Jacques Audiard’s musical film “Emilia Perez,” in Spanish, is considered a strong contender to claim the title for Best International Film at the forthcoming Academy Awards.
Nevertheless, an array of up-and-coming and established filmmakers from across the globe flocked to the Palm Springs Film Festival with the aim of impressing Academy voters by highlighting their daring narratives and independent movie accomplishments. Several of these directors showcased films that confronted their history, such as Walter Salles’ “I’m Still Here,” where Fernanda Torres portrays a mother of five whose family is shattered when the father vanishes under Brazil’s military regime.
Salles shared with one of the Oscar’s best international filmmaker panels in Palm Springs that the foundation for his family drama was a book written by his childhood friend, Marcelo Rubens Paiva. This book was significant because it was based on Paiva’s own family and home, which played a crucial role in Salles’ personal growth at the age of 13.
In a foreign house, there was an urgent feeling, distinctly unlike the quieted Brazilian streets under curfew. This intensity of life, I realized later, was a form of resistance by a family living under military rule. Salles expressed this during a panel discussion at a festival, moderated by Mia Galuppo, a writer for The Hollywood Reporter. He also remembered the day their father was taken from their home for questioning and never returned.
He mentioned that the father’s disappearance served as a clear distinction between what came before and what followed for the family, significantly impacting everyone’s lives. This event marked the beginning of the story in the film.
As a gamer, I’d rephrase it like this:
“I draw inspiration from my own life experiences – the passing of my father and the joy of welcoming a new child into our family – for Vermiglio, a period drama that I created. This moving tale unfolds in a secluded mountain village, where the unexpected arrival of a refugee soldier shakes up everyone’s lives, much like how life-changing events can disrupt our own worlds.
At a discussion led by Kevin Cassidy, THR’s international news editor, Delpero mentioned that she never considered making a movie about her family until a significant change in perspective. She recalled, “Certain life-altering incidents, like becoming an orphan and a mother, prompted me to revisit my roots before moving forward.”
The discussion was led by Kevin Cassidy, international news editor at THR. During this discussion, Delpero explained that she never thought about making a movie based on her family until there was a shift in her perspective. She remembered that events which drastically changed her life, such as becoming an orphan and a mother, made her want to go back to the origins of her story before moving forward.)
In Mati Diop’s documentary titled “Dahomey“, which is competing for Senegal in both the Oscar best documentary and best international feature categories, a significant part of her daring storytelling approach was to personify the looted African artifacts featured in the film. By providing these inanimate objects with voice-overs, she underscored their importance as living entities, not just mere objects, but rather as cultural treasures imbued with real significance and power.
As a passionate admirer, I’m thrilled about the homecoming of 26 African artifacts from Dahomey, now back in the Republic of Benin. Just like the film, my voice resonates with the echoes of countless generations, objects, and artifacts. I yearned for an audience with African descent to see themselves, just as I did, in the story of these artifacts – their journeys, displacements, and exiles. This is what Director Diop intended, as he shared in his explanation.
For the Cannes special prize winner and exiled Iranian director Mohammed Rouselof, incorporating a trio of women into his German Oscar contender, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, was no simple task since he had often encountered strict film censorship regulations in Iran when creating movies within the country.
Initially, the censorship rules in my home country, Iran, were so restrictive that it was either necessary to leave out basic details of women’s lives when telling their stories, or it proved difficult to create authentic female characters on screen. This was shared by Rasoulof during a discussion at Palm Springs.
In my role as a filmmaker, I found it challenging to portray women in their personal spaces, with their natural hair visible, and during solitary moments that revealed the raw truth of their lives. Instead, there was often an intrusion or influence shaping the scene – this was the path I followed in my cinematic journey.
In his recent movie, titled “The Seed of a Sacred Fig”, Rouselof features a group of three women – his real-life spouse Soheila Golestani, and his on-screen daughters Setareh Maleki and Mahsa Rostami. Rouselof, who was previously detained in Iran for his films and now resides in Germany, explained that this female representation is a form of resistance against censorship.
The discussions during the Palm Springs festival panels humorously touched upon Iranian films as well. This was particularly evident when Canadian director Matthew Rankin spoke about “Universal Language”, Canada’s entry for the festival, which is a unique blend of cultures with Persian and French being the official languages in Canada. To add to this cultural mix, a local Tim Hortons restaurant offers traditional Persian delicacies.
Rankin shared that he posted an advertisement in a local Montreal school seeking Farsi-speaking kids for his movie, inviting anyone interested in acting, regardless of experience. “Come and see what it’s all about,” he said. To his surprise, numerous children responded, and among them were three exceptionally spirited youngsters with a keen sense of humor and the unusual. Impressed by their unique traits, Rankin ended up altering the film script to better suit these talented kids.
In their on-screen performances, the children truly impressed me. They were absolute professionals, outstanding indeed. As a fellow actor in the same movie, I must admit that they outshone my own skills when it comes to professionalism. Truly, they were fantastic.
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2025-01-14 00:25