Scream of the Ants | |
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![]() Promotional poster | |
Directed by | Mohsen Makhmalbaf |
Written by | Mohsen Makhmalbaf |
Produced by | Mohsen Makhmalbaf |
Starring | Mamhoud Chokrollahi Mahnour Shadzi |
Cinematography | Bakhshor |
Edited by | Mohsen Makhmalbaf |
Music by | Craig Pruess |
Production company | Makhmalbaf Film House |
Distributed by | Wild Bunch |
Release date |
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Running time | 89 minutes |
Countries | Iran India France |
Language | Persian |
Scream of the Ants (Persian: Faryad-e-Morchegan) is a 2006 Iranian film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf and starring Mamhoud Chokrollahi and Mahnour Shadzi. The film was released to negative reviews.
A newly wed Iranian couple (Mamhoud and Mahnour) go on a honeymoon on the river Ganges, in India and find a deeper meaning to their lives. [1]
Mohsen Makhmalbaf had wanted to make a film in India for fifteen years but was delayed by the country's "corruption and bureaucracy", according to the director. Shooting was finished in 2005. [4]
The film received "its North American premiere at the 2006 Montreal World Film Festival." [5]
A critic from Variety wrote that "If irony there be, it remains inscrutably hidden among the idiocies. Even hardcore Makhmalbaf buffs may run screaming". [2] Tim Brayton of Alternate Ending reviewing the film at the 43rd Chicago International Film Festival wrote that "Watching people realise that they have been making a series of grave mistakes can be interesting, and even watching people listening can be exciting in rare circumstances. But watching people listen to esoteric conversations about Indian religion and Indian poverty, and then watching them look at ironic juxtapositions of Indian religion and Indian poverty, that isn't really all that exciting". [6] Assistant Professor Nick Davis of Northwestern University gave the film a C+ rating and wrote that "I wanted to scream several times during Scream of the Ants, sometimes for no better reason than the film's laziness and hectoring tone, but just as often for the same reasons that have pushed Makhmalbaf to this edge of his own outrage". [7] Young film critic Mozhdeh Ghazanfari wrote that "Makhmalbaf is incapable of telling his story through a cinematic language. Instead, he sticks together a series of unrelated scenes in which different characters make political statements with no logical connections or cinematic arguments". [8]
In the book Makhmalbaf at Large, Hamid Dibashi wrote that this film and Sex & Philosophy (2005) "are further indicies of his [Makhmalbaf's] tireless mind, his restless, creative soul, always at work in creating newer, visual experminatations". [9] In the book Banal Transnationalism: On Mohsen Makhmalbaf's 'borderless' filmmaking, Shahab Esfandiary wrote that "Makhmalbaf's attitude towards India and its inhabitants in this film resembles the view of eighteenth century European anthropologist who is baffled by the (apparent) ignorance, barbarism and superstitious beliefs of the people of the Orient [...] reminiscent of the project of colonialism." [10]
Samira Makhmalbaf is an Iranian filmmaker and screenwriter. She is the daughter of Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the film director and writer. Samira Makhmalbaf is considered to be part of the Iranian New Wave. She has won multiple awards, including two Jury Prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, and has been nominated for numerous awards.
Mohsen Makhmalbaf is an Iranian film director, writer, film editor, and producer. He has made over 20 feature films, won 50 awards, and been a juror in more than 15 major film festivals. His award-winning films include Kandahar; his latest documentary is The Gardener and latest feature The President.
The cinema of Iran, or of Persia, refers to the film industry in Iran. In particular, Iranian art films have garnered international recognition. Iranian films are usually written and spoken in the Persian language.
Close-Up is a 1990 Iranian docufiction written, directed and edited by Abbas Kiarostami. The film tells the story of the real-life trial of a man who impersonated film-maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, conning a family into believing they would star in his new film. It features the people involved, acting as themselves. A film about human identity, it helped to increase recognition of Kiarostami internationally.
Hana Makhmalbaf is an Iranian filmmaker. She is the younger sister of filmmaker Samira Makhmalbaf and daughter of filmmakers Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Fatemeh Meshkini. She is known for her films Joy of Madness (2003),Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame (2007) and Green Days (2009). Makhmalbaf won the Lina Mangiacapre Award at the Venice Film Festival in 2003 for Joy of Madness (2003). Joy of Madness also won the Special Jury Prize at Tokyo Filmex. Makhmalbaf's film Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame won various awards as well, such as the Paolo Ungari UNICEF Prize from the Rome Film Festival and the Peace Film Award at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Kandahar is a 2001 Iranian film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, set in Afghanistan during the rule of the Taliban. Its original Afghan title is Safar-e Ghandehar, which means "Journey to Kandahar", and it is alternatively known as The Sun Behind the Moon. The film is based on a partly true, partly fictionalized story of Nafas, a successful Afghan-Canadian woman played by Nelofer Pazira.
Hamid Dabashi is an Iranian-American professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University in New York City.
Asian cinema refers to the film industries and films produced in the continent of Asia. However, in countries like the United States, it is often used to refer only to the cinema of East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia. West Asian cinema is sometimes classified as part of Middle Eastern cinema, along with the cinema of Egypt. The cinema of Central Asia is often grouped with the Middle East or, in the past, the cinema of the Soviet Union during the Soviet Central Asia era. North Asia is dominated by Siberian Russian cinema, and is thus considered part of European cinema.
Gabbeh is a 1996 Iranian film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. The film was selected as the Iranian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 70th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.
Hello Cinema is a 1995 Iranian film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. It was made for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of cinema. The year 1895 is considered the debut of the motion picture as an entertainment medium. The year 1895 was the year of the first film screenings by Auguste and Louis Lumière.
Marzieh Meshkini is an Iranian cinematographer, film director and writer. She is married to filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who wrote the script for her debut film The Day I Became a Woman.
Cinema was introduced to Afghanistan at the beginning of the 20th century. Political troubles, such as the 1973 Afghan coup d'état and the Saur Revolution slowed the industry over the years; however, numerous Pashto and Dari films have been made both inside and outside Afghanistan throughout the 20th century. The cinema of Afghanistan entered a new phase in 2001, but has failed to recover to its popular pre-war status.
Iranian New Wave refers to a movement in Iranian cinema. It started in 1964 with Hajir Darioush's second film Serpent's Skin, which was based on D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover featuring Fakhri Khorvash and Jamshid Mashayekhi. Darioush's two important early social documentaries But Problems Arose in 1965, dealing with the cultural alienation of the Iranian youth, and Face 75, a critical look at the westernization of the rural culture, which was a prizewinner at the 1965 Berlin Film Festival, also contributed significantly to the establishment of the New Wave. In 1968, after the release of Shohare Ahoo Khanoom directed by Davoud Mollapour, The Cow directed by Dariush Mehrjui followed by Masoud Kimiai's Qeysar in 1969, Nasser Taqvai's Tranquility in the Presence of Others, and immediately followed by Bahram Beyzai's Downpour, the New Wave became well established as a prominent cultural, dynamic and intellectual trend. The Iranian viewer became discriminating, encouraging the new trend to prosper and develop.
The Day I Became a Woman is a 2000 award-winning Iranian drama film directed by Marzieh Meshkini. It tells three stories, each depicting a different stage in the lives of Iranian women. It premièred at the 2000 Venice Film Festival and won several festival awards during 2000. Critical response was positive with some calling it "Felliniesque".
Mohammad Hamid Ansari is an Indian bureaucrat and retired Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who was the 12th vice president of India from 2007 to 2017.
A Moment of Innocence is a 1996 film directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. It is also known as Nun va Goldoon, Bread and Flower, Bread and Flower Pot, and The Bread and the Vase.
The Freedom to Create Prize was established in 2008 to foster prosperity in the developing world by investing in the creative foundations of society. The Freedom to Create Prize was awarded from 2008 to 2011 to support and recognise artists who strive for social change in places where there is no "freedom to create".
Negar Mottahedeh is a cultural critic and film theorist specializing in interdisciplinary and feminist contributions to the fields of Middle Eastern Studies and Film Studies.
The Gardener is a documentary film by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. It had its Asian premiere at Busan International Film Festival, its European premiere at Rotterdam International Film Festival, and North American premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival. It is the first film in decades to be made by an Iranian filmmaker in Israel. The film has been shown in more than 20 film festivals and won the Best Documentary award from Beirut International Film Festival and the special Maverick Award at the Motovun Film Festival in Croatia. The film was selected as "Critic's Pick of the Week" by New York Film Critics Circle, "Best of the Fest" at Busan Film Festival by The Hollywood Reporter, and "Top Ten Films" at Mumbai Film Festival by Times of India, and its script was added to the Library of Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
To Light a Candle is a documentary by journalist Maziar Bahari, author of the memoir Then They Came for Me.