Annual Top Films Lists

Top 100 Most Anticipated Foreign Films of 2017: #29. Mohsen Makhmalbaf’s Les Vacances

Published on January 6, 2017

Les Vacances

Director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Writer: Mohsen Makhmalbaf

Mohsen Makhmalbaf is one of the most prominent figures to come out of Iran’s New Wave, though he left his country in 2005 and has been living in Paris since 2009. His latest project, Les Vacances, was announced with Emmanuelle Riva attached to star as one of five Parisian elderly apartment dwellers who pass away during a heat wave consuming the city, their narratives connected by a local flower shop owner, Abass, an Iranian political refugee.

Cast: Emmanuelle Riva

Production Co./Producer(s): Cinema Soleil, SAGA Films.

Release Date: Details concerning the project have been scant, though some mentions of pre-production in late 2016 mean Makhmalbaf may be close to lensing soon. Having competed in Cannes with 2001’s Kandahar (and in 1999 with a segment in an anthology film, ), Venice was the platform which premiered his last film, 2014’s The President in their Horizons sidebar (he previously competed in Venice with 1998’s The Silence). If Makhmalbaf is ready to premiere in 2017, Venice would be the likely target.

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Related Topics:2017 Most Anticipated Foreign Films List, Emmanuelle Riva, Les Vacances, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, top-stories

Nicholas Bell

Los Angeles based Nicholas Bell is IONCINEMA.com's Chief Film Critic and covers film festivals such as Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and TIFF. He is part of the critic groups on Rotten Tomatoes, The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and GALECA. His top 3 for 2021: France (Bruno Dumont), Passing (Rebecca Hall) and Nightmare Alley (Guillermo Del Toro). He was a jury member at the 2019 Cleveland International Film Festival.