Cinema Rex - Iranian Cinema Podcast
From Kiarostami to Abbasi, from Farrokhzad to Amirpour. From pre-revolutionary cinema to modern times. Join Iranian-Canadian filmmakers Kaveh Mohebbi and Faran Moradi (a screenwriter and a director) as they embark on a crash-course on all that Iranian cinema has to offer episode-to-episode one film at a time.
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Episodes
4 days ago
4 days ago
A hypnotically stylized murder mystery awash in period atmosphere, unfolds inside a candlelit mansion, where a web of greed, violence, and betrayal ensnares potential heirs as they vie for control of their matriarch’s estate.
Directed by Mohammad Reza Aslani
Thursday Apr 10, 2025
Thursday Apr 10, 2025
Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.
Directed by Ben Affleck
This film is available on Prime Video and Crave
Thursday Mar 27, 2025
Thursday Mar 27, 2025
A recently jailed petty thief disguises as a Mullah and succeeds in escaping; but has to stay in the Mullah' role longer than he expected.
Directed by Kamal Tabrizi
Thursday Mar 13, 2025
Thursday Mar 13, 2025
Hamoon's wife is leaving him. He is also unsuccessfully trying to finish his Ph. D. thesis. He is forced to reexamine his life. In a series of flashbacks and dreams, Hamoon tries to figure out what he did wrong.
Written and Directed by Dariush Mehrjui.
Thursday Feb 27, 2025
Thursday Feb 27, 2025
Samad and the other villagers attend school so that they can learn to read, when a gang of drug smugglers infiltrate their class resulting in a hilarious slapstick confrontation between the villagers and the gangsters.
This movie is available on YouTube. Directed by Parviz Sayyad.
Monday Feb 17, 2025
Monday Feb 17, 2025
Seventy-year-old Mahin, solitary until now, chooses to revive her love life. A chance encounter becomes an unforgettable evening.
Directed by Maryam Moghadam & Behtash Sanaeeha
Friday Jan 31, 2025
Friday Jan 31, 2025
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of film, Iranian director Mohsen Makhmalbaf advertises an open casting for his next movie. However when hundreds of people show up, he decides to make a movie about the casting of these would-be actors.
Directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. This film is available for rental on Vimeo.
Thursday Jan 16, 2025
Thursday Jan 16, 2025
Our first short films special where we dive into films by Pegah Ahangarani, Kaveh Mazaheri, Tara Aghdashloo & Jasmin Mozaffari.
This episode also includes special interviews with Jasmin Mozaffari and Arian Moayed.
Thursday Jan 02, 2025
Thursday Jan 02, 2025
Investigating judge Iman grapples with paranoia amid political unrest in Tehran. When his gun vanishes, he suspects his wife and daughters, imposing draconian measures in an attempt to uncover the truth.
Spoilers from 00:33:46 - 01:17:11
Thursday Dec 12, 2024
Thursday Dec 12, 2024
A young filmmaker delves into her mother and grandmother's complicated pasts, and her own fractured Iranian identity.
This episode also features interviews with the Director of the film, Sierra Urich, and Executive Producer Arian Moayed.
Kaveh Mohebbi
Kaveh Mohebbi is an Iranian-Canadian screenwriter who received his MA in Screenwriting at the London Film School (UK). Soon after he was a graduate of the Second City writing program where he wrote and produced the mainstage show. Apocalypse Now, Desert Later. In 2013 Kaveh was invited into the CFC Writer’s Lab, which led to his involvement as co-writer on a number of short films including the Official TIFF Selection, STILL and the Official Austin Film Festival Selection, Life on Juniper. Writing credits include, This Hour has 22 Minutes, CBC Gem's Communist Daughter, Overlord and the Underwoods. Nickeodeon's kids animated Hamsters of Hamsterdale and Season 1 and 2 of Amazon's first Canadian scripted comedy The Lake. Kaveh currently has an hour long detective comedy Sandcastle in development with E1 as well as a half-hour comedy, Laughganistan, in development with Cameron Pictures and Amazon.
Faran Moradi
Faran Moradi is a CSA-nominated Iranian-Canadian filmmaker, born and raised in Ontario. Faran recently made his first feature film a romantic-comedy set in the Toronto Iranian community called Tehranto, which was nominated for multiple CSAs, was shortlisted for Sundance 2021 and won Cinequest’s Best Feature in 2022. Tehranto recently completed its Canadian and American theatrical runs, and is now available On Demand. Faran went on to direct and edit on Emmy Award winning TV shows including Odd Squad, and write and direct the award winning short film Blackpowder and Guilt. He most recently directed 4 episodes of Holly Hobbie (Hulu) and 2 episodes of the upcoming show Dino Dex (Prime).