WHALE HD-Remaster is Now Available on Apple TV

March 25, 2025 in Amir Motlagh, Film

hi, its a good day to pick up our 2018 HD-Remaster of the 2010 film WHALE now on Apple TV.

some words about the picture below:

"WHALE is beautiful in ways I never expected. Lyrical and delightfully lo-fi" -Lucas Mcnelly -Filmmaker (Blanc de Blanc)

"A debut well worth catching.... the film, especially in its quieter moments, has a dream-like quality that rewards the viewer with its insight into just trying to be able to juggle life's hardship with an innate desire to just enjoy life" -Sam Ippolto Pittsurgh Examiner

"An exquisitely handmade exploration of holding onto one's spirit in this world....sublime imagery finds transcendence in the ordinary...WHALE manages to feel timeless, yet particularly relevant for this moment in history- a crystallization of the widespread longing for something beyond what modern society has to offer us all" -- Steve Bagatourian Writer IFC's American Gun

"WHALE is what Truffaut called the cinema of the future.... It has talent and ambition to spare; Motlagh knows exactly what he wants and he knows how to get it. He's not afraid to be personal, to be slightly obscure and elliptical, to use the freedom that independence gives him. whale is definitely worth seeing and considering for filmgoers and filmmakers alike." -Tom Russell- Turtleneck Films

"Pulsing with a restlessness of purpose and Vision" - Alejandro Adams -- Braintrustdv

"The acting/non-acting is so flawless Whale appears to be a blend between documentary footage and a foreign/art house project....I can very comfortably say that Whale is one of the most exciting & well made indie films I've seen in a while...creating an interesting/reflective image of ethnic & economic diversity in America." -Sujewa Ekanayake -- DIY Filmmaker Blog

"Writer/Director Amir is a fresh cinematic voice from the west coast. Distinctly schooled in technique yet has a unique approach to aesthetic over narrative. The film was more of a poem then a traditional story and I love that!" -Ryan Balas- One Way Community

"First, let me start off by saying that Whale, written and directed by Amir Motlagh, is a visual masterpiece. It is shot and edited in my favorite style of dynamic camerawork done with an amazing flare for composition and coverage, and immediately draws you in.......Yes, I love Whale. I love it because the characters and dialogue are more natural than 99% of Hollywood movies made. I love it because the scene between Cameron and his ex is one of the best and most realistic scenes I've seen in a long time." - Reid Gershbein -- Royal Baronial Theatre (#2wkfilm)

"An unassuming, soulful debut feature..."I was quite taken by Whale...Motlagh's eye for composition (I knew I was in good hands from the film's very first shot) and ability to flirt with indie film clichés without becoming entrapped by them mark him as a director to watch.." - Andy Horbal

カミングスーン

February 25, 2025 in Mirs

The joy of seeing something through - Cooking with Yousef

February 20, 2025

just a little before covid hit, i had an idea that i presented to my father. my baba jaan, an incredibly talented man, who is, above all, a phenomenal cook. his cooking is a bridge for me—a connection to a culture i’ve always felt in between, that of my birth country and my origin country.

this was my value add: to document the incredibly vast, sophisticated, and ultimately delicious cuisine of iran for the world. and here, we had the perfect vehicle—a man who has spent countless hours perfecting a traditional craft, in the time between working to provide and being an extremely caring and wonderful husband and father.

i asked if he wanted to showcase his talents to the world and help people like me learn the art of iranian (persian) cuisine.

in my mind, the audience wasn’t those already familiar with the food, but people like me—those who have always felt caught between two cultures—and, of course, anyone who simply wanted to learn how to cook what, to western eyes, might seem like an exotic cuisine.

so, “cooking with yousef” was born. now, we have thousands of viewers from all over the world, and it keeps growing.

this was just an impulse, but it had agency. and so, it grows…

thank you to everyone who watches, who sends beautifully kind messages to my father, and who shares the videos so that more people can discover the beauty of iranian cuisine.

this is our bridge, and we welcome you to cross it.

you can subscribe to his channel on youtube here, you can follow him on tiktok here, or instagram here. and if you want to support above and beyond, you can pick up some fantastic “cooking with yousef” baba merch.

Young Ali: those were the days official selection....

September 28, 2024 in Amir Motlagh, World Cinema

Young Ali: those were the days is an offical selection of Bridge Video

Limited engagement starts in December.

(for more info, click on link above or image below)

"Young Ali: those were the days" screens at Film Noir Cinema....

September 19, 2024 in Amir Motlagh, World Cinema

Tickets now available for “Young Ali: those were the days” screening at Film Noir Cinema in Greenpoint, Brookyln on Wed Oct 9th, 7pm.

jurying the final year of the 24fps international short film festival....

August 29, 2024 in Amir Motlagh, Film, Film Festival, World Cinema

what’s the ol’ sayin, “all good things come to an end”

looks about right…

though i’m stoked to be on the jury for the final year of 24FPS International Short Film Festivals. this is one of the first fests to showcase my work and one of the finest short film festivals in the world.

young ali poetic musings over at "transactions with beauty"

August 06, 2024 in Amir Motlagh, World Cinema

canadian author & photographer shawna lemay muses about “young ali” over at Transactions with Beauty

“Is the film trying to describe this singular time to others who had been lost in the fog or to those who were not lost in the fog? Both, I think. And isn’t that a feat? Young Ali is poetic and real, the eponymous character living and trembling as we all did, under that same old, silly old storybook moon. ”

— shawna lemay

three eleven or (a meditation on stillness inside chaos) - freely available

June 10, 2024 in Amir Motlagh, Cinema, Video Art

this work is now fully public without a paywall, originally released on 06/22/20.

*note: headphones advised*

On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, the United States went into shutdown to keep citizens sheltered from the threat of a mysterious global pandemic sweeping the world. In this meditative days-in-the-life-of work, a small family experiences the fog of time from a mandatory stay at home order, as a strange, comforting togetherness forms in a very uncertain time.

directors statement:

"three eleven" is a meditation. It is a reflection of boredom, of togetherness, of uncertainty, and most of all, stillness. It intends to direct the viewer into the granularity of life in its most basic, mundane practicalities, and thus, direct focus into the beauty of routine, and of the nowness, all while under the umbrella of impending & uncertain chaos, a lingering scent of anxiety as the real outside world experiences shocks unlike any other in modern times.

It is intended as an experience, hypnosis, and a reflection. The stillness is the message. While stripping the “narrative” of the filmic medium into its most minimal building block, the frame clicks out of “narrative” time, and into clock time. It’s a universal acknowledgment of this very “moment in time”, and we intend for this to be a visual/audio documentation at its most basic level while conveying the beauty of togetherness and separation at its most minimal.

This work is indebted to Ozu & Kiarostami, who oddly enough (the latter), and without my prior knowledge shares his birthday with our release date.

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credits: Shot & Directed by Amir Motlagh
Produced by ANIMALS & Charles Borg
Story by Charles Borg & Amir Motlagh
Music by Amir Motlagh (three eleven zazen) - BMI © ANIMALS 2020

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release date: 06/22/20 trt: 33 min original aspect: 1:85:1