Its story of a despot mikheil gomiashvili caught in the midst of a revolution, who escapes his countrys futuristically designed capital. Watch the president 2014, mohsen makhmalbaf online. M ohsen makhmalbaf has certainly led one of the more storied lives in cinema. Ciff salutes mohsen makhmalbafs the president, and so can you noting an encore screening of. As the president, his new satire about a toppled dictator living in. When a coup detat overthrows his brutal rule and the rest of his family flees the country by plane, the president is suddenly left to care for his young grandson and forced to escape. The president 2014 film wikipediathe president persian.
The president mohsen makhmalbaf offers a didactic morality tale about a fallen autocrat and his innocent grandson fleeing murderous revolutionaries bent. The president, a sweeping tale inspired by the arab. The film won a lot of film festival awards including the best film at the chicago international film festival in 2015. The president and his family rule their land with an iron fist, enjoying lives of luxury and leisure at the expense of their populations misery. In the late 1990s, at the height of his international popularity for films like a moment of innocence and gabbeh, the iranian director mohsen makhmalbaf announced that he would cut back on creating films, and instead help create filmmakers. An interview with mohsen makhmalbaf bright walldark room. In the films of makhmalbaf eric egan examines the close and volatile relationship between a highly popular art form and the politics of power in iranian society. During 2007 he was the president of asian film academy. Mohsen makhmalbaf talks the president features screen. The president tells the story of a dictator who comes face to face with the people he previously subjugated. In a fit of fundamentalist fervor, he was imprisoned at the age of 17 in prerevolutionary iran for stabbing a policeman. The dvd has english subtitles which are generally easy to read. Two are deleted scenes, one is the theatrical trailer and the last is a 20minute making of the president featurette.
Thus the makhmalbaf film house was formed, with mohsens wife, marziyeh meshkini, and young daughters samira and hana as its first. Yes, mohsens film tells a story, and that story is the mastic that holds the film together. Mohsen makhmalbafs films include closeup, a moment of innocence, the day i became a woman, the nights of zayandehrood. Its story of a despot mikheil gomiashvili caught in the midst of a revolution, who escapes his countrys futuristically designed capital city to traverse the underdeveloped countryside. The president by mohsen makhmalbaf trailer youtube.
Tonally, the president tacks from black comedy into raw outrage, treacherous ground trod so deftly you feel like applauding. Its story of a despot mikheil gomiashvili caught in the midst of a revolution, who escapes his countrys futuristically designed capital city to traverse the underdeveloped countryside with his cosseted grandson dachi orvelashvili in tow, surprises all antifascist expectations. The gardener, by mohsen makhmalbaf, 2012 how samira made the blackboard, by maysam makhmalbaf, 2000 hava, by marziyeh meshkini, 2000 the door, by mohsen makhmalbaf, 1999 sound designer. In the president, iranian expatriate filmmaker mohsen makhmalbaf struggles to create a vital fable out of a contemporary political nightmare.
Mohsen makhmalbaf is known as one of the most influential filmmakers and founders of the new wave of iranian cinema in the world today. Although iranian filmmaker mohsen makhmalbaf says the president was inspired by the turbulent events of the arab spring, theres also a timeless quality to this absorbing and powerful fable that. Since his debut as a filmmaker in 1983 he has directed more than 20 feature films in iran, afghanistan, pakistan, israel, turkey and several other countries. Mohsen makhmalbaf is an iranian film director, writer, film editor, and producer.
The president tells the story of a dictator who comes face to. Or president, if we put it more circumspectly, as iranian director mohsen makhmalbaf does in his new film of that name though this president clearly believes hes of the forlife variety, if not even a rung higher given that the mode of address in this contemporary court is, your majesty. Misha gomiashvili plays a fallen dictator in the film. The president is a film by mohsen makhmalbaf following the themes of his previous film the gardener. The director belongs to the new wave movement of iranian cinema. With mikheil gomiashvili, dachi orvelashvili, ia sukhitashvili, guja burduli.
The president displays mohsen makhmalbafs filmmaking skills in abundance but lacks the kind of cultural and political specificity that would assure its allegorys resonance. The film tells the story of a young man named valeh majid majidi who is sentenced to death for his communist tendencies. Mohsen makhmalbaf born may 29, 1957, tehran is an influential and controversial iranian film director, writer, editor, and. But filmmaker mohsen makhmalbaf wont stop asking tough questions as the president, his new satire about a. Mohsen makhmalbaf tracks the children who do not attend school in the border villages between iran and afghanistan with his digital camera and questions why they are not being educated. The way power affects and corrupts people is a central theme throughout the president, famed iranian director mohsen makhmalbaf filling the screen with intensely beautiful, extensive scenes of suffering punctuated by poignant moments of. The president is the story of a dictator of an imaginary country in the caucasus, who is forced to escape following a coup detat, and begins a journey to discover his country in the company of his fiveyearold grandson. Home the president a film by awarded iranian director mohsen makhmalbaf.
I interviewed mohsen makhmalbaf at cannes, where the films wellreceived premiere earned it the ecumenical prize of the jury. Many of his films like salam cinema, a moment of innocence, gabbeh, kandahar and the president have been widely well received across the globe and have brought him over 50 international. Many of his films like salam cinema, a moment of innocence, gabbeh, kandahar and the president have been widely well received across the globe and have brought him over 50 international awards from the prestigious. Iranian directorinexile mohsen makhmalbaf has the president screening in the gala presentation section of this years biff, while hassan solhjous documentary daddys school, about him and his. But filmmaker mohsen makhmalbaf wont stop asking tough questions.
As the president, his new satire about a toppled dictator living in disguise. Boycott is a 1985 iranian film directed by mohsen makhmalbaf, set in prerevolutionary iran. It is widely believed that the film is based on makhmalbafs own experiences. This weeks new york opening of mohsen makhmalbafs the president corinth films premieres one of best iranian movies yet seen. The president a film by awarded iranian director mohsen.
The president 2014, directed by mohsen makhmalbaf film. The president, by mohsen makhmalbaf, 2014 the man who. The president had its world premier at venice film festival in 2014, opening the festival together with birdman. Written and directed by iranian mohsen makhmalbaf, the president 2014 presents a ruler and his family enjoying a life of luxury and unlimited privileges until a. Mohsen makhmalbaf is a filmmaker, novelist, screenwriter, editor, producer and human rights activist. A deposed ruler tries to escape his countrys revolution in director mohsen makhmalbafs latest. The two travel across the lands that the president. Even though the president lacks some of the subtlety that made makhmalbafs previous work transcendent, this film is still a worthy testament to a fiery storyteller determined to use the. The president is a modern fable about power, reconciliation, and the hope for breaking a neverending circle of violence, exploring the possibility of stopping violence after a revolution in search of freedom and democracy. In prison, he shared a cell with the ayatollahs brother, and then in 1979, when the shah was toppled, makhmalbaf was released and began to make films.
He has made more than 20 feature films, won some 50 awards and been a juror in more than 15 major film festivals. Iranian director mohsen makhmalbafs film puts its protagonist through trials few other tyrants ever face. September 22, 2015 september 22, 2015 socialinform cinema, deutschland, director, film, france, georgia, germany, iran, mohsen makhmalbaf, movie, movies, the president, uk. Makhmalbafs films have been widely presented in international film festivals in the past ten years. The president a film by awarded iranian director mohsen makhmalbaf. Everywhere the president goes, he meets people who would lynch him in a heartbeat if they discovered his identity triumphant rebel fighters, men tortured as political prisoners on his orders. Through a critical analysis of mohsen makhmalbafs films, the book traces the development of irans national cinema both before and under the islamic republic. Makhmalbafs films have been widely presented at international film festivals in the past ten years. Venice film festival, busan international film festival, warsaw international film festival. A timeless, incisive film about despotism a deposed ruler tries to escape his countrys revolution in director mohsen makhmalbafs latest. T his weeks new york opening of mohsen makhmalbafs the president corinth films premieres one of best iranian movies yet seen. One of the most popular and influential iranian filmmakers of his era, mohsen makhmalbaf was born in teheran on may 29, 1957. For how can one be satisfied with a story called the silence about a blind boy who is an instrument tuner, whose guiding compass. The president, a film by awarded iranian director mohsen.
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