Film Festival

MAN is now Available on Amazon Prime

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MAN is now available on Amazon Prime (US). If you are a member, it comes free per that service. You can also rent or buy ($2.99-$9.99) if you are not a member.  (Amazon Prime UK is live as well)

If you prefer Vimeo, the film is a bit cheaper for both renting and purchasing. ($2-$7)

My simple MAN viewing guide - Be patient, watch in silence. 

WHALE HD Re-Release Season

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While MAN just launched, ANIMALS secretly re-released WHALE in HD. While I'm generally against revisionism in art, some very slight modifications have been made to the 2010 release. We are in the software eat world age after all, where things get continuously updated. Nothing is ever finished until it ceases to exist.

The project is available for $2 to rent, $7 to buy and is available in all territories on Vimeo. The original SD version has been and still is available on Amazon (along with a few rare DVD's), though the new HD version will be available soon and free to Prime subscribers. If I could dictate your direction, I would say, use the Vimeo route for now.

before.

before.

after.

after.

KEY ART REFRESH

Typography redesigned by Ali Sabet

Typography redesigned by Ali Sabet

MAN & THREE WORLDS AN AMIR MOTLAGH DOUBLE FEATURE PREVIEW SCREENING presented by Chicago Filmmakers

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The THREE MARKS, TOO MANY SIGNALS series of works gets a double feature screening of MAN & THREE WORLDS, presented by Chicago Filmmakers. The presentation starts at 6pm, Saturday, April 21st. 

The box office is open, so we would love to see you there. I am planning on attending (schedule permitting) but my producing partner & co-writer on MAN, Charles Borg will be present. If you are press, or know anyone who would be interested in writing about the event, or needs screeners, please reach out. 

This has been a long time coming, but we wish to come to other cities. If you are interested in booking the films, please reach out. Whether it be film festivals, one-off events, microcinemas, arthouse theaters or gallery spaces (etc), we are open and excited to hear from you. We want to bring this to you in a way that feels organic and connected.

I'll be updating as the date nears. Thank you all for the years of support. 💚

 

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what do you know of water’s worth while standing on the banks of the euphrates

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(if inclined, please watch the work first...it runs 15min.)

Tomorrow marks the online premiere of my latest work (today for you) which I have conveniently embedded the link in this post. (if you prefer, on vimeo here)

This project functions as both a standalone film and also, a visual single for "Moonlighting MIssion Man", the latest release from my music project MIRS.

Two birds, one stone on the shallow end, a postmodernist twist on a Rene Magritte expression on the pretentious end. Both, equally as valid.

This is the working synopsis or thesis put through a press release blender:  "The film captures an intimate sliver into an Iranian American Sufi Muslim poet (Mahsa Hosseini) as she goes about finding meaning in her life. The visual narrative, shot in a classic cinéma vérité style, provides a strong counterpoint to the hidden, synth-driven, processed vocals in "Moonlighting Mission Man". The video eludes to a dual narrative between the film & the music, though kept hidden from plain sight."

Ultimately, this project started with this question, "Is this a short film or a music video?". And for me, ended with identity. (an ephemeral thing, with real-world consequences). 

But back to Magritte, and equally, Jean Baudrillard. Why is the opening question important to me? Media (and its contents) by in large is an open-ended question nowadays, and while I'm personally working through the details of this new paradigm, doing so with a dichotomous media might be my best way of processing it. What is a film? What is a tweet? How are they different? These are important questions in hyperreality when words have less direct meaning, and content rules all. 

a thank you to Roger Ebert.

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I'm pretty sure everybody that has had, at the very least, a sliver of interest in the movies and the language of cinema has a story to share about Roger Ebert.  

Whether it was about influence, or insight, or passion, or disagreement, Roger Ebert was big time.  

He loved movies so much, that it's inconceivable to think of any figure in these modern times, to exhibit the same anti-cynicism and commitment to cinema.  Almost all of us are in a sort of ambivalent love affair with movies these days.  For all the never ending enthusiasm and commitment to reach higher, there is always the death knell, the Holy Motors sign off.  Which was quite convincing by the way (btw ya’lls).

Somehow, both views fit.  But, it is fitting and sad, that Ebert, along with the rest of the classicist have now passed.  These were figures of what can be now called, "the good old days".  And we can cherish that, because its history has been written.  A place exists for the past.  It has happened, and it was witnessed.  The future however, is always a place of uncertainty.  Anxiety is birthed from the unknown.  And humans, given a dose of evolutionary psychology, always feel mixed about that which cannot be controlled.

The beauty of Ebert was that the man always committed to passionate thinking.  He was not afraid.  Nor was he afraid to change his mind.  

At his older age, he became a king of new media. With twitter, he could troll with the best of them.  His stance against video games as art was legendary.  Here was a man, not afraid of the consequences of thought, nor its expression.  Nor was he scared of being bullied for thinking.

Bombarded by children angered by an opinion, he pressed forward with what I can only assume was a grin.  Remember is beef with Vincent Gallo.  The man didn't back down from insults.  A classic game of "yo momma".  And he did this with a smile.  That's respectable. That’s heart.  

And no other critic could circumnavigate the mainstream all the while, championing the independent quite like Ebert. Who will ever have that leverage?  Who will ever care enough?

What a sincere love of something.  It was poetic to witness.  RIP Roger Ebert and thank you.  My mother thanks you.  She loved you.  

See you at the movies; home theater actually, because we all know that's where this is all leading, right?

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35 Year Old Man screens at the HHM Film & Music Fest

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​35 YEAR OLD MAN makes an appearance at the 7th Annual Hells Half Mile Film & Music Festival in Bay City Michigan, Oct 6th & 7th.  This will mark our third film screening at this cool event.

More info, tickets and showtimes can be found here:​

35 YEAR OLD MAN - 2012 - Directed by Amir Motlagh​

35 YEAR OLD MAN - 2012 - Directed by Amir Motlagh​

35 YEAR OLD MAN plays at IFF

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Just got back from a short trip to SF to catch 35 YEAR OLD MAN screening at the 5th annual Iranian Film Festival.  I did miss my screening as usual, but catch the tail end of the program.   I meet Saeed Shafa, the festival director (he also runs a few other festivals), whom was a very cordial and nice man, from my brief estimation.  This has become a very literal update.  And, here is an obligatory picture from the Bay Area.

A nice picture, with a nice filter.​

A nice picture, with a nice filter.​

Yahoo Movies Profile on "35 Year Old Man"

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From Yahoo Movies -

"The 12th Annual deadCenter Film Festival boasts a list of short film programs that each explore little slices of life audiences are usually afraid to talk about: loneliness, aging, and disappointment. Director Amir Motlagh captured a glimpse of all of these experiences through the eyes of the sole character in his narrative short "35 Year Old Man." The film is about a guy named Greg whose birthday just passed and, as the synopsis explains, "Yesterday, he bought a toaster and cleaned the fridge."

Read the full interview here: