In 2010, Jafar Panahi was arrested on the charge of making propaganda against Iran and was sentenced to not make any films for twenty years. To a filmmaker, that is akin to having one’s tongue cut off. Panahi, however, did not take that sentence into consideration; the last nine years seeing four new releases from him, making it the most prolific chapter of his career. This new act of revolutionary filmmaking has created some of…
Horror cinema is often limited to its wheelhouse of established fears – ghosts, demons, strangers, monsters, or disturbing details. Horror hounds are always looking for different scares though, and are always welcoming of a filmmaker’s ambition. Failure is still an option, but the best case scenario is that these directorial risks pay off and make lasting provocative impressions – much like Babak Anvari’s Under the Shadow. It’s an incredible horror film that deals with not just the supernatural, but also…