Kiarostami's Shirin

As an avid fan of Iranian film I can't wait to go to see this film. For anyone who hasn't seen any of Abbas Kiarostami's films, or any other Iranian films for that matter, be prepared to be amazed.

Most Iranian films come in the epic 3hr long format (well, at least that's how long they feel sometimes!) so this one at a mere 90mins is short by industry standards. They have the most beautiful way of drawing you right into the story and you will leave feeling like you contributed somehow to the telling of it.

This one seems to be no exception. In fact the film is even about an audience of more than 100 women who are deeply absorbed in watching a film we never see. Based on an Persian poem as famous as Romeo and Juliet, Shirin is a love story and 'offers a feast for the imagination of a wholly unexpected kind'.

'What matters here is the art of screen acting, the perceptiveness of the camera and the power of cinema to manipulate. Moreover, Kiarostami confounds the fundamentalists by celebrating the expressive beauty of the female face in evocative close-ups ... As a powerful artistic experiment, this is near perfect.' Empire

The BFI offer what promises to be a feast for the eyes from 26 June.

Directed by Abbas Kiarostami with Mahtab Keramati, Golshifteh Farahani, Mahnaz Afshar, Niki Karimi, Juliette Binoche

Visit www.bfi.org.uk/releases for more information.

Night of the Living Dead filmshowing & fundraiser

Award winning fantasy author China Miéville will be introducing George A. Romero’s subversive 1968 zombie film Night of the Living Dead as our latest Socialist Worker Appeal fundraiser.

6.30pm
Saturday 31st January
Prince Charles Cinema
7 Leicester Place
Off Leicester Square
London WC2

Tickets £9.50 waged/ £6.50 concessions
To book via Prince Charles cinema: 0870 811 2559 orwww.princecharlescinema.com
Tickets also available from Bookmarks, 1 Bloomsbury St, WC1 or 020 7637 1848
Or Socialist Worker Appeal on 020 7819 1190 www.swappeal.org.uk

Night of the Living Dead is a criticism of 1960s American society, international Cold War politics and racism. It draws on the contentious political events and issues of the time: US’s war on Vietnam, assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, civil rights,protests and riots. At its release the film horrified reactionary critics and attempts were made to censor it as it as it was perceived to promote that period of unrest.

It remains a challenging film as the issues dealt with through the symbolism and grotesque imagery are still tangible today.