Makhmalbaf Family Official Website - وبسایت رسمی خانه فیلم مخملباف

Once Upon A Time Cinema

Synopsis:
The King, who is against cinema and censors the films himself, 
falls in love with one of the actresses of an old movie and in order to get hold of his lover he leaves the throne and goes after the cinema.
 

International Awards: 
  1. Best Film - Taormina Festival (Italy) 1992.
  2. Best Film – Karlovy vary Festival (Czechoslovakia) 1992.
  3. Best Film – Fiprachi Critics - Karlovy vary Festival (Czechoslovakia) 1992.
  4. Best Director – Karlovy vary Festival (Czechoslovakia) 1992.
  5. Special Jury Prize - Istanbul Festival (Turkey) 1993.

 

Director's View: 

ONCE UPON A TIME, CINEMA … is a fantasy on the pattern of fairy tales of “One thousand and one nights”, which presents a condensed history of Iranian cinema and expresses the love of cinema in general.
 

Titles: 

Original Title: Naseredin Shah Actor e Cinema
Screenwriter, Editor & Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Cast:
Ezzatollah Entezami
Mehdi Hashemi
Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz
Akbar Abdi
Fatemeh Motamed-Arya
Dariush Arjmand
Mahaya Petrosiyan
Jahangir Forouhar
Morteza Ahmadi
Saeed Amirsoleimani
Moharram Zeinalzadeh
Parvaneh Massoumi

Director of Photography: Faraj Haydari
Assistant Director: Fatemeh Meshkini
Music: Majid Entezami
Make-Up: Abdollah Eskandari
Set Designer: Hassan Farsi
Sound: Ahmad Askari
1992, color / b&w, 92 mins.
 
Producers:
Mohammad Mehdi Dadgoo
Masoud Jafari Joezani
 
International Sales:
Makhmalbaf Film House (UK)

Festivals: 
  1. The 7th Fajr International Film Festival, Iran 1992.
  2. The 28th International Film Festival in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic 1992.
  3. Taormina International Film Festival, Italy 1992.
  4. The 5th Tokyo International Film Festival, Japan 1992.
  5. Iranian Film Festival at Cinema Utopia , “Close-Up of Mohsen Makhmalbaf”, Paris-France 1992. 
  6. The 16th Sao Paulo International Film Festival, Brazil 1992.
  7. Viennale’92, International Film Festival of Vienna, Austria 1992.
  8. The 36th London Film Festival, UK 1992.
  9. The Festival of Iranian Films at The Film Society of Lincoln Center, New York, USA 1992.
  10. The 14th Festival of 3 continents, Nantes, France 1992.
     
  11. The 22nd Rotterdam International Film Festival, Netherlands 1993.
  12. The 12th Istanbul International Film Festival, Turkey 1993.
  13. The 17th Hong Kong International Film Festival, Hong Kong 1993.
  14. The 42nd Melbourne International Film Festival, Australia 1993.
  15. The 21st La Rochelle International Film Festival, France 1993.
  16. The 3rd “Films From The South “ Festival of Oslo, Norway 1993.
  17. Los Angeles Film Festival, USA 1993.
  18. The Reykjavik International Film Festival, Iceland 1993.
  19. The 4th Annual Iranian Film Festival in the Film center of The school of the Art Institute of Chicago, USA 1993.
  20. The Festival of Iranian Films in Philadelphia, USA 1993.
     
  21. Festival of Iranian films in Moscow, Russia 1993.
  22. Festival of Iranian films in Kiev, Ukraine 1993.
  23. Festival of Iranian films in Minsk, Byelorussia 1993.
  24. Festival of Iranian films in the Minnesota Film Center, Minneapolis 1993/94.
  25. Festival of Iranian films in Harvard Film Archive, Cambridge 1994.
  26. The Festival of Iranian Films at Cleveland Cinematheque, Canada 1997.
  27. The Festival of Iranian Films at The Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, USA 1994.“A Tribute to Mohsen Makhmalbaf”
  28. Festival of Iranian Films in the Santa Fe’s Center for Contemporary Arts, New Mexico 1994.
  29. The 20th Seattle International Film Festival, USA 1994.
  30. The Festival of Iranian Films in the Wexner Art Center, Columbus, USA 1994.
     
  31. The 47th Locarno International Film Festival, Switzerland 1994.
  32. Festival of Iranian Cinema at the Madrid Autonoma University, Spain 1994.
  33. The 8th Singapore International Film Festival, Singapore 1995.
  34. The 19th Sao Paulo International Film Festival, Brazil 1995.
  35. Festival of Iranian Films at the cultural center of SanSebastian’s Municipality, Spain 1995.
  36. A Tribute to Mohsen Makhmalbaf at the Theatre of Beirut, Lebanon 1995.
  37. Festival of Iranian Films at the Bonn Cinematheque, Germany 1996.
  38. The 14th Turin International Festival of young Cinema, Italy 1996.
  39. The Festival of Iranian Films at The Cinematheque Ontario, Toronto, Canada 1997.
  40. The Festival of Iranian Films at Montreal Conservatoire, Canada 1997.
     
  41. The Festival of Iranian Films at The Pacific Cinematheque, Vancouver, Canada 1997.
  42. The Festival of Iranian Film at The Cinematheque of Ottawa, Canada 1997.
  43. The Festival of Iranian Films at The Northwest Film Center, Portland, 1997.
  44. The Festival of Iranian Films at The Film Center of Chicago, USA 1997.
  45. The Festival of Iranian Film at The Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, USA 1997.
  46. Museum of Fine Arts of Boston, USA 1997.
  47. Museum of Modern Art of New York, USA 1997.
  48. Museum of Fine Arts of Houston, USA 1997.
  49. The Festival of Iranian Films at The UCLA Film Archive, USA 1997.“A Tribute to Mohsen Makhmalbaf”
  50. The Festival of Iranian Films at Cleveland Cinematheque, Canada 1997.“A Tribute to Mohsen Makhmalbaf”
     
  51. Festival of Film From The South, Copenhagen, Denmark 1997.
  52. A retrospective of Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Sweden 1998.
  53. The 14th Calcutta International Film Festival, India 1998.
  54. The Festival of Iranian Films at The Royal Film Archive, Brussels, Belgium 1999.
  55. The Festival of Iranian Films in Vienna, Austria 1999.
  56. The Festival of Iranian Films at Slovenian Film Museum, Slovenia 1999.
  57. The festival of Iranian Films in Qatar, 2000.
  58. The Festival of Iranian films in Leipzig 2000.
    “A retrospective of Mohsen Makhmalbaf”
  59. The Festival of Iranian films in Bangladesh 2000.
    “A retrospective of Mohsen Makhmalbaf”
  60. The Festival of Iranian films in Bangladesh 2000.
    “A retrospective of Mohsen Makhmalbaf”
     
  61. The Festival of Iranian films in New Delhi 2001.
    “A retrospective of Mohsen Makhmalbaf”
  62. The Festival of Iranian films in St Petersburg 2001.
    “A retrospective of Mohsen Makhmalbaf”
  63. Calcutta Film Festival, India 2001.
  64. Moscow Film Festival, Russia 2001.
    “Retrospective of Makhmalbaf Film House”
  65. A retrospective of "Mohsen Makhmalbaf”in Madras,Banglore,Viji Vada,Haydarabad , India 2001
  66. Dhaka International Film Festival, Bangladesh 2002. 
    “A retrospective of Mohsen Makhmalbaf”