Apichatpong Weerasethakul is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, film producer and Professor at Tama Art University in Tokyo. Working outside the strict confines of the Thai film studio system, Apichatpong has directed several features and dozens of short films. Friends and fans sometimes refer to him as "Joe".
Jafar Panâhi is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film editor, commonly associated with the Iranian New Wave film movement. After several years of making short films and working as an assistant director for fellow Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami, Panahi achieved international recognition with his feature film debut, The White Balloon (1995). The film won the Caméra d'Or at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, the first major award an Iranian film won at Cannes.
Blissfully Yours is a 2002 Thai romance film written and directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. It won the Un Certain Regard prize at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival.
Syndromes and a Century is a 2006 Thai drama film written and directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The film was among the works commissioned for Peter Sellars' New Crowned Hope festival in Vienna to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It premiered on August 30, 2006 at the 63rd Venice Film Festival.
The 63rd Cannes Film Festival was held from 12 to 23 May 2010, in Cannes, France. The Cannes Film Festival, hailed as being one of the most recognized and prestigious film festivals worldwide, was founded in 1946. It consists of having films screened in and out of competition during the festival; films screened in competition compete for the Palme d'Or award. The award in 2010 was won by Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, a Thai film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. This was determined by the festival's jury members who reviewed films screened in competition. American film director Tim Burton was the president of the jury for the international competition, and other members of the jury for that competition included actors, screenwriters and composers, such as Kate Beckinsale, Emmanuel Carrère, Benicio del Toro, and Alexandre Desplat. Other categories for films screened in competition that have their own separate juries for other awards are for Short Films and the Un Certain Regard category.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives is a 2010 Thai drama film written, produced, and directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The film, which explores themes of reincarnation, centers on the last days in the life of its title character, played by Thanapat Saisaymar. Together with his loved ones—including the spirit of his dead wife, Huay, and his lost son, Boonsong, who has returned in a non-human form—Boonmee explores his past lives as he contemplates the reasons for his illness.
This Is Not a Film is an Iranian documentary film by Jafar Panahi and Mojtaba Mirtahmasb. It was released on 28 September 2011 in France, distributed by Kanibal Films Distribution.
Mekong Hotel is a 2012 Thai film directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The film was screened in the Special Screenings section at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
David Lowery is an American filmmaker.
Taxi, also known as Taxi Tehran, is a 2015 Iranian docufiction starring and directed by Jafar Panahi. The film premiered in competition at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival where it won the Golden Bear and the FIPRESCI Prize. In 2010, Panahi was banned from making films and travelling for 20 years, so his niece Hana Saeidi, who also appears in the film, collected the award on his behalf.
Cemetery of Splendour is a 2015 Thai drama film written, produced, and directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The plot revolves around a spreading epidemic of sleeping sickness where spirits appear to the stricken and hallucination becomes indistinguishable from reality. The epidemic is a metaphor for personal and Thai societal issues. The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival to critical acclaim.
Risk is a 2016 American documentary film written and directed by Laura Poitras about the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. It was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and received generally favorable reviews.
3 Faces is a 2018 Iranian drama film directed by Jafar Panahi and starring Behnaz Jafari and Panahi as themselves. The film was produced despite a ban on filmmaking imposed on Panahi. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, winning the award for Best Screenplay.
Dominga Sotomayor Castillo is a Chilean filmmaker.
Memoria is a 2021 fantasy drama mystery film written, directed and co-produced by Apichatpong Weerasethakul, starring Tilda Swinton, Elkin Díaz, Jeanne Balibar, Juan Pablo Urrego and Daniel Giménez Cacho.
Ahed's Knee is a 2021 internationally co-produced drama film directed by Nadav Lapid. It was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. At Cannes, the film shared the Jury Prize with Memoria by Apichatpong Weerasethakul.
The 79th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August to 10 September 2022. Noah Baumbach's White Noise was the festival's opening film, and Francesco Carrozzini's The Hanging Sun was the closing film.
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed is a 2022 American biographical documentary film about photographer, artist, and activist Nan Goldin. The film is produced, co-edited and directed by Laura Poitras, and tackles Goldin's life through her advocacy during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 80's, and her fight against the Sackler family for their role in the current opioid epidemic in the United States. Poitras, a long-time friend and fan, stated that "Nan's art and vision has inspired my work for years, and has influenced generations of filmmakers."
No Bears is a 2022 Iranian drama film written, directed and produced by Jafar Panahi. The film was shot secretly in Iran and stars Panahi, Naser Hashemi, Vahid Mobasri, Bakhtiar Panjei and Mina Kavani. Production wrapped up in May 2022.
The 60th New York Film Festival took place from September 30 to October 16, 2022. Noah Baumbach's White Noise was selected to be the Opening Night film of the festival, while Laura Poitras' documentary All the Beauty and the Bloodshed was chosen to be NYFF's Centerpiece. Elegance Bratton's 47th Toronto International Film Festival premiere movie, The Inspection, was selected to be New York Film Festival's closing film, while James Gray's 75th Cannes Film Festival premiered movie, Armageddon Time, was selected to be the festival's celebration movie for its 60th anniversary.
