An investigation of government censorship in Iran.
Social & External
Between 1933 and 1945 roughly 1200 films were made in Germany, of which 300 were banned by the Allied forces. Today, around 40 films, called "Vorbehaltsfilme", are locked away from the public with an uncertain future. Should they be re-released, destroyed, or continue to be neglected? Verbotene Filme takes a closer look at some of these forbidden films.
In this guided tour of a unique Persian carpet, a close-up of the delicate "spine" of a tree branches out into the discovery of a fantastical world.
A playwright Iran tries to confront a creative crisis while political clashes erupt during her country's 2009 election.
After five years studying in Paris, Arash has not adjusted to life there and has decided to return to Iran to live. Hoping to change his mind, his two friends Hossein and Ashkan convince him to take a last trip through France.
A documentary about the cultural effect of film censorship, focusing on the tumultuous times of the teens and early 1920s in America.
Deng Xiaoping's economic and political opening in China. Margaret Thatcher's extreme economic measures in the United Kingdom. Ayatollah Khomeini's Islamic Revolution in Iran. Pope John Paul II's visit to Poland. Saddam Hussein's rise to power in Iraq. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The nuclear accident at the Harrisburg power plant and the birth of ecological activism. The year 1979, the beginning of the future.
Released in 1796 posthumously, The Nun, a novel that Diderot did not dream of publishing during his lifetime, as he knew it to be revolutionary, caused the same explosion in the 19th century France as in that of the 1960s, when Jacques Rivette decided to adapt it, with Anna Karina in the title role. “This film is banned and it will remain so!” said the General de Gaulle. Exploration of an indictment of incredible modernity which, through the tragedy of the young Suzanne, locked up in the convent against her will, denounces the inequity of a society denying women all moral, political and sexual freedom.
Iran, January 16th, 1979. Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees after being overthrown. Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Tehran and proclaims the Islamic Republic on April 1st, 1979. In the same year, Saddam Hussein seizes power in Iraq and, after several border skirmishes, attacks Iran on September 22nd, 1980, initiating a cruel war that will last eight years. Since its outbreak, correspondent Saeid Sadeghi documented it from its beginning to its bitter end.
AMERICAN COUP tells the story of the first coup ever carried out by the CIA - Iran, 1953. Explores the blowback from this seminal event, as well as the coup's lingering effects on the present US-Iranian relationship. Includes a segment on the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis and its relation to the 1953 coup. Concludes with a section on the recent Iranian presidential election. Contains interviews with noted Middle East experts and historians and prominent public figures such as Stephen Kinzer (author, All The Shah's Men), Prof. Ervand Abrahamian, Trita Parsi, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, Ted Koppel and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas. With Iranian cinematography by James Longley.
Controversy erupts over a New-Deal-era mural of the namesake of San Francisco’s George Washington High School. The thirteen-panel artwork "The Life of Washington" by Victor Arnautoff offers a view of the Founding Father both celebratory and critical, referencing his involvements in slavery and Native American genocide.
The history of Bruguera, the most important comic publisher in Spain between the 1940s and the 1980s. How the characters created by great writers and pencilers became Spanish archetypes and how their strips persist nowadays as a portrait of Spain and its people. The daily life of the creators and the founding family, the Brugueras. The world in which hundreds of vivid colorful paper beings lived and still live, in the memory of millions, in the smile of everyone.
OBAIDA, a short film by Matthew Cassel, explores a Palestinian child’s experience of Israeli military arrest. Each year, some 700 Palestinian children undergo military detention in a system where ill-treatment is widespread and institutionalized. For these young detainees, few rights are guaranteed, even on paper. After release, the experience of detention continues to shape and mark former child prisoners’ path forward.
The eight-year Iran-Iraq War was one of the most brutal conflicts to devastate the region in the 20th century. Zahed was 13 years old when he enrolled in the Iranian army. Najah was 18 when he was conscripted into the Iraqi army, and he fought against Zahed in the Battle of Khorramshahr. Fast forward 25 years, a chance encounter in Vancouver between these two former enemies turns into a deep and mutually supportive friendship. Expanded from the 2015 short film by the same name.
The Other Side of Burka is a 2004 Iranian documentary directed by Mehrdad Oskouei. In the southern island of Qeshm, Iran, which is a very strict region in point of tradition and African-Arabic rules, all women are under the pressure of patriarch society. Their sufferance is manifested by different mental (Zar, Possession) and physical diseases which must be only treated by Zar Ceremony. For the first time, despite the danger these women face, this film tells us the sad story of their life and shows their confection in front of the camera. It tries to be an honest mirror which reflects their sufferance and unveils their Burka to reveal their real characters.
A retrospective documentary about the groundbreaking horror series, Friday the 13th, featuring interviews with cast and crew from the twelve films spanning 3 decades.
This short documentary explores how the Ilustrada section of the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper had to fight back against censorship from the military dictatorship in Brazil after Lourenço Diaféria, one of its columnists, published an article criticising the patron of the Brazilian army, Duque de Caxias.
A documentary about the making of the controversial Life of Brian and the surrounding accusations of blasphemy.
There was an undeclared war for nearly half a century in Bulgaria between the then government and the majority of democratic-minded filmmakers during the Communist regime. Paradoxically, most of the banned or censored out movies were made by members of the Communist Party, believers in their party's ideas and justice. The Communist Party aesthetics against the freedom to tell truth.
Hear from leaders in the underground church in this gripping documentary, and allow these persecuted believers to ask you—as they ask themselves—"What is your price?”
When a small Utah-based edited movie company is caught sanitizing Hollywood's copyrighted material, the film industry strikes back with a devastating blow.
Mari Hirakawa is a woman who inherits her father's karate dojo. However, she finds out that Chan Keung, her father's former student, is also its heir and they fight to determine its sole owner.
Someone from another planet crashed on Earth and evil is chasing him, and then love appears, and it defeats evil through an amulet.
The film consists of three independent parts: "Workmate", "Déjà vu" and "Operation Y". The plot follows the adventures of Shurik (alternative spelling — Shourick), the naive and nerdy Soviet student who often gets into ludicrous situations but always finds a way out very neatly. "Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures" was a hit movie and became the leader of Soviet film distribution in 1965.
Russia, January 25, 1725. "Give it all...". The emperor's weakening hand was able to write in his will only these two short incomprehensible words that kept Russia in a bloody struggle for the crown for a century.
Jojo, a lonely German boy during World War II has his world shaken when he learns that his single mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Influenced by a buffoonish imaginary version of Adolf Hitler, he begins to question his beliefs and confront the conflict between propaganda and his own humanity.
As a result of a successful conspiracy against Menshikov, Peter II is prematurely recognized as an adult and is in a hurry to be crowned in Moscow. The Dolgoruky brothers gather for this celebration. There were eight of them - all-powerful and influential representatives of the ancient Rurikovich family - and among them the beautiful Ekaterina, the daughter of the huntsman Alexei.
Fast train N34 went exactly on schedule. The passengers were quietly getting ready for bed when the empty compartment from the outstanding cigarette lit up the curtain. Soon the wagon caught fire. Disaster is imminent. Railwaymen and passengers are working together to prevent misfortune and save hundreds of people…
A couple embark on an early vacation. Left alone, their children cut loose until the boy gets caught for skipping school and things take an unexpected turn. Boasting exquisite camera work, the film is also unforgettable for its wholly original ending.
Sugihara, a Japanese-born, third-generation Korean teenager struggles to find a place in a society that will not accept him.
I wouldn't answer if I were you' Hello is the story of a young lady who falls prey to an evil killer.. alone in her apartment, eagerly awaiting the return of her boyfriend, the phone rings...
Through a technology that unlocks the generic memories of his ancestor in 15th century Spain, Callum Lynch discovers he is a descendant of an ancient line of Assassins and amasses lethal skills to take on the oppressive Templar Order.
A harried prehistoric bird mother entrusts her precious, soon-to-hatch egg to Sid. When she recommends him to her neighbours, business booms at his new egg-sitting service. However, dastardly pirate bunny, Squint, who is seeking revenge on the herd, steals, camouflages and hides all the eggs. Once again, with Squint’s twin brother assisting, Manny, Diego and the rest of the gang come to the rescue and take off on a daring mission that turns into the world’s first Easter egg hunt.
A hapless carnival performer masquerades as the court jester as part of a plot against a usurper who has overthrown the rightful king of England.
When Lainy's plan to settle down and start a family falls apart, she puts on a fake baby bump, tells a lie — and accidentally falls for her dream guy.
Jack is a charismatic larrikin who has just discovered the one thing he's really good at — go-kart racing. With the support of his mentor, Patrick, an old race car driver with a secret past, and his best mates Colin and Mandy, Jack must learn to control his recklessness if he is to defeat the best drivers in Australia, including the ruthless champion Dean, and win the National title.
A contract killer, after being diagnosed with a fast-moving form of dementia, is presented with the opportunity to redeem himself by saving the life of his estranged adult son. But to do so, he must race against the police closing in on him as well as the ticking clock of his own rapidly deteriorating mind.
During one of their night stays, three college teens play a silly prank where they randomly call people and tell them that they know who that person is and what they have done. What will happen when things take a dangerous turn?
A heroic true story of Major Mukund Varadarajan, an Indian Army officer who displayed extraordinary bravery during a counterterrorism mission in Kashmir’s Shopian district. The film captures his courage in protecting his nation and the devotion of his wife Indhu Rebecaa Varghese.
Paulette Van Der Beck and her husband have been running the housekeeping school of Bitche in Alsace for many years. Their mission is to train teenage girls to become the perfect housewives at a time when women were expected to be subservient to their husband. After the sudden death of her husband, Paulette discovers that the school is on the verge of bankruptcy and has to take her responsibilities. But while preparations are underway for the best housekeeping competition TV show, she and her lively students start questioning their beliefs as the nation-wide protests of May 1968 transform society around them. Reunited with her first love, André, and with the help of her eccentric stepsister Gilberte and strict nun Marie-Therese, Paulette joins forces with the schoolgirls to overcome their suppressed status and become liberated women.
In a world governed by commerce, Ricky and Kate, dedicated employees, find their lives forever changed when they encounter the enigmatic stranger G. As they navigate the realm of commerce, their paths intertwine in a surreal dance of love, loss, and redemption. G's presence, amplified through the pervasive influence of globalized television, casts a spell that reverberates beyond Ricky and Kate, impacting the lives of those who bear witness to their intertwined destinies.
