Press
Selection of Press Quotes
‘Prodigious cinema.’ Adrian Martin.
‘An important new direction in the context of contemporary Irish experimental film.’ Donal Foreman.
‘The Iranian-Irish filmmaker Rouzbeh Rashidi actually seems to get closer to this fine line between “experimental” and “narrative” than any other filmmaker known to me. And this is no mean feat – it requires great nerve and good verve. True artists are those who not only envision something particular but who also go after it with energy and passion… Rashidi is like a 21st-century Bresson.’ Bill Mousoulis.
‘Rouzbeh Rashidi is a ‘cinemist’, a term borrowed from visionary Spanish experimental filmmaker, theorist and inventor José Val del Omar that combines in one the words ‘cineaste’ and ‘alchemist’. This affinity could be expanded even further if the presence of a spectral, quasi-tactile impression achieved through light pulsation and a ghostly mysticism that is common to the work of both artists were taken into consideration.’ Esperanza Collado.
‘Rouzbeh is proving to be forging his own path, making distinctly personal films that grow in ambition, skill and vision from one film to the next.’ Film Panic.
‘Rouzbeh Rashidi with Phantom Islands has created another incredible work that, by redefining the concept of cinema, is set to become an unmovable point of the contemporary and future avant-garde. Rashidi proves himself to be one of the best avant-garde filmmakers of recent times.’ Cinepensieri.
‘What continues to surprise me the most is the productivity, effectiveness and variety of the cinema of Rashidi, especially in an impervious terrain like that of the modern experimental cinema. Phantom Islands is already one of the best movies of the year.’ Cinemadermister.
‘It might reasonably have been thought impossible that a film would ever be made that could be described as an “underground epic” without any hint of irony. Yet Trailers is that film.’ Irish Examiner.
‘Director Rouzbeh Rashidi is a man well-versed in the styles and structures of classic experimental and surrealist film, and it shows.’ Victoria Film Festival.
‘What’s most astonishing about Phantom Islands are its dreamy visuals and ingenious music score, as well as the pitch-perfect sound design that more than compensates for the lack of dialogue. Virtually every shot is exquisitely composed, and each tone is a worthy accompaniment. A masterwork of the (re)modern avant-garde.’ Nikola Gocić.
‘Rouzbeh Rashidi is the prototype of a (true) filmmaker of the future.’ Post Tenebras Cinema.
Interviews
2020 _ Interview with STIRworld
2020 _ Interview with FRED.fm
2020 _ The New Current Interview
2018 _ Interview with Cinepaxy
2017 _ LUFF (16th edition)
2016 _ Interview with Émmsen Jafari
Video-Essays and Documentaries
Reviews and Articles
2023 _ Memory’s Blood – On Elpis by Rouzbeh Rashidi by Nadin Mai
2023 _ There is a War: Rouzbeh Rashidi’s Elpis by Cristina Álvarez López & Adrian Martin
2023 _ Elpis by Nikola Gocić
2021 _ Hrvatski filmski ljetopis, Luminous Void: Docudrama” by Bartol Babić Vukmir
2020 _ NGboo Art, Homo Sapiens Project (200) by Nikola Gocić
2020 _ NGboo Art, Homo Sapiens Project (157) by Nikola Gocić
2020 _ NGboo Art, Weird Weird Movie Kids Do Not Watch The Movie by Nikola Gocić
2020 _ Artluk Article, Rouzbeh Rashidi: Irański Mistrz Undergroundu by Marek S. Bochniarz
2018 _ Le Petit Septième, Phantom Islands by Francois Grondin
2018 _ AEMI, Phantom Islands by Alice Butler and Daniel Fitzpatrick
2018 _ The Arts of Slow Cinema, “Phantom Islands”, by Nadin Mai
2018 _ Immagini di Confine, “Phantom Islands”, by Immagini di Confine
2018 _ Cultured Vultures, “Phantom Islands”, by Patrick King
2018 _ L’emergere del possibile, “Phantom Islands”, by Francesca Rusalen & Francesco Cazzin
2018 _ Cinepaxy & Visione Sospesa, “Phantom Islands”, by Cinepaxy & Visione Sospesa
2018 _ EFS Publications, “Homo Sapiens Project (HSP) Vol 1-10”, by Nikola Gocić
2018 _ EFS Publications, “Homo Sapiens Project (HSP) Vol 11-20”, by Nikola Gocić
2017 _ EFS Publications, “If only films could be projected directly onto our dreams”, by Nikola Gocić
2017 _ EFS Publications, “The Improvisational Cinema of Rashidi and Devereaux”, by Nikola Gocić
2017 _ CinePensieri, “Ten Years In The Sun”, by Hira Lombardi
2017 _ NGBoo Art, “Indwell Extinction of Hawks in Remoteness”, by Nikola Gocić
2016 _ Irish Examiner, “Out Of This World”, by Maximilian Le Cain
2016 _ AEMI, “The Films of Experimental Film Society”, by Alice Butler and Daniel Fitzpatrick
2015 _ Film Ireland, “Ten Years In The Sun”, by Cathy Butler
2015 _ Film Ireland, “Irish Experimental Film”, by Alan Lambert
2014 _ Université Sorbonne Paris, “Le Cinéma Remoderniste”, by Florian Maricourt
2014 _ Estudios Irlandeses, “New Voices in Irish Experimental Cinema”, by Donal Foreman
2013 _ Spectacle Theater, “New Irish Underground Film”, by Donal Foreman
2013 _ Experimental Film Club, “Spectres of Memory”, by Esperanza Collado
2013 _ Total(no)subjektivni, “Only Human”, by Total(no)subjektivni
2013 _ NUTS4R2, “HSP: There Is No Escape From The Terrors Of The Mind”, by Warren Cox
2012 _ Istrumenti Antropometrici, “Landscapes of Stillness”, by Gianluca Pulsoni
2012 _ Limitless Cinema, “Jean Speck (1860-1933)”, by Jit Phokaew
2012 _ NUTS4R2, “HE”, by Warren Cox
2011 _ Limitless Cinema, “Closure of Catharsis”, by Jit Phokaew
2011 _ EFS Publications, “Closure of Catharsis”, by Véronique Martin
2011 _ EFS Publications, “Closure of Catharsis”, by Jesse Richards
2010 _ Experimental Conversations, “Bipedality”, by Maximilian Le Cain
2010 _ (An)Other Irish Cinema, “Meaningfully On The Margins” By Tony Mckibbin