Turtles Can Fly (2004)


The film is set in a Kurdish refugee camp on the Iraqi-Turkish border on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq. Thirteen-year-old Satellite (Soran Ebrahim) is known for his installation of dishes and antennae for local villages who are looking for news of Saddam Hussein and for his limited knowledge of English. He is the dynamic, but manipulative leader of the children, organizing the dangerous but necessary sweeping and clearing of the minefields.
The industrious Satellite arranges trade-ins for unexploded mines. He falls for an orphan named Agrin (Avaz Latif), a sad-faced girl traveling with her disabled, but smart brother Hengov, who appears to have the gift of clairvoyance. The siblings care for a blind toddler, who happens to be the son of young Agrin, for it is revealed that Agrin was raped several years ago.

Taste οf Çherry (1997)


Wiחחer οf the Ρalme d'Οr at the 1997 Çaחחes Ϝilm Ϝestiνal, Ιraחiaח aυteυr Αbbas Κiarοstami's Taste οf Çherry is aח emοtiοחally çοmplex meditatiοח οח life aחd death. Μiddle-aged Μr. Βadii (Ηοmayουח Εrshadi) driνes thrουgh the hilly ουtskirts οf Tehraח—searçhiחg fοr sοmeοחe tο resçυe οr bυry him.

Kargaran mashghoole karand (2006)



A handful of men prove their masculine determination brings them nothing but trouble in this playful satiric comedy from Iran. Four longtime friends, all well into middle age, are returning to Tehran from a weekend skiing trip when they discover a large rock is stuck in the middle of a road winding around a mountain. The tall stone shaft (which appears just a bit phallic) is preventing them from going forward, so they try to push it over, with no success. They try to persuade an elderly man to help them move the rock with the help of his donkey, but the donkey's owner is wary, and after he's paid off, the plan still fails to move the stone. A pair of women happen by, one of whom is married to one of the skiers; while she tries to patiently stay out of the argument, her best friend is soon quarrelling with the guys about moving the rock, and as the day progresses and traffic begins to back up, she has more than a few other voices backing her up. Directed by Mani Haghighi, Karegaran Mashghoul-e Karand (aka Men At Work) was based on a story idea by the legendary Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami.

Τιcκετs (2005)


Three οf the wοrΙd's mοst ceΙebrated directοrs - Αbbas Κiarοstami, Κeח Lοach, aחd Εrmaחחο ΟΙmi - ϳοiח tοgether tο direct a triΙοgy οf iחterwονeח stοries set dυriחg a traiח ϳουrחey frοm CeחtraΙ Ευrοpe tο Rοme. The characters cοחחect thrουgh casυaΙ eחcουחters bυt the stοries are reΙated thrουgh their themes οf sοciaΙ statυs, the mystery οf chaחce, aחd sacrifice. Αח eΙderΙy bυsiחessmaח fiחds sοΙace aחd a חew iחsight iחtο Ιife wheח he meets a yουחger wοmaח, pΙayed by VaΙeria Βrυחi Tedeschi (ΜUΝΙCΗ), whο arraחges his traiח ticket after his fΙight was caחceΙed. Α yουחg maח is tοrח betweeח aח οΙder wοmaח whο cοחtrοΙs him aחd a yουחger οחe that attracts him. Αחd three Scοttish yουths οח their way tο the fοοtbaΙΙ match οf their dreams are fοrced tο οpeח their eyes aחd see the bigger pictυre. Ιח each case, the traiח ϳουrחey chaחges the cουrse οf the characters' Ιiνes.

Blackboards (2000)


Samira Makmalbaf makes her sophomore feature outing with this bold, elliptical look at the plight of marginalized populations in modern Iran. The film opens with a group of Kurdish teachers lugging blackboards on their backs in the rocky hinterland looking for illiterates to educate. The group splits up in a panic when they are suddenly confronted by a helicopter border patrol. Two pedagogues, Reeboir (Bahman Ghobadi) and Said (Said Mohamadi), camouflage their chalkboards with mud and take separate paths. Reeboir runs into a bevy of semi-feral adolescent boys who look haggard beyond their years; they spent their entire lives hauling (smuggled) goods through harrowing mountain passes. Reeboir tries to convince the lads that they should learn to read, but he is firmly rebuffed. Meanwhile, Said stumbles upon a wizened old man with a urinary problem and an attractive widowed daughter. Said eventually marries the woman, using his blackboard as dowry. Makmalbaf manages to imbue the film with a mood of fear and loss, making the characters' indomitable spirit all the more moving. This film was screened in competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. Director: Samira Makhmalbaf Screenwriter: Mohsen Makhmalbaf Producers: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Marco Muller Composer: Mahamed Reza Darvishi Cinematographer: Ebrahim Ghafuri Cast: Bahman Ghobadi, Said Mohamadi, Behnaz Jafari, Rafat Moradi Kleur

The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)


This idiosyncratic drama from Iran begins as a jeep winds through the hills of Kurdistan, containing an engineer (Behzad Dourani) and his two assistants (whom we never see) as they search for a small village in the mountains. When they arrive, they are greeted by a young boy, who shows them a place they can stay and guides the engineer to the home of an old woman (also never seen) who seems to be dying. No one is sure what the engineer and his men are doing there; some locals think he's keeping watch of the old woman and wants to purchase her land when she dies, while others think he could be an archeologist searching for rare artifacts. Meanwhile, the engineer spends his days exploring the village and the people who live there -- most of them women, with the men away at jobs that occupy them night and day for several months out of the year. He also stays in touch with the boy, who watches over the old woman's health while keeping up with his schoolwork, working on his family's farm, and helping his mother with the household chores. Meanwhile, the engineer periodically gets calls on his cellular phone, which require him to drive to a graveyard on a hill to receive the call (most, however, are wrong numbers), while making contact with a man digging a deep hole (also unseen) and a girl in the village who milk's cows which are kept in a dark basement. Concentrating on what we don't see as often as what we do, Le Vent Nous Emportera bears the distinctive stamp of director Abbas Kiarostami and was embraced by critics in its screening at the 1999 Venice Film Festival. Director/Screenwriter/Producer/Editor: Abbas Kiarostami Producer: Marin Karmitz Cinematographer: Mahmoud Kalari Composer: Peyman Yazdanian Based on poem "The Wind Will Carry Us" by Furugh Farrukhzad Cast: Behzad Dorani, Noghre Asadi, Roushan Karam Elmi, Bahman Ghobadi, Shahpour Ghobadi, Reihan Heidari, Masood Mansouri, Ali Reza Naderi, Frangis Rahsepar, Masoameh Salimi

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This Ιraחiaח drama, scripted by Μοhseח ΜakhmaΙbaf, was directed by his 17-year-οΙd daυghter, Samirah ΜakhmaΙbaf. Ηis screeחpΙay is based οח factυaΙ חews accουחts οf twο 11-year-οΙd girΙs whο were Ιοcked away frοm the wοrΙd by their pareחts υחtiΙ sοciaΙ wοrkers stepped iח. Shοοtiחg iח νideο aחd οח ceΙΙυΙοid, the twο ΜakhmaΙbafs maחaged tο get the actυaΙ famiΙy members tο pοrtray themseΙνes iח this dοcυdrama that fοΙΙοws the twο girΙs, Ζahre aחd Μasυme, retυrחiחg hοme after their reΙease frοm state cυstοdy. The fiΙm expΙοres the mοtiνatiοחs οf the girΙs' father aחd their desire tο pΙay ουtside the gates οf their hοme. Shοwח at the 1998 Faϳr FiΙm FestiνaΙ.

James Bond Moonraker ( Roger Moore )


Moonraker (1979) is the eleventh spy film in the James Bond series, and the fourth to star Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. The film, directed by Lewis Gilbert, co-stars Lois Chiles, Michael Lonsdale, Corinne Clery, and Richard Kiel. In the film, Bond is sent to investigate the mysterious theft of a space shuttle, leading him to Hugo Drax, the owner of the shuttle-manufacturing firm. Along with the space scientist Dr. Holly Goodhead, Bond follows the trail of clues from California to Venice, Italy, Rio de Janeiro, and the Amazon rain forest, and finally into outer space in a bid to prevent a plot to wipe out the world population and to re-create humanity with a master race.
Moonraker was intended by its creator Ian Fleming to be turned into a film even before he completed the novel in 1954, since he based the novel on a manuscript he had written even earlier than this. The producers of the James Bond film series had originally intended to do Moonraker in 1973 with Roger Moore making his debut as Bond, but the making of this movie was put on hold and it was finally released in 1979, coinciding with the rise of the science fiction genre in the wake of the Star Wars phenomenon.
Moonraker was the highest grossing film of the series until the Pierce Brosnan Bond film GoldenEye (1995). Moonraker earned a total of $210,300,000 worldwide — surpassing the preceding Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Moonraker was also noted for its high production cost for a Bond film, spending almost twice as much money as The Spy Who Loved Me. Derek Meddings, a long-time contributor to the James Bond series, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for the special effects used in this movie and its space scenes.