The warmest of thank yous to everyone who subscribed after our 100th issue. Welcome.
Dear friends,
Born in Evin first came on my radar a few months ago and despite looking everywhere online, I couldn’t find a way to watch it. This made me want it even more. So I looked up its distribution house, based in Germany, wrote to them, they redirected me to the sales agent, based in Toronto, and bingo - the kind folks of Syndicado gave me a screener.
Since watching it, I’ve been talking about it non-stop. Its portrayal of the process of self-discovery is incredible but more unique is the question of when self-discovery is a bad idea. It’s now streaming on Amazon Prime.
THE TOP MOVIE OF THE WEEK
Born in Evin
New on Amazon Prime this week.
In this powerful documentary, Maryam is a filmmaker who was born in Iran’s most notorious prison but has not been told anything about the circumstances of her birth. Her mom, now Germany’s first foreign-born mayor, cannot get past tears to tell a story that Maryam is determined to know.
Her mother is not the only one who is unable to tell the story, as Maryam’s quest only uncovers more silence.
Born in Evin is as much about the question of “is the truth worth getting told?” as it is about the truth itself. It’s a heartfelt exploration of trauma, both for the generation that experienced it and for the generations that follow.
📰 Courtney Small of In The Seats: “As Zaree slowly chips away at the wall of silence that has become an inherent part of Iranian culture, an intriguing tale of perseverance unfolds.”
📺 on Amazon Prime U.S.; 🍅 rating: 79%
THE TOP TV SHOW OF THE WEEK
Nobel
On Netflix almost everywhere. In Norwegian.
This Homeland-style mini-series is about a Norwegian soldier who returns home from Afghanistan and finds himself tangled in a web of questionable global politics.
Like most Norwegian series on the topic, and there have been quite a few lately, the production value struggles to match Hollywood shows. But paying that small price will get you an abundance of sharp dialogue and a nuanced thriller.
📰 Thrillist: “Make no mistake, though: This is not a war series, but a political one, focusing on the treacherous ripples terrorism sets off through national politics.”
📺 on Netflix almost everywhere; 🍅 rating: - not yet available.
Readers’ top picks
American Honey on Netflix with Shia L. (💕) is our readers’ favorite movie. It’s a romance about two drifters.
The Twelve also on Netflix, a Belgian courtroom drama, is our readers’ favorite TV show.
New titles worth your time
The Nick-from-New-Girl and April-from-Parcs-&-Recs comedy Safety Not Guaranteed was added to Netflix yesterday. Also new are Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nightcrawler and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
3:10 to Yuma, Inception, Rain Man, and the 2011 Wall Street drama Margin Call (*withkevinspacey*) have all been added to Amazon Prime recently.
Great titles that will soon expire
Today is the last day to watch Goon on Netflix, a Hockey comedy with Seann William Scott and Jay Baruchel.
Bad Rap, a documentary on the lives of five Asian-American rappers and the difficulties they try to overcome, leaves Netflix this Thursday, August 20th.
The five seasons of the Don Cheadle comedy series House of Lies leave Amazon Prime this Tuesday, August 18th.
The Newsflash: China’s Netflix
iQIYI might not ring a bell for non-Chinese audiences, but the platform is one of the biggest online sites in the world. It receives around 500 million users every month, a number that’s over double Netflix’s 180 million.
Or maybe it does.
This week the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched a probe about the real number of subscribers that iQIYI has. As a NASDAQ-listed company, the platform has an obligation to report accurate numbers.
The accusing firm said that iQIYI:
“massively [inflated] its user numbers and revenue while at the same time hiding the fraud from auditors and investors by overpaying for content, acquisitions and other assets [….] IQIYI is nearing its 10-year anniversary and it has never been profitable and its losses are accelerating.”
What’s there to watch
iQIYI is once famous for showing up at an international film festival (Busan) and buying 90 South-Korean production — pretty much the whole thing.
So just Korean content? Not really, although there is a lot of that. Netflix, which is unable to operate in China, has a deal with iQIYI that allows them to license most Netflix Originals.
Global plans
Before this SEC probe which sent shares down and raised questions about its future, iQIYI, or iq.com as it is known internationally, launched its website in English, Thai, Vietnamese and Indonesian. The company had clear plans of expanding globally and being quoted in articles on streaming “wars”.
iq.com
That’s it for today, I hope there is something in there for you.
If you can, please support the newsletter by subscribing or giving it as a gift:
The next edition will be in your inbox on Friday, August 21st.
Until then,
Bilal Zou, founder [bilal@agoodmovietowatch.com]
Carried with the support of the Creative Europe Program – MEDIA.
AGMTW is the best service I subx to!... (other than Netflix and AP)