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- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
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- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
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- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
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- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
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- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
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- sheila on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
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- Maddy on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- sheila on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
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- Bryce on The Books: “Nine Stories”- ‘The Laughing Man’ (J.D. Salinger)
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Tag Archives: Leila Hatami
Film Forum: Jafar Panahi’s This Is Not a Film
Imprisoned Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s This Is Not a Film opens at the New York’s Film Forum today and runs through March 13. I put it on my Top 10 list for the year. There is nothing happening in the … Continue reading
NYFF 2011: A Separation: Separation? More Like a Giant Abyss
From director Asghar Farhadi (I was in love with his Fireworks Wednesday from 2007) comes another tense devastating drama. Not to be missed. I was a wreck by the end of it. Definitely one of the best films of the … Continue reading
NYFF 2011: Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation
Originally published at Capital New York, for my coverage of the 2011 New York Film Festival The events in Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation, winner of the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin Film Festival, unfold with chaos and yet inevitability, … Continue reading
Shirin (2008); Dir. Abbas Kiarostami
We tell ourselves stories in order to live. The princess is caged in the consulate. The man with the candy will lead the children into the sea. The naked woman on the ledge outside the window on the sixteenth floor … Continue reading
Posted in Movies
Tagged Abbas Kiarostami, Golshifteh Farahani, Hediyeh Tehrani, Iran, Iranian film, Juliette Binoche, Leila Hatami, Taraneh Alidoosti
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Leila: A Movie Within a Movie
I love it when people in movies watch movies. I can think of many other favorite scenes, of characters watching a movie while in a movie (there was a very funny and moving scene in the recent 500 Days of … Continue reading
Deserted Station (2002); Dir. Alireza Raisian
Deserted Station is a haunting quiet (at times too quiet) film based on a story by Iranian great Abbas Kiarostami, and directed by Alireza Raisian, it tells the story of a husband and wife (the wife is played by the … Continue reading
Leila (1996); Dir. Dariush Mehrjui: Marriage and Infertility In Modern-Day Iran
Dariush Mehrjui, director of Leila, is a figure who embodies the entire 20th journey of Iranian film. Check out his stunning bio here. His films have often been festival favorites, garnering great international acclaim. His journey as a film-maker is … Continue reading

