob introduces a compelling mystery element.
As tensions escalate, Evelyn directs her anger squarely at Mike, setting the stage for a showdown that promises to be both explosive and emotionally charged. Fans of the series can expect a rollercoaster of emotions and plot twists in this latest installment of “Mayor of Kingstown.” Tune in at 7:15 Pm...
- 3/3/2024
- by Jules Byrd
- TV Everyday
Noor Taher’s performance in the role of Layan in the first season of Alrawabi School for Girls is exceptional. Layan has been portrayed as the biggest bully in the school, who harasses people and shames them, judging them on the basis of their looks. While others may choose to focus only on her negative personality traits, I would say that she is one of the most loyal friends in the first season. She was, however, exceedingly hostile to the people that she considered to be her opponents! Layan is extreme in everything she does, and has no middle ground; she is either too friendly or a complete nightmare!
Spoilers Ahead
Why Was Layan So Hostile Toward Mariam?
Layan was an aggressive bully who would often harass Mariam for no reason at all. She was mean towards her and would often try to demean her. Being one of the most popular girls,...
Spoilers Ahead
Why Was Layan So Hostile Toward Mariam?
Layan was an aggressive bully who would often harass Mariam for no reason at all. She was mean towards her and would often try to demean her. Being one of the most popular girls,...
- 2/20/2024
- by Debjyoti Dey
- Film Fugitives
The traditionally celebrity-heavy Toronto Film Festival has unveiled its list of Canada’s best indie films for 2023, which includes a host of first-time directors that have come to the fore as the Hollywood actors strike put local movies and talent front and center at TIFF last September.
Canadian filmmakers were able to grab the spotlight after SAG-AFTRA members barred from promoting studio or streamer projects allowed them to fill the vacuum on TIFF red carpets and at industry events.
New directors were also favorites of Toronto programmers as a shifting TIFF film market with few American celebrities in town also allowed the marquee festival to double down on finding new creative voices.
So here’s the top Canadian feature films of 2023, as decided by film pickers in Toronto.
1. BlackBerry
Matt Johnson’s drama about the meteoric rise of the world’s first smartphone, before its competitive collapse, bowed in Berlin.
Canadian filmmakers were able to grab the spotlight after SAG-AFTRA members barred from promoting studio or streamer projects allowed them to fill the vacuum on TIFF red carpets and at industry events.
New directors were also favorites of Toronto programmers as a shifting TIFF film market with few American celebrities in town also allowed the marquee festival to double down on finding new creative voices.
So here’s the top Canadian feature films of 2023, as decided by film pickers in Toronto.
1. BlackBerry
Matt Johnson’s drama about the meteoric rise of the world’s first smartphone, before its competitive collapse, bowed in Berlin.
- 12/20/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This Sunday at 8:00 Pm on Showtime, “Mayor of Kingstown” unveils its Season 1 Episode 4, titled “The Price.” The episode promises an intense exploration of power dynamics and the relentless pursuit of personal agendas. Mike, the central figure, finds himself at the epicenter of various desires, compelling him to assert control and remind those around him of who holds the reins in Kingstown.
As the narrative unfolds, viewers can anticipate a compelling visit from Iris to Mike’s office, adding layers of complexity to their relationship. Additionally, Mariam and Mike engage in a discussion about Kyle’s future, hinting at the intricate web of decisions that will shape the fate of Kingstown.
In “The Price,” the series continues to delve into the gritty underbelly of political and social dynamics in Kingstown, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats. With its intricate storytelling and dynamic characters, “Mayor of Kingstown” continues to...
As the narrative unfolds, viewers can anticipate a compelling visit from Iris to Mike’s office, adding layers of complexity to their relationship. Additionally, Mariam and Mike engage in a discussion about Kyle’s future, hinting at the intricate web of decisions that will shape the fate of Kingstown.
In “The Price,” the series continues to delve into the gritty underbelly of political and social dynamics in Kingstown, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats. With its intricate storytelling and dynamic characters, “Mayor of Kingstown” continues to...
- 11/19/2023
- by Jules Byrd
- TV Everyday
Making a documentary set in a high school seems like an absolute nightmare. It’s a tightly contained setting with layers of bureaucracy, and all your potential subjects require heaps of parental clearances for themselves and anybody they happen to talk to. Plus, teenagers tend to be just a wee bit changeable, defying a traditional narrative arc.
It’s important that we realize how miraculous projects like Hoop Dreams and America to Me are.
Lucha: A Wrestling Tale, director Marco Ricci’s two-year chronicle of the women’s wrestling team at Taft High School in the Bronx, is, on many levels, a mess. It wants to be a story of individual students, a team, a school and even a borough, but owing primarily to issues of access and choices of focus, it struggles to achieve many of its biggest storytelling aspirations.
But for all the places Lucha fails to craft a convincing portrait,...
It’s important that we realize how miraculous projects like Hoop Dreams and America to Me are.
Lucha: A Wrestling Tale, director Marco Ricci’s two-year chronicle of the women’s wrestling team at Taft High School in the Bronx, is, on many levels, a mess. It wants to be a story of individual students, a team, a school and even a borough, but owing primarily to issues of access and choices of focus, it struggles to achieve many of its biggest storytelling aspirations.
But for all the places Lucha fails to craft a convincing portrait,...
- 11/17/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
‘The Queen of My Dreams’ Review: A Charming and Fanciful Debut Tackles Mother-Daughter Relationships
Fawzia Mirza’s charming debut The Queen of My Dreams begins with a familiar and heartbreaking revelation. “I used to worship my mother,” our protagonist Azra (Amrit Kaur, The Sex Lives of College Girls) says through voiceover. “I thought she was perfect. I tried to be like my mother, but I wasn’t.”
As with most daughters navigating fractious relationships with their mothers, Azra’s entry into adulthood coincided with the shattering realization that her mother is only human. The woman who guided her since infancy and counseled her through challenging moments carries her own traumas. She doesn’t always understand Azra and, perhaps most upsettingly, she might not want to.
The Queen of My Dreams is Mirza’s take on a recognizable theme. It joins a formidable batch of films exploring mother-daughter relationships this festival season, a group that includes Raven Jackson’s gorgeous and poetic film All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt...
As with most daughters navigating fractious relationships with their mothers, Azra’s entry into adulthood coincided with the shattering realization that her mother is only human. The woman who guided her since infancy and counseled her through challenging moments carries her own traumas. She doesn’t always understand Azra and, perhaps most upsettingly, she might not want to.
The Queen of My Dreams is Mirza’s take on a recognizable theme. It joins a formidable batch of films exploring mother-daughter relationships this festival season, a group that includes Raven Jackson’s gorgeous and poetic film All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt...
- 10/17/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Mayor of Kingstown will have to make do without its matriarch when the Paramount+ drama returns.
According to our sister pub Deadline, Dianne Wiest — who plays Mariam McLusky in Taylor Sheridan’s thriller — will not be returning for Season 3. Her departure was creatively driven, per the trade. (As you’ll recall, Mariam was shot in the stomach in the Season 2 finale.)
More from TVLineLawmen: Bass Reeves Is No Longer an 1883 Spinoff: Show Boss Explains WhySouth Park Questions Disney's Diversity Efforts in New Paramount+ Special Joining the PanderverseTVLine Items: Raising Kanan Trailer, Kelly Clarkson Hosts Rockefeller Xmas and More
TVLine has...
According to our sister pub Deadline, Dianne Wiest — who plays Mariam McLusky in Taylor Sheridan’s thriller — will not be returning for Season 3. Her departure was creatively driven, per the trade. (As you’ll recall, Mariam was shot in the stomach in the Season 2 finale.)
More from TVLineLawmen: Bass Reeves Is No Longer an 1883 Spinoff: Show Boss Explains WhySouth Park Questions Disney's Diversity Efforts in New Paramount+ Special Joining the PanderverseTVLine Items: Raising Kanan Trailer, Kelly Clarkson Hosts Rockefeller Xmas and More
TVLine has...
- 9/27/2023
- by Michael Ausiello
- TVLine.com
Cineplex Pictures has picked up the Canadian rights to Fawzia Mirza’s debut feature The Queen Of My Dreams, about an estranged mother and daughter coming of age in different eras, after a world premiere at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival.
Cineplex and partner Shut Up & Color will release the indie in early 2024 in theaters, with Amrit Kaur (The Sex Lives of College Girls), Nimra Bucha (Ms. Marvel) and Hamza Haq (Transplant) starring.
The film has Kaur playing Azra, a queer grad student on a trip to Pakistan facing the sudden death of her father, which sees her collide with her conservative Muslim mother Mariam (Bucha). She also plays the younger Mariam.
Azra soon finds herself on a Bollywood-inspired journey through memories, both real and imagined. Those flashbacks include her mother’s youth in Karachi, a Bolllywood-style romance with her eventual husband and Azra’s own youth in Canada.
The Canadian...
Cineplex and partner Shut Up & Color will release the indie in early 2024 in theaters, with Amrit Kaur (The Sex Lives of College Girls), Nimra Bucha (Ms. Marvel) and Hamza Haq (Transplant) starring.
The film has Kaur playing Azra, a queer grad student on a trip to Pakistan facing the sudden death of her father, which sees her collide with her conservative Muslim mother Mariam (Bucha). She also plays the younger Mariam.
Azra soon finds herself on a Bollywood-inspired journey through memories, both real and imagined. Those flashbacks include her mother’s youth in Karachi, a Bolllywood-style romance with her eventual husband and Azra’s own youth in Canada.
The Canadian...
- 9/14/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A select group of films has qualified for Academy Award consideration after winning prizes at the 27th LA Shorts Film Festival, the longest-running shorts festival in the movie capital.
Nowhere, directed by L.A.-based filmmaker Gavin Hovannisian, won the Best of Fest Award at a ceremony Sunday night. In the 11-minute narrative short, set in the fictional city of Nowhere, the protagonists are shadows that “dream of a life without their human masters.”
Also qualifying for Oscar consideration was It Takes a Village…, winner of Best International Film. Director Ophelia Harutyunyan’s drama “tells the story of Mariam, who lives in an Armenian Village where there are no men. On her birthday, her hopes of a reunited family are shattered, when she must put aside her own crushed dreams and help her friend Anush as she embarks into motherhood.”
Both Nowhere and It Takes a Village… are Armenian films.
Nowhere, directed by L.A.-based filmmaker Gavin Hovannisian, won the Best of Fest Award at a ceremony Sunday night. In the 11-minute narrative short, set in the fictional city of Nowhere, the protagonists are shadows that “dream of a life without their human masters.”
Also qualifying for Oscar consideration was It Takes a Village…, winner of Best International Film. Director Ophelia Harutyunyan’s drama “tells the story of Mariam, who lives in an Armenian Village where there are no men. On her birthday, her hopes of a reunited family are shattered, when she must put aside her own crushed dreams and help her friend Anush as she embarks into motherhood.”
Both Nowhere and It Takes a Village… are Armenian films.
- 8/1/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Joju George, who impressed the audience with his performance in Joshiy’s Porinju Mariam Jose, is back with another massy avatar in the veteran director’s next film, Antony. The first look poster of the film was released on July 9, 2023, and it shows Joju George lighting a cigarette in a stylish manner, while Kalyani Priyadarshan is seen wearing a jersey in the background. The poster also hints at the possibility of sports being a part of the story.
Antony is touted to be an action thriller that brings back the lead cast of Porinju Mariam Jose, including Nyla Usha, Chemban Vinod Jose and Vijayaraghavan. Additionally, Asha Sharath has also joined the cast. The film is produced by Einstein Zach Paul under the banner of Einstein Media and distributed by Joju’s Appu Pathu Pappu Production House. The film is scripted by Rajesh Varma, who earlier penned films like Paisa Paisa,...
Antony is touted to be an action thriller that brings back the lead cast of Porinju Mariam Jose, including Nyla Usha, Chemban Vinod Jose and Vijayaraghavan. Additionally, Asha Sharath has also joined the cast. The film is produced by Einstein Zach Paul under the banner of Einstein Media and distributed by Joju’s Appu Pathu Pappu Production House. The film is scripted by Rajesh Varma, who earlier penned films like Paisa Paisa,...
- 7/9/2023
- by amalprasadappu
- https://thecinemanews.online/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IMG_4649
Pan-Arab distributor Mad Solutions has acquired worldwide sales and distribution rights for Palestinian director Laila Abbas’ upcoming female empowerment drama “Thank You for Banking With Us!” and boarded the buzzed-about project as a co-producer.
The multi-pronged company that is active in marketing and talent representation – and has become a leading local distributor of Arabic-language films – recently branched out into international sales with Sudan’s Cannes title “Goodbye Julia.” The Cairo-based outfit, headed by Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, is also becoming more involved in packaging Arabic projects with international market prospects.
Laila Abbas is a Palestinian filmmaker, producer and academic who in 2013 made a splash with doc “Ice & Dust” about a young Palestinian woman who crosses the Atlantic ocean to search for a better life in Canada. In 2019, she was selected for Berlin Film Festival’s Berlinale Talents program to nurture emerging filmmakers.
“Thank You for Banking With Us!,” which is now in pre-production,...
The multi-pronged company that is active in marketing and talent representation – and has become a leading local distributor of Arabic-language films – recently branched out into international sales with Sudan’s Cannes title “Goodbye Julia.” The Cairo-based outfit, headed by Alaa Karkouti and Maher Diab, is also becoming more involved in packaging Arabic projects with international market prospects.
Laila Abbas is a Palestinian filmmaker, producer and academic who in 2013 made a splash with doc “Ice & Dust” about a young Palestinian woman who crosses the Atlantic ocean to search for a better life in Canada. In 2019, she was selected for Berlin Film Festival’s Berlinale Talents program to nurture emerging filmmakers.
“Thank You for Banking With Us!,” which is now in pre-production,...
- 6/30/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
by Khushi Jain
When some realities are defined by fear, unease and terror, it is only right that they be translated into cinema as is. This is the basis of Zarrar Kahn's “In Flames”, a drama of patriarchal oppression robed in horror. This eerie debut feature premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival as part of Directors' Fortnight, and established itself as an authentic account of Pakistani womanhood through its spectral in(ter)ventions.
In Flames is screening at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Death marks the beginning of the film and of its many ghosts. The passing of a patriarch doesn't wipe out his presence but makes it even more prominent. Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) and her family are left stranded since almost everything they have is under the dead grandfather's name. Danger also lurks in the form of a greedy and deceitful uncle,...
When some realities are defined by fear, unease and terror, it is only right that they be translated into cinema as is. This is the basis of Zarrar Kahn's “In Flames”, a drama of patriarchal oppression robed in horror. This eerie debut feature premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival as part of Directors' Fortnight, and established itself as an authentic account of Pakistani womanhood through its spectral in(ter)ventions.
In Flames is screening at Cannes Official poster – 76th edition © Photo © Jack Garofalo/Paris Match/Scoop – Création graphique © Hartland Villa
Death marks the beginning of the film and of its many ghosts. The passing of a patriarch doesn't wipe out his presence but makes it even more prominent. Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) and her family are left stranded since almost everything they have is under the dead grandfather's name. Danger also lurks in the form of a greedy and deceitful uncle,...
- 5/21/2023
- by Guest Writer
- AsianMoviePulse
Exclusive: Emmy award-winning Indian producer Apoorva Bakshi (Delhi Crime) has boarded The Glassworker, Pakistan’s first ever Hayao Miyazaki-style animated feature, as an executive producer.
Bakshi, who is producing through her Awedacious Originals banner, joins a growing team of supporters of the ground-breaking 2D hand-drawn project, directed by Pakistan’s Usman Riaz and produced through his Karachi-based Mano Animation Studios.
Spanish animation producer Manuel Cristobal is also on board the project, while Paris-based sales agency Charades picked up international rights after it was presented as a work-in-progress at Annecy International Animation Film Festival last year. The film is currently in post-production and scheduled for delivery in August.
Set in a location loosely inspired by Pakistan, the film revolves around a father and son who run the finest glass workshop in the country but find their lives upended by an approaching war in which they want no part.
A long-time...
Bakshi, who is producing through her Awedacious Originals banner, joins a growing team of supporters of the ground-breaking 2D hand-drawn project, directed by Pakistan’s Usman Riaz and produced through his Karachi-based Mano Animation Studios.
Spanish animation producer Manuel Cristobal is also on board the project, while Paris-based sales agency Charades picked up international rights after it was presented as a work-in-progress at Annecy International Animation Film Festival last year. The film is currently in post-production and scheduled for delivery in August.
Set in a location loosely inspired by Pakistan, the film revolves around a father and son who run the finest glass workshop in the country but find their lives upended by an approaching war in which they want no part.
A long-time...
- 5/21/2023
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Editor’s Note: This review originally published during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. Game Theory Films will release “In Flames” on April 12, 2024.
“No one gives something for nothing.”
All of the evils that emerge over the course of “In Flames” — and there are quite a few of them — stem from that prescient warning that Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) relays to her mother. The 25-year-old medical student is alarmed by the resurfacing of her sleazy Uncle Nasir (Adnan Shah), who has conveniently offered to pay all of their family’s debts after a lifetime of neglecting her and her brother. The family’s financial struggles cause her concerns to fall on deaf ears, but a lot of agony could have been avoided if her mother had just learned the film’s key lesson: some gift horses should be looked in the mouth.
Zarrar Kahn’s genre-bending horror movie — which has the well-deserved honor...
“No one gives something for nothing.”
All of the evils that emerge over the course of “In Flames” — and there are quite a few of them — stem from that prescient warning that Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) relays to her mother. The 25-year-old medical student is alarmed by the resurfacing of her sleazy Uncle Nasir (Adnan Shah), who has conveniently offered to pay all of their family’s debts after a lifetime of neglecting her and her brother. The family’s financial struggles cause her concerns to fall on deaf ears, but a lot of agony could have been avoided if her mother had just learned the film’s key lesson: some gift horses should be looked in the mouth.
Zarrar Kahn’s genre-bending horror movie — which has the well-deserved honor...
- 5/19/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
In Zarrar Kahn’s eerie debut feature In Flames, the oppressive obstacles of the patriarchy are rendered as a ghost story. White-eyed apparitions haunt corners of rooms; uncanny sounds, resembling owl calls, carry us across scenes; and a visual palette of fiery reds and ghastly greens set the tone, filling the film with spooky-tale conventions.
Death instigates the horror of Kahn’s narrative, which premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section of Cannes. When Mariam’s grandfather, the patriarch of their household in Karachi, dies, the young woman (played by Ramesha Nawal) and her family are suddenly left imperiled. Everything — the house, the car, various accounts — are in his name, which means any men in the extended family ostensibly have a right to seize them. The 25-year old medical student worries about her bereaved mother Fariah (Bakhtawar Mazhar) and her spacey brother Bilal (Jibraan Khan).
The pressures Mariam faces mount when...
Death instigates the horror of Kahn’s narrative, which premiered in the Directors’ Fortnight section of Cannes. When Mariam’s grandfather, the patriarch of their household in Karachi, dies, the young woman (played by Ramesha Nawal) and her family are suddenly left imperiled. Everything — the house, the car, various accounts — are in his name, which means any men in the extended family ostensibly have a right to seize them. The 25-year old medical student worries about her bereaved mother Fariah (Bakhtawar Mazhar) and her spacey brother Bilal (Jibraan Khan).
The pressures Mariam faces mount when...
- 5/19/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
XYZ Films has unveiled the first clip from Cannes Directors’ Fortnight selection “In Flames,” a Pakistani-Canadian horror film directed by Zarrar Kahn.
The film, produced by Anam Abbas and executive produced by Shant Joshi, Todd Brown and Maxime Cottray, is part of XYZ’s New Visions slate. As revealed by Variety, XYZ had boarded the title last year.
In the Karachi-set film, after the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter’s precarious existence is ripped apart by figures from their past – both real and phantasmal. They must find strength in each other if they are to survive the malevolent forces that threaten to engulf them.
It is the first Pakistan-set film in Directors’ Fortnight since Jamil Dehlavi’s “The Blood of Hussain” was selected in 1980.
Kahn, who is now based in Canada, was born in and grew up in Karachi. “In Flames,” which is Kahn’s feature debut grew out of “Dia,...
The film, produced by Anam Abbas and executive produced by Shant Joshi, Todd Brown and Maxime Cottray, is part of XYZ’s New Visions slate. As revealed by Variety, XYZ had boarded the title last year.
In the Karachi-set film, after the death of the family patriarch, a mother and daughter’s precarious existence is ripped apart by figures from their past – both real and phantasmal. They must find strength in each other if they are to survive the malevolent forces that threaten to engulf them.
It is the first Pakistan-set film in Directors’ Fortnight since Jamil Dehlavi’s “The Blood of Hussain” was selected in 1980.
Kahn, who is now based in Canada, was born in and grew up in Karachi. “In Flames,” which is Kahn’s feature debut grew out of “Dia,...
- 5/19/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Cannes Hidden Gem: Patriarchal Oppression Meets Supernatural Horror in Pakistani Feature ‘In Flames’
When Zarrar Kahn moved back to Pakistan, the culture shock was immediate. Kahn was born in Karachi but spent his childhood and early school years in Mississauga, outside Toronto. He returned with his family to Pakistan when he was 13.
“It’s a really impressionable age and while my life, as a young man, wasn’t significantly changed, there was a huge disparity in the lives of the women I knew,” he says. “Their lived reality, navigating in public, was that they were always being watched by men. There’s a sinister sense of being patrolled. The use of gender, as a tool of discrimination, was very apparent.”
For In Flames, his debut feature, which will premiere in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight sidebar and is being sold worldwide by XYZ Films, Kahn translates that sinister sense of being watched into the language of supernatural horror. Taking inspiration from “those amazing French female...
“It’s a really impressionable age and while my life, as a young man, wasn’t significantly changed, there was a huge disparity in the lives of the women I knew,” he says. “Their lived reality, navigating in public, was that they were always being watched by men. There’s a sinister sense of being patrolled. The use of gender, as a tool of discrimination, was very apparent.”
For In Flames, his debut feature, which will premiere in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight sidebar and is being sold worldwide by XYZ Films, Kahn translates that sinister sense of being watched into the language of supernatural horror. Taking inspiration from “those amazing French female...
- 5/18/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu’s debut about a young girl discovering the truth behind her rebellious nature bristles with supernatural energy thanks to a tremendous young cast
There are some arresting images and bright performances in this bristling debut feature from Malaysian film-maker Amanda Nell Eu, who heads off into a jungle of the mind for a supernatural-realist drama and coming-of-age chiller about the female body and sexuality, with hints of Brian De Palma, David Cronenberg and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It is possibly a little bit derivative and sometimes seems to be treading water in narrative terms, but only after making us submit to a very woozy and hallucinatory experience.
The scene is a Muslim school for girls in Malaysia whose pupils are required to submit to conservative dress and attitudes; in the English language class, they are presented with sentences such as: “The father goes to work. The mother cooks at home.
There are some arresting images and bright performances in this bristling debut feature from Malaysian film-maker Amanda Nell Eu, who heads off into a jungle of the mind for a supernatural-realist drama and coming-of-age chiller about the female body and sexuality, with hints of Brian De Palma, David Cronenberg and Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It is possibly a little bit derivative and sometimes seems to be treading water in narrative terms, but only after making us submit to a very woozy and hallucinatory experience.
The scene is a Muslim school for girls in Malaysia whose pupils are required to submit to conservative dress and attitudes; in the English language class, they are presented with sentences such as: “The father goes to work. The mother cooks at home.
- 5/17/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The universal experience of going through puberty, for any teenager in the midst of it, is basically a first-person body-horror movie — with innocence traded for frightening new powers and one’s changing place in the world painfully up for grabs. Such is the premise of Malaysian writer-director Amanda Nell Eu’s cheekily subversive and vibrantly colorful first feature Tiger Stripes, premiering in Cannes’ Critics Week section on Wednesday.
“When you’re a teenager, you look down at your body one day and suddenly something new and terrifying has happened,” Eu says. “And there are all of those cliches about how teenage girls become so emotional and hysterical that they turn into ‘monsters.’ So, I thought, ‘What if I tell a story about a girl who actually does become a monster’?”
With Tiger Stripes, Eu gives this premise an appealing particularity by rooting the story in rural Malaysia’s traditional folk...
“When you’re a teenager, you look down at your body one day and suddenly something new and terrifying has happened,” Eu says. “And there are all of those cliches about how teenage girls become so emotional and hysterical that they turn into ‘monsters.’ So, I thought, ‘What if I tell a story about a girl who actually does become a monster’?”
With Tiger Stripes, Eu gives this premise an appealing particularity by rooting the story in rural Malaysia’s traditional folk...
- 5/17/2023
- by Patrick Brzeski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jeremy Renner as Mike McLusky in ‘Mayor of Kingstown’ season 2 episode 6 (Photo Cr: Dennis P. Mong Jr. / Paramount + © 2022 Viacom International Inc)
Mike believes he has a plan that will set the wheels in motion to get the gang leaders released as Paramount+’s Mayor of Kingstown season two episode six gets underway. Mike (Jeremy Renner) meets with Wendy (Sandrine Holt) from the Warwick Group and reveals he knows the inmates are being used as slave labor and that even the guard dogs are eating better than the prisoners. Wendy doesn’t care because it’s working and that’s all that matters.
If he doesn’t like it, then he can just move aside.
Mike proposes a deal: if Wendy helps him get Bunny released, then he’ll be in her debt. She just needs to make the Da sign the release. He’s forced to admit he can...
Mike believes he has a plan that will set the wheels in motion to get the gang leaders released as Paramount+’s Mayor of Kingstown season two episode six gets underway. Mike (Jeremy Renner) meets with Wendy (Sandrine Holt) from the Warwick Group and reveals he knows the inmates are being used as slave labor and that even the guard dogs are eating better than the prisoners. Wendy doesn’t care because it’s working and that’s all that matters.
If he doesn’t like it, then he can just move aside.
Mike proposes a deal: if Wendy helps him get Bunny released, then he’ll be in her debt. She just needs to make the Da sign the release. He’s forced to admit he can...
- 2/19/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
In order for any deal to work, all parties have to be trusted to stick with it.
Mayor of Kingstown Season 2 Episode 3 suggests that Mike might have made a deal with parties who don't have the fortitude to stand their ground.
That could mean big trouble for Mike McClusky.
From an editorial standpoint, it's not easy to cover this show. Its approach is very "a day in the life." The hours fly by while watching, but there isn't too much to say once the credits roll.
If you've been reading along, you've been very silent doing so. Is it worth continuing the march toward the of the season, or wouldn't you miss the coverage if it disappeared? Please let me know in the comments below.
We know Mike doesn't sleep, but it's beginning to show on his face. He's always a little worse for the wear, but as he hit...
Mayor of Kingstown Season 2 Episode 3 suggests that Mike might have made a deal with parties who don't have the fortitude to stand their ground.
That could mean big trouble for Mike McClusky.
From an editorial standpoint, it's not easy to cover this show. Its approach is very "a day in the life." The hours fly by while watching, but there isn't too much to say once the credits roll.
If you've been reading along, you've been very silent doing so. Is it worth continuing the march toward the of the season, or wouldn't you miss the coverage if it disappeared? Please let me know in the comments below.
We know Mike doesn't sleep, but it's beginning to show on his face. He's always a little worse for the wear, but as he hit...
- 1/29/2023
- by Carissa Pavlica
- TVfanatic
Rana Zand and Mariam Rastegar have joined Range Media Partners’ digital department as managers, having come over from Uncmmn, a subsidiary of MacRo.
Zand and Rastegar will help build out the talent management firm’s expanding digital creator business, focusing on diverse voices, while also supporting the Range Media roster across YouTube, Instagram and other digital platforms. At Uncmmn, Zand served as a partner and Rastegar as a senior talent manager who spearheaded digital strategy and development for digitally native talent and traditional clients.
Range Media’s clients span industries — film, television, music, sports, tech, literature, activism — and the company is designed to support talent and scale their portfolio companies.
Before Uncmmn, Zand, who started out in the WME mailroom, worked at Authentic for four years as head of digital talent and focused on growing the division, from hiring a team to expanding its digital roaster. She crossed-over digitally-native talent to traditional platforms,...
Zand and Rastegar will help build out the talent management firm’s expanding digital creator business, focusing on diverse voices, while also supporting the Range Media roster across YouTube, Instagram and other digital platforms. At Uncmmn, Zand served as a partner and Rastegar as a senior talent manager who spearheaded digital strategy and development for digitally native talent and traditional clients.
Range Media’s clients span industries — film, television, music, sports, tech, literature, activism — and the company is designed to support talent and scale their portfolio companies.
Before Uncmmn, Zand, who started out in the WME mailroom, worked at Authentic for four years as head of digital talent and focused on growing the division, from hiring a team to expanding its digital roaster. She crossed-over digitally-native talent to traditional platforms,...
- 1/25/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
‘You Resemble Me’ Review: Fractured Life of a Radicalized Frenchwoman Becomes a Kaleidoscopic Biopic
Sisters Hasna and Mariam look alike and inseparable, a few years apart but bonded like twins, sporting identical floral dresses (minus the snipped-off security tags) as they bounce around the fringes of their Parisian housing estate while their neglectful mother sleeps. What these twirling balls of energy say to each other at their most connected — like a mantra of togetherness in a world of hardship — is the title of Dina Amer’s narrative feature debut: “You Resemble Me.”
But that title could also be what Amer hopes the older sister, Hasna, might say today, if she could, about the bursting, restless slice of tragedy that tells her story — a troubled girl from a broken home and an isolating foster system who becomes a lost, searching woman introduced to the wider world through her worst decision: getting involved with the terrorists who lay siege on Paris in November of 2015, dying in...
But that title could also be what Amer hopes the older sister, Hasna, might say today, if she could, about the bursting, restless slice of tragedy that tells her story — a troubled girl from a broken home and an isolating foster system who becomes a lost, searching woman introduced to the wider world through her worst decision: getting involved with the terrorists who lay siege on Paris in November of 2015, dying in...
- 11/3/2022
- by Robert Abele
- The Wrap
Four days after the November 2015 Paris attacks, French police raided an apartment building in the suburban neighborhood of Saint-Denis in search of the mastermind responsible for the bloodshed. He was killed, along with several others — most notably a young woman named Hasna Aït Boulahcen, reported to be Europe’s first suicide bomber. Vice journalist Dina Amer, an Egyptian-American Muslim, was one of the people who reported that news from the scene; when viral cell phone video of the events later revealed that Aït Boulahcen had been a casualty of the explosion and not its cause, Amer became obsessed with learning the truth behind why Aït Boulahcen was in Saint-Denis that night (and also with atoning for the media’s rush to judgment and racist penchant for othering).
Within days of Aït Boulahcen’s death, Amer began recording more than 360 hours of interview footage with the late woman’s family and friends,...
Within days of Aït Boulahcen’s death, Amer began recording more than 360 hours of interview footage with the late woman’s family and friends,...
- 11/2/2022
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Titles include the latest from award-winning filmmaker Jang Kunjae.
South Korea’s Asian Cinema Fund (Acf) has unveiled its first 13 recipients after a two-year hiatus, including the latest from award-winning Korean filmmaker Jang Kunjae.
The support programme, which is an initiative of the Busan International Film Festival (Biff), had been on hold throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and has now moved under the umbrella of the Asian Contents and Film Market (Acfm) with further measures to help support projects and filmmakers grow business and industry ties.
Organisers report a record number of submissions, with six Korean and seven Asian projects selected from 521 submissions.
South Korea’s Asian Cinema Fund (Acf) has unveiled its first 13 recipients after a two-year hiatus, including the latest from award-winning Korean filmmaker Jang Kunjae.
The support programme, which is an initiative of the Busan International Film Festival (Biff), had been on hold throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and has now moved under the umbrella of the Asian Contents and Film Market (Acfm) with further measures to help support projects and filmmakers grow business and industry ties.
Organisers report a record number of submissions, with six Korean and seven Asian projects selected from 521 submissions.
- 7/15/2022
- by Jean Noh
- ScreenDaily
Georgian-German drama “A Room of My Own,” about a young woman looking for a female roommate in Tbilisi after her personal life implodes, has its team thinking about future reactions in the Republic of Georgia. But director Ioseb “Soso” Bliadze and actress/co-writer Taki Mumladze are “ready” to address subjects considered controversial in their home country, they tell Variety, from domestic abuse to same-sex relationships.
“We will fight for this film,” says Bliadze, returning to Karlovy Vary Film Festival after his 2021 release “Otar’s Death.” Now, “A Room of My Own” – a Maisis Peri and Color of May production – will vie for the festival’s Crystal Globe award.
“In our country, conservative voices are getting louder and louder, and our government is backing them up. That’s our answer to them.”
In 2020, Levan Akin’s “And Then We Danced,” featuring a gay love story, became the subject of violent mass protests.
“We will fight for this film,” says Bliadze, returning to Karlovy Vary Film Festival after his 2021 release “Otar’s Death.” Now, “A Room of My Own” – a Maisis Peri and Color of May production – will vie for the festival’s Crystal Globe award.
“In our country, conservative voices are getting louder and louder, and our government is backing them up. That’s our answer to them.”
In 2020, Levan Akin’s “And Then We Danced,” featuring a gay love story, became the subject of violent mass protests.
- 7/3/2022
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
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