Iran

Iran is now on the legal offensive in the wake of " Argo " ... threatening to sue Hollywood filmmakers for their "Iranophobic" portrayal of the Middle Eastern country. Iran's state-run Press TV reports government officials have already contacted an "internationally-renowned" French lawyer named Isabelle Coutant-Peyre to file the lawsuit. Coutant-Peyre released a statement saying, "I will defend Iran against the films like Argo, which are produced in Hollywood to distort the country's image." For its part, Iran's Press TV said, "The Iranophobic American movie attempts to describe Iranians as overemotional, irrational, insane, and diabolical while at the same, the CIA agents are represented as heroically patriotic." In addition to filing a lawsuit, Iran plans to fund a pro-Iran movie called "The General Staff" ... about 20 American hostages who are handed over to the U.S. by Iranian revolutionaries. That being said ... we still think Affleck got screwed outta the … [Read more...] about Iran — We’re SUING Over ‘Argo’ … It’s Iranophobic Garbage!

Whenever the Iranian regime feels threatened by public protest its reflex is to go after two groups: demonstrators, most assuredly, but also artists – especially filmmakers. When protests surged in six provinces in May last year over rising food prices, the government promptly banged on the doors of two documentary filmmakers, Mina Keshavarz and Firouzeh Khosrovani, and arrested them. For good measure, law enforcement agents reportedly harassed numerous other filmmakers, seizing their communications equipment. The May unrest appears mild compared to the uproar triggered in September 2022 by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman arrested for allegedly not wearing her hijab in accordance with law. Security forces have attacked and killed an unknown number of demonstrators in the course of months of protests. The government also responded with an immediate clamp down on leading figures in Iranian cinema, detaining or imprisoning Jafar Panahi, Mohammad … [Read more...] about Wim Wenders, Afsun Moshiry Unveil Six Iranian Docs At CPH:DOX As Iran’s Regime Continues Crackdown On Filmmakers

EXCLUSIVE: The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial has rounded out its cast with Monica Raymund ( Hightown ), Lance Reddick ( Bosch ), Griffin Dunne ( This Is Us ), Elizabeth Anweis ( Batwoman ), Lewis Pullman ( Top Gun: Maverick ), Francois Battiste ( Ten Days in the Valley ), and Gabe Kessler ( Hightown ). They join previously announced leads Keifer Sutherland, Jake Lacy, and Jason Clarke. Raymund will portray Challee, a Lieutenant with a sharp legal mind and eye for detail who serves as the prosecuting attorney during the court-martial, doing their best to argue that Commander Queeg was wrongfully relieved of his duties. Reddick portrays Captain Blakely, chief judge of the court-martial. Blakely maintains an even tone, and a commanding presence over the courtroom; Dunne plays Dr. Bird, a lieutenant and member of the psychiatric staff for the Naval Hospital. A person of high intellect, he is more of a new-age psychiatrist than a military-looking … [Read more...] about ‘The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial’ Rounds Out Cast With 7 Including Monica Raymund, Lance Reddick & Griffin Dunne

Lille’s Series Mania Forum is kicking off today with a packed schedule of talks, screenings and competitions. Fighting it out in International Competition are the likes of Prime Video’s Toni Collette starrer The Power , Haven of Grace from Magnetic Beats director Vincent Maël Cardona, and Quoc Dang Tran’s Apple TV+ series Drops of God . They compete against Greek series Milky Way , which opened the festival, Viaplay’s futuristic Russell Tovey drama The Fortress , Red Skies from Israel, The Actor from Iran and Fleeting Lies from Spain. Each will have its world premiere at the event. The Power is a fantasy series set in a world where the physical balance of power between men and women switches when electric arcs emerge from the fingers of teenage girls all around the world. Debuting later this month, it comes from Sister, the UK producer behind Chernobyl and is based on Naomi Alderman’s sci-fi novel. Drops of God is the latest series from Call … [Read more...] about Series Mania Kicks Off With ‘The Power’, ‘Drops Of God’ & ‘Haven Of Grace’ In Competition

With Series Mania 2023 coming to a close, the event’s founder and general director Laurence Herszberg announced the winners of the Series Mania Festival today. ”We would first like to thank the public and the professionals who attended this edition, which brought together more than 85,000 participants for the Festival and 3,800 participants from 64 countries for the Forum. We are delighted to announce our prize list and figures that have far exceeded our expectations,” said Herszberg. With the rise of streaming across the world, Series Mania has become one of the most attractive events in the global TV calendar. It’s largely looked at as a place where writers, distributors and producers can liase with each other in a less formal setting than compared to a TV sales market. It includes not just the festival, the Forum, key conferences, keynotes, and pitching sessions. This year the festival screened 54 unreleased series, with 32 world premieres and 10 international … [Read more...] about Series Mania Festival 2023 Winners Announced

Federation Studios has nabbed worldwide distribution rights to French political comedy and Series Mania winner Under Control . The six-part series took home the award for Best Series in the French category at the Lille festival last week. Federation, which had Bardot and Six Women in competition for the same award, will now take it to the international market. It follows Marie Tessier, a 45-year-old director of the fictional NGO Doctors of the World, who is appointed France’s Secretary of State, just as five Europeans, including two French people, are taken hostage by terrorists in Sahel. She immediately goes rogue while striving to make it look like everything’s under control. The show is produced by Ex Nihilo and written by Charly Delward in collaboration with Erwan Le Duc and César Award nominee Benjamin Charbit. Cast includes Léa Drucker ( War of the Worlds , The Bureau ), Samir Guesmi ( Spiral , The Returned ) and Laurent Stocker. In France, it’s … [Read more...] about Series Mania Winner ‘Under Control’: Federation Studios Nabs Sales Rights