Teheran has visions of its own

And it hears voices too, for that matter. But just like with YouTube, it doesn’t do cinematic visions.

Nix Berlinale for you, buddy. The Berlin Film Festival is just too political, I guess.

“We are surprised and deeply regret that a director (Jafar Panahi) who has won so many international prizes has been denied the possibility to take part in our anniversary festival and to speak about his cinematic visions,” Berlinale director Dieter Kosslick said in a statement.

On July 30, Panahi and members of his family were arrested in a Tehran cemetery at an opposition protest in memory of demonstrators killed in street violence after the election.

Metropolis II

“A full version of Fritz Lang’s 1927 silent expressionist epic was found in Argentina in 2008, and after months of painstaking work, what is possibly Germany’s best-known movie has now been restored to almost its original state.”

“It will be shown at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate on February 12 as part of the 60th Berlin Film Festival, with simultaneous gala screenings in Berlin and Frankfurt, with an orchestra playing Gottfried Huppertz’s original score.”

Als Fritz Lang 1924 New York besuchte, war er überwältigt. „Allein der Anblick von Neuyork bei Nacht müsste genügen, um dieses Fanal der Schönheit zum Kernpunkt eines Films zu machen“, schrieb er nach seiner Rückkehr enthusiasmiert in einem Berliner Film-Magazin.