March 18, 2021 by Eternality Tan

Through the Olive Trees (1994)

Kiarostami closes his wondrous ‘Koker’ trilogy with an even more multi-layered, meta-cinematic experiment in the guise of a love story.

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January 8, 2021January 8, 2021 by Eternality Tan

Chess Game of the Wind, The (1976)

This banned and long-lost Iranian debut feature, boosted by a stunning restoration, is a genuine eye-opener—subversive, progressive, and a formidable take on how power and greed are symptomatic of patriarchy and nobility.

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December 18, 2020April 21, 2021 by Eternality Tan

And Life Goes On (1992)

Extraordinary docu-fictive filmmaking by Kiarostami as the second part of his ‘Koker’ trilogy brings us to the aftermath of the devastating 1990 Manjil-Rudbar earthquake via a skillfully deceptive meta-cinematic device.

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December 6, 2020 by Eternality Tan

Sun Children (2020)

Certainly not short of mainstream appeal, Majidi’s new Iranian drama centers on the subject matter of children and forced labour as it builds a narrative around a secret heist in an unsuspecting school.

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November 28, 2020November 28, 2020 by Eternality Tan

Song of Sparrows, The (2008)

Majid Majidi’s Berlinale Best Actor winner is a largely assured drama centering on the rural-urban divide in Iran through the eyes of a poor family.

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October 2, 2020October 2, 2020 by Eternality Tan

Moment of Innocence, A (1996)

One of Makhmalbaf’s finest moments as a filmmaker, this meta-filmic exercise in reconciling with his own personal history is both poetic and introspective, and features one of cinema’s most revelatory ending shots.

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August 8, 2020 by Eternality Tan

There Is No Evil (2020)

Told in four chapters, of which the first is a masterpiece, Rasoulof’s Golden Berlin Bear winner, unfortunately, falters in focus as it ambitiously tackles the taboo subject of capital punishment in Iran.