Iran: Last News

You know the modern world is in a dark place when even a middle-aged Iranian woman says that things were better in the old days. Indeed, for his feature debut, director Behrooz Karamizade has fashioned an intelligent and thoughtful drama that should travel well in today’s climate of insecurity, offering a fresh perspective on a multiplicity of worldwide issues (trickle-down theory, the gig economy) while adding an especially nuanced subplot exploring the refugee crisis and the mechanics of people-trafficking.  

The girlfriend of singer Darius Campbell Danesh has revealed more sad details about the sudden death of the British singer in August 2022. 

An award-winning Cheshire company is set to make waves in the global market as it seeks to expand its saffron-growing business. The Cheshire Saffron Company has recently submitted a planning application to the Cheshire West and Chester Council for a proposed development in Alvanley, off Commonside.

Marta Balaga The Karlovy Vary Film Festival, which takes place in an elegant spa resort in the Bohemian region of the Czech Republic, is set to get political during its 57th edition, but in a subtle way. “I am not sure if you can even use the word ‘subtle’ when talking about politics, but it doesn’t always have to be in your face. You can be political by showing the existential struggles of an elderly lady who gets framed by some crooks,” says artistic director Karel Och, mentioning Stephan Komandarev’s “Blaga’s Lessons,” which will vie for the Crystal Globe. While the main competition features many stories about people trying to return home or simply find their place in the world, he adds, the festival will also celebrate Iran with a separate section “Another Birth. Iranian Cinema Here and Now.” “Before our consultant Lorenzo Esposito came up with this name, we thought about ‘Iranian Underground,’ but you can be political also by being poetic. We are not telling our audience how to react. We want them to be our partners,” notes Och. Observing that satire is also making a comeback.

Colleen Ballinger has denied allegations she “groomed”   and formed inappropriate relationships with underage fans.  

a 10-minute video Wednesday entitled “hi.” She flippantly took “accountability” for her actions while simultaneously criticizing cancel culture. “Some people are saying things about me that just aren’t true,” she said in a sing-song voice.

Colleen Ballinger has re-emerged to share her side of the story after the “Miranda Sings” YouTuber was accused of grooming by a fan who claimed she’d “formed an inappropriate personal friendship with him while he was between the ages of 13 and 16.”

Sundance Institute has laid off nearly a dozen staffers across its departments, representing about 6% of its 180- workforce, Deadline has confirmed. The cuts are part of a three- to five-year strategic plan to strengthen the organization amid a challenging economic landscape.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Colleen Ballinger, the YouTube creator whose awkward character Miranda Sings rose to internet fame, has publicly responded to accusations that she formed inappropriate relationships with teenagers. Ballinger posted a video Wednesday to her Colleen Vlogs channel in which she denies the “lies” and “gossip” about her — partly in song, while strumming a ukulele. “Some people are saying things about me that just aren’t true,” she said at the beginning of the 10-minute video. She continued, “Even though my team has strongly advised me not to say what I’m going to say, I realized they never said I couldn’t sing about what I want to say.”

Ed Meza @edmezavar Behrooz Karamizade’s Iranian drama “Empty Nets,” which has its international premiere in the Crystal Globe Competition at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, offers a sobering look at the increasingly difficult, sometimes hopeless lives of young working-class people in Iran as they strive for better lives. Set on Iran’s northern Caspian Sea coast, the film follows Amir (Hamid Reza Abbasi), a young man who, desperate to marry his girlfriend Narges (Sadif Asgari), seeks work at a local fishery with the hope of earning enough money for an appropriate dowry and winning over her upper-class parents. Once there, illicit opportunities present themselves and he is soon drawn into the dangerous but lucrative business of sturgeon poaching and the black market caviar trade.

This year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) will close with the UK premiere of British Iranian filmmaker Babak Jalali’s well-received Sundance pic Fremont.

CNN obtained the audio recording of a 2021 meeting in which former President Donald Trump discussed having secret documents he did not declassify.

Music fans heading to the Glastonbury Festival are in for a treat with the promise of "dry, sunny weather" as the renowned Pyramid Stage comes alive on Friday. Despite a recent setback due to lead vocalist Alex Turner's acute laryngitis leading to the cancellation of their earlier gig, Arctic Monkeys are still billed as Friday's headliners.

A man has pleaded guilty to killing his neighbour. Tarik Hussein, 28, admitted fatally attacking 56-year-old shop worker Esmaeil Tofigh following an incident in Longsight.

The 76th edition of the Locarno Film Festival will close with a screening of the Sundance Competiton pic Shayda attended by the film’s star Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Holy Spider) and Exec Producer Cate Blanchett.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Cate Blanchett and Zar Amir Ebrahimi are set to attend the Locarno Film Festival’s closing night to promote the European launch of Iranian-Australian director Noora Niasari’s debut film “Shayda.” Blanchett is an executive producer on the drama, which world premiered at Sundance and scored the Utah festival’s audience award. “Shayda” stars Ebrahimi – who broke out last year as a Cannes prizewinner for her role in “Holy Spider” – as a domestic violence survivor during the ’90s in Australia who demands a free life on her own terms, away from the shadow of her abusive husband. Variety critic Tomris Laffly in her review praised Ebrahimi’s turn in “Shayda” as a “quietly commanding performance” and underlined the film’s “unmistakably feminine spirit of perseverance, one that runs wild and free in this promising debut.”

The forecasts are in - and for once it looks to be a dry Glastonbury, with 'sunny weather' the main prediction by forecasters as the first music acts take to the Pyramid Stage on Friday. Friday is set see a “good deal of dry, sunny weather” with temperatures likely to peak around 25C after highs of 25.2C were recorded on Thursday in nearby Yeovilton, the Met Office has said.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor High Fidelity Pictures and newly formed sister company Nuworx Productions are set to adapt Behzad Karim Khani’s bestselling novel “Hund, Wolf, Schakal” together with a yet-to-be-announced German broadcasting partner. Production for the series is due to start next year. The critically acclaimed novel tells the story of two very differently wired brothers who fled Iran with their father, and must now stand up for themselves on the streets of Berlin. The book received the Debut Prize at the Harbour Front Literature Festival, along with numerous positive reviews and was on the Shortlist of the Aspekte-Literature-Award.

One year after tying the knot, Britney Spears and Sam Asghari have faced a few hiccups in their marriage — but they aren’t giving up on their love.

Facing adulthood is never easy.

Paramount+ crime-thriller Bargain, Prime Video’s absurdist comedy I’m a Virgo and Greek infertility dramedy Babython were among the awards series winners at last week’s Seriencamp in Germany.