International: Middle East Interviews
Sundance 2022 Interview: SIRENS Director Rita Baghdadi and Stars Lilas Mayassi, Shery Bechara Talk Metal
Allowing your life to become the subject of a documentary is a brave feat under the most comfortable of circumstances, yet in Rita Baghdadi’s Sirens, we’re treated to an intimate window into a badass band who dare to be themselves,...
SYNONYMS Interview: Nadav Lapid on Israeli Identity, Art of Persuasion, and Actor Tom Mercier
Synonyms, Nadav Lapid's semi-autobiographical film about a young Israeli man struggling with his country's identity, won him many accolades this year, including the Golden Bear at the Berlinale. The film is greatly aided by its fearless star Tom Mercier. I...
WORKING WOMAN Interview: Director Michal Aviad Talks Conflict, Collaboration and a Tough Cultural Change
Now playing in New York City at the IFC Center, Marlene Meyerson JCC of Manhattan, Working Woman is a timely and powerful "fictional account [that] left me shaken and disturbed," as I wrote in my review. It revolves around Orna...
Interview: Ziad Doueiri on THE INSULT, Trump's Tweets and Greatness of TRAIN TO BUSAN
Ziad Doueiri, whose Hollywood credentials include being a cameraman for most of Quentin Tarantino's earlier films (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown), has made several films in his native Lebanon (West Beirut, The Attack, Lila Says). With his new...
Interview: Asghar Farhadi on His New Film, THE SALESMAN
With his latest film, The Salesman, Asghar Farhadi once again, proves his mastery in presenting complexities of human relationships within the confounds of his native country Iran, but also demonstrating that even there are political and cultural differences among us, deep down, certain things in life are constant and universal.
Interview: Israeli Director Avishai Sivan Talks TIKKUN
Set in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Jerusalem, Tikkun gives a unique glimpse into a highly reclusive world where tradition and religion dominate private lives. With its haunting imagery and thought provoking subject matter, Tikkun left me a lasting impression...
Interview: Hany Abu-Assad Talks OMAR And The Purity Of Cinema
Hany Abu-Assad's Omar, a political thriller and a love story set in the Occupied Territories, is Palestine's official entry for this year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. This is Abu-Assad's second nomination in that category since Paradise Now...
TIFF 2010: GUEST (2010): Interview With José Luis Guerín
"In the year from September 2007 until September 2008, I challenged myself by accepting without any exclusions all of the film festivals and events inviting me as a guest [for my film En la ciudad de Sylvia (In the...
HASHMATSA / DEFAMATION (2009): Interview With Yoav Shamir
Simone Bitton's Rachel took the bullet for Yoav Shamir's Hashmatsa / Defamation (2009), which I would have predicted to be the target of outrage at the 29th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF). By the time Defamation finally screened,...
DIASPORA BY THE BAY: SFJFF—Interview With Nancy K. Fishman and Joshua Moore
As the 29th edition of the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF) draws near to wrapping up at The Castro Theatre—its San Francisco venue—and continues on through August 8 at Berkeley's Roda Theatre and Palo Alto's Cinearts, I felt now...
TCM: 31 DAYS OF OSCAR—Interview With Robert Osborne
True to my own thematic heart, this year Turner Classic Movies (TCM) approaches the Oscar® season with its annual "31 Days of Oscar" organized as a university curriculum, with Academy Award®-winning and nominated films representing such a wide array of...
WALTZ WITH BASHIR—Interview With Ari Folman
It took four years for Israeli director Ari Folman to complete his animated documentary Waltz With Bashir, which was entered in the competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Though—despite predictions—it did not win that honor,...
Talking 'Global Metal' with Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn
Wicked. Had the chance to sit down with Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen, directors and writers of Metal: A Headbanger's Journey and the newest installment of their Metal franchise Global Metal which opens today in Toronto and Vancouver, then next...
2007 AFF: MAKING OF—The Evening Class Interview With Lotfi Abdelli
Lotfi Abdelli is a charismatic, handsome young Tunisian who carries himself confidently. His left eyebrow is accented by a diagonal scar. The award-winning actor for the Arab Film Festival's opening night feature Making Of was detained for five hours at...
INTERVIEW WITH JOHN SINNO - PRODUCER OF IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS
I got a bit of flak from y'all about saying there were too many docs about Iraq. Come on, guys. I KNOW it's important. Perhaps the MOST important political issue out there today. But that doesn't mean we have...