Iranian Directors
1st Generation (1930s-mid1960s)
2nd Generation (mid1960s-mid1970s) [Also includes New-Wave Iranian Cinema]
2nd and a Half (mid1970s-1980)
3rd Generation (1980-mid1980s)
3rd and a Half (mid1980s-1990)
4th Generation (1990s)
5th Generation (2000s)
6th Generation (since 2010s)
2nd Generation (mid1960s-mid1970s) [Also includes New-Wave Iranian Cinema]
2nd and a Half (mid1970s-1980)
3rd Generation (1980-mid1980s)
3rd and a Half (mid1980s-1990)
4th Generation (1990s)
5th Generation (2000s)
6th Generation (since 2010s)
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Ebrahim Golestan is an Iranian filmmaker and literary figure with a career spanning half a century. He has lived in Sussex, United Kingdom, since 1975. He was closely associated with the controversial and eminent Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad until her death, whom he met at his studio in 1958. He is said to have inspired her to live more independently. Golestan was married to his cousin, Fakhri Golestan. He is the father of Iranian photojournalist Kaveh Golestan, and Lili Golestan, translator and owner and artistic director of the Golestan Gallery in Tehran, Iran. His grandson, Mani Haghighi, is also a film director. His other grandson Mehrak, is a rapper. Golestan was a member of Tudeh Party of Iran, but he broke away in January 1948. After Farrokhzâd's death, Golestân was protective of her privacy and memory. For example, in response to the publication of a biographical/critical study by Michael Craig Hillmann called A Lonely Woman: Forugh Farrokhzad and Her Poetry (1987), he published a lengthy attack against Hillmann in a Tehran literary magazine, to which Hillmann responded to the attack at length in an article part of which was also published in the same Tehran literary magazine and which is available online at Academia.edu/Michael Hillmann under the title "Az Shâ'eri-ye Nâder Nâderpur to Fârsi'khâni dar Qalb-e Tekzâs, Javâbiyeh'i be Ebrâhim Golestân." In February 2017, on the occasion of 50 years after Farrokhzad's death, the 94-year-old Golestan broke his silence about his relationship with Forough, speaking to the Guardian's Saeed Kamali Dehghan. "I rue all the years she isn't here, of course, that's obvious," he said. "We were very close, but I can't measure how much I had feelings for her. How can I? In kilos? In meters?"1st Generation
Director (Writer)- Actor
- Director
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Mohammad Motevaselani is known for The Searcher (1989), Two Faces of the Coin (1992) and Tars va tariky (1963).1st Generation- Editor
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Farugh Farrokhzad was primarily a poet. Indeed, she is regarded as one of the most important poets of the twentieth century in Iran, which has a millennium of poetic tradition behind it. Although she only made one film, the 22 minute so-called documentary "The House is Black", this work is generally seen as the crucial precursor of the Iranian New Wave.2nd Generation
Poet (Documentarian, Actress)- Director
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Farokh Ghafari was born on 26 February 1922 in Kashan, Iran. He was a director and writer, known for Night of the Hunchback (1965), Which One Is the Bride? (1959) and South of the City (1958). He died on 17 December 2006 in Paris, France.2nd Generation- Director
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Massoud Kimiaei was born in Tehran in 1941. He became well known when in 1969 he directed his second film, Gheisar (1969), which was considered a turning point in the Iranian cinema; he depicted the ethics and morals of the romanticized poor working class of the Croesus' Treasure (1965) genre through his main protagonist, the titular Gheisar (1969). But Kimiaei's film generated another genre in Iranian popular cinema: the tragic action drama.
Without any academic training in cinema or theater, and with only a few years of experience as assistant director, Kimiai became a historical figure in the Iranian cinema. He learned film making from the movies, and of his early days of contact with the cinema. He recalls how he used to spend hours outside the movie theaters of Tehran, listening to the sound track of the films blaring from the defective loudspeakers fixed outside the cinema, and trying to visualize the action with the help of oral synopsis furnished by friends who had seen the movie.
His other lively memory from his childhood is the scene of battle between Rostam and Ashkbous (heroes of Ferdowsi's Book of Kings) painted on the back of the cart in which his father carried flour for bakeries. When the cart was in motion, the combatants seemed animated to the young Massoud who habitually walked behind the cart and tried to guess the end of the battle.
Kimiai had difficult childhood. He was restless and often got into fights, which, at times, ended in the police station.
Then came the period when Kimiai directed his energies to books. He read voraciously, especially books on cinema. That was followed by frequent visits to film studios in search of a job, until he met film director Samuel Khachikian, from whom he learned the first lessons in the techniques of film making, and began his film career in 1965 as Khachikian's assistant. But he was too young to be allowed independent work, and for some time, he had to be content with preparing publicity materials for American films.
When he first proposed a screenplay from which to make a film, the head of studio wouldn't believe Kimiai could make a film until the ambitious young man made a one-minute scene from his screenplay and that convinced the studio bosses that he could make professionally acceptable films.2nd Generation- Director
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Dariush Mehrjui was born to a middle-class family in Tehran. He showed interest in painting miniatures, music, and playing santoor and piano. He spent a lot of time going to the movies, particularly American films which were un-dubbed and inter-spliced with explanatory title cards that explained the plot throughout the films. At this time Mehrjui started to learn English so as to better enjoy the films. The film that had the strongest impact on him as a child was Vittorio De Sica's Bicycle Thieves. At the age of 12, Mehrjui built a 35 mm projector, rented two-reel films and began selling tickets to his neighborhood friends. In 1959, Mehrjui moved to the United States to study at University of California, Los Angeles' (UCLA) Department of Cinema. One of his teachers there was Jean Renoir, whom Mehrjui credited for teaching him how to work with actors. Mehrjui was dissatisfied with the film program due to its emphasis on the technical aspects of film and the quality of most of the teachers. He switched his major to philosophy and graduated from UCLA in 1964. Mehrjui started his own literary magazine in 1964, Pars Review. The magazine's intention was to bring contemporary Persian literature to western readers. During this time he wrote his first script with the intention of filming it in Iran. He moved back to Tehran in 1965. Back in Tehran, Mehrjui found employment as a journalist and screenwriter. From 1966 to 1968 he was a teacher at Tehran's Center for Foreign Language Studies, where he taught classes in literature and English language. He also gave lectures on films and literature at the Center for Audiovisual Studies through the University of Tehran.
Dariush Mehrjui made his debut in 1966 with Diamond 33, a big budget parody of the James Bond film series. The film was not financially successful. But his second feature film, Gaav, brought him national and international recognition. The film Gaav, a symbolic drama, is about a simple villager and his nearly mythical attachment to his cow. The film is adapted from a short story by renowned Iranian literary figure Gholamhossein Sa'edi. Sa'edi was a friend of Mehrjui and suggested the idea to him when Mehrjui was looking for a suitable second film, and they collaborated on the script. Through Sa'edi, Mehrjui met the actors Ezzatolah Entezami and Ali Nassirian, who were performing in one of Sa'edi's plays. Mehrjui would work with Entezami and Nassirian throughout his career. The film's score was composed by musician Hormoz Farhat. The film was completed in 1969. In the film, Entezami stars as Masht Hassan, a peasant in an isolated village in southern Iran. Hassan has a close relationship with his cow, which is his only possession (Mehrjui has said that Entezami even resembled a cow in the film). When other people from Hassan's village discover that the cow has been mysteriously killed, they decide to bury the cow and tell Hassan that it has run away. While in mourning for the cow, Hassan goes to the barn where it was kept and begins to assume the cow's identity. When his friends attempt to take him to a hospital, Hassan commits suicide. Gaav was banned for over a year by the Ministry of Culture and Arts, despite being one of the first two film in Iran to receive government funding. This was most likely due to Sa'edi being a controversial figure in Iran. His work was highly critical of the Pahlavi government, and he had been arrested sixteen times. When it was finally released in 1970, it was highly praised and won an award at the Ministry of Culture's film festival, but it was still denied an export permit. In 1971, the film was smuggled out of Iran and submitted to the Venice Film Festival where, without programming or subtitles, it became the largest event of that year's festival. It won the International Critics Award at Venice, and later that year, Entezami won the Best Actor Award at the Chicago International Film Festival. Along with Masoud Kimiai's Qeysar and Nasser Taqvai's Calm in Front of Others, the film Gaav initiated the Iranian New Wave movement and is considered a turning point in the history of Iranian cinema. The public received it with great enthusiasm, despite the fact that it had ignored all the traditional elements of box office attraction. It was screened internationally and received high praise from many film critics. Several of Iran's prominent actors (Entezami, Nassirian, Jamshid Mashayekhi, and Jafar Vali) played roles in the film. While waiting for Gaav to be released and gaining international recognition, Mehrjui was busy directing two more films. In 1970 he shot Agha-ye Hallou (Mr. Naive), a comedy which starred and was written by Ali Nassirian. The film also starred Fakhri Khorvash and Entezami. In the film, Nassirian plays a simple, naive villager who goes to Tehran to find a wife. While in the big city he is treated roughly and constantly fooled by local hustlers and con artists. When he goes into a dress shop to purchase a wedding gown, he meets a beautiful young woman (Fakhri Khorvash) and proposes to her. The young woman turns out to be a prostitute who rejects him and takes his money, spending him back to his village empty handed but more world-wise. Agha-ye Hallou was screened at the Sepas Film Festival in Tehran in 1971 where it won awards for Best Film and Best Director. Later that year it was screened at the 7th Moscow International Film Festival. It was a commercial success in Iran. After finishing Agha-ye Hallou in 1970, Mehrjui traveled to Berkeley, California and began writing an adaptation of Georg Büchner's Woyzeck for a modern-day Iranian setting. He went back to Iran later in 1970 to shoot Postchi (The Postman), which starred Nassirian, Entezami and Jaleh Sam. In the film, Nassirian plays Taghi, a miserable civil servant whose life spirals into chaos. He spends his days as an unhappy mail carrier and has two night jobs in order to pay his debts. His misery has caused impotence and he is experimented upon by an amateur herbalist who is one of his employers. His only naive hope is that he will win the national lottery. When he discovers that his wife is the mistress of his town's wealthiest landowner, Taghi escapes to the local forest where he experiences a brief moment of peace and harmony. His wife comes looking for him, and in a fit of rage Taghi murders her and is eventually caught for his crime. Postchi faced the same censorship issues as Gaav, but was eventually released in 1972. It was screened in Iran at the 1st Tehran International Film Festival and at the Sepas Film festival. Internationally it was screened at the Venice Film Festival, where it received a special mention, the 22nd Berlin International Film Festival, where it received the Interfilm Award, and the 1972 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the Directors' Fortnight. In 1973 Mehrjui began directing what was to be his most acclaimed film, The Cycle Mehrjui got the idea for the film when a friend suggest that he investigate the black market and illicit blood traffic in Iran. Horrified with what he found, Mehrjui took the idea to Gholamhossein Sa'edi, who had written a play on the subject, "Aashghaal-duni". The play became the basis for the script, which then had to be approved by the Ministry of Culture before production could begin. With pressure from the Iranian medical community, approval was delayed for a year until Mehrjui began shooting the film in 1974. The film stars Saeed Kangarani, Esmail Mohammadi, Ezzatollah Entezami, Ali Nassirian and Fourouzan. In the film, Kangarani plays Ali, a teenager who has brought his dying father (Mohammadi) to Tehran in order to find medical treatment. They are too poor to afford any help from the local hospital, but Dr. Sameri (Entezami) offers them money in exchange for giving illegal and unsafe blood donations at a local blood bank. Ali begins giving blood and eventually works for Dr. Sameri in luring blood donors, despite spreading diseases in the process. Ali meets another doctor (Nassirian) who is attempting to establish a legitimate blood bank, and helps Dr. Sameri in sabotaging his plans. Ali also meets and becomes the lover of a young nurse, played by Fourouzan. As Ali becomes more and more involved in the illegal blood trafficking, his father's health worsens until he finally dies and Ali must decide what path his life will take. The films title, Dayereh mina, refers to a line from a poem by Hafiz Shirazi: "Because of the cycle of the universe, my heart is bleeding." The film was co-sponsored by the Ministry of Culture but encountered opposition from the Iranian medical establishment and was banned for three years. It was finally released in 1977, with help from pressure from the Carter administration to increase human rights and intellectual freedoms in Iran. Because of a crowded film marketplace, the film premiered in Paris, and then was released internationally where it received rave reviews and was compared to Luis Buñuel's Los Olvidados and Pier Paolo Pasolini's Accattone. The film won the Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 1978. During this time, Iran was going through great political changes. The events leading up to the Iranian Revolution of 1979 were causing a gradual loosening of strict censorship laws, which Mehrjui and other artists had great hopes for. While waiting for The Cycle to be released, Mehrjui worked on several documentaries. Alamut, a documentary on the Isamailis, was commissioned by Iranian National Television in 1974. He was also commissioned by the Iranian Blood Transfusion Center to create three short documentaries about safe and healthy blood donations. The films were used by the World Health Organization in several countries for years. In 1978, the Iranian Ministry of Health commissioned Mehrjui to make the documentary Peyvast kolieh, about kidney transplants.
After the Islamic revolution Mehrjui directed Hayat-e Poshti Madrese-ye Adl-e Afagh (The School We Went to) in 1980. The film stars Ezzatollah Entezami and Ali Nassirian and is from a story by Fereydoon Doostdar. The film was sponsored by the Iranian Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, whose filmmaking department was co-founded by Abbas Kiarostami. The film, seen as an allegory for the recent revolution, is about a group of high school students who join forces and rebel against their authoritative and abusive school principal. Film critic Hagir Daryoush criticized both the film and Mehrjui as propaganda and a work of the new regime more than Mehrjui himself. In 1981, Mehrjui and his family traveled to Paris and remained there for several years, along with several other Iranian refugees in France. During this time he made a feature-length semi-documentary about the poet Arthur Rimbaud for French TV, Voyage au Pays de Rimbaud in 1983. It was shown at the 1983 Venice Film Festival and at the 1983 London Film Festival. In 1985, Mehrjui and his family returned to Iran and Mehrjui resumed his film career under the new regime. In Hamoun (1990), a portrait of an intellectual whose life is falling apart, Mehrjui sought to depict his generation's post-revolutionary turn from politics to mysticism. Hamoon was voted the best Iranian film ever by readers and contributors to the Iranian journal Film Monthly. In 1995, Mehrjui made Pari, an unauthorized loose film adaptation of J. D. Salinger's book Franny and Zooey. Though the film could be distributed legally in Iran since the country has no official copyright relations with the United States, Salinger had his lawyers block a planned screening of the film at Lincoln Center in 1998. Mehrjui called Salinger's action "bewildering," explaining that he saw his film as "a kind of cultural exchange." His follow-up film, 1997's Leila, is a melodrama about an urban, upper-middle-class couple who learn that the wife is unable to bear children. Modern Iranian cinema begins with Dariush Mehrjui. Mehrjui introduced realism, symbolism, and the sensibilities of art cinema. His films have some resemblance with those of Rosselini, De Sica and Satyajit Ray, but he also added something distinctively Iranian, in the process starting one of the greatest modern film waves. The one constant in Mehrjui's work has been his attention to the discontents of contemporary, primarily urban, Iran. His film The Pear Tree (1999) has been hailed as the apotheosis of the director's examination of the Iranian bourgeoisie. Since his film The Cow in 1969, Mehrjui, along with Nasser Taqvai and Masoud Kimiai, has been instrumental in paving the way for the Iranian cinematic renaissance, so called the "Iranian New Wave."2nd Generation- Writer
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Fereydun Gole was an Iranian screenwriter, film director, and film editor. He was active in producing urban drama films throughout the 1970s, dealing with such issues as the social stratification of Tehran. His most famous film was Beehive. After he died in 2005, the 2006 documentary film Iran: A Cinematographic Revolution was dedicated to him.2nd Generation- Director
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Naser Taghvai is an Iranian film director and screenwriter. Naser Taghvai was born in Abadan, Iran. After early experiences as a story writer, he began filming documentaries in 1967. He made his debut, Tranquility in the Presence of Others, in 1970 and gained the attention of Iranian critics. He became famous by directing the TV series My Uncle Napoleon. His concern for the ethnography and atmosphere of southern Iran is notable in his films. Most of his works have been based on novels. Captain Khorshid is an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's To Have and Have Not, which won the third prize at the 48th Locarno International Film Festival in Switzerland in 1988. In 1999 he directed a segment of the film Tales of Kish, which was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival.2nd Generation
Director (Writer)- Director
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Abbas Ali Hatami was born in Tehran, Iran in 1944. He graduated from the College of Dramatic Arts and began his professional career as a writer of short TV screenplays and also as a playwright. Among his plays are: The Demon and the Bald Hassan, Adam and Eve, The Fisherman's Story, City of Oranges, Talisman and Silk. He began his professional film career in 1970 by writing and directing Hassan, the Bald (1970). In the following years, he developed a personal style that was characterized by melodious dialogue, traditional Iranian ambiance created through architecture and set design. His last film, World Champion Takhti, remained unfinished because of his death in 1996 due to cancer.2nd Generation- Director
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Khosrow Haritash was born in 1932 in Tehran, Iran. He was a director and writer, known for Adamak (1971), Divine One (1976) and Speeding Naked Till High Noon (1976). He died in 1980 in Tehran, Iran.2nd Generation- Director
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Parviz Kimiavi was born in 1939 in Teheran, Iran. He is a director and writer, known for O.K. Mister (1979), The Garden of Stones (1976) and The Mongols (1973).2nd Generation
Director (Documentarian)- Director
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Khosrow Sinai was born on 19 January 1941 in Sari, Iran. He was a director and writer, known for Bride of Fire (2000), The Inner Beast (1983) and Long Live...! (1980). He was married to Farah Ossouli and Gizella Varga Sinai. He died on 1 August 2020 in Tehran, Iran.2nd Generation
Director (Documentarian, Poet)- Writer
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Mohammad Reza Aslani is known for Chess of the Wind (1976), The Green Fire (2008) and Strait (1973).2nd Generation
Director (Documentarian, Poet)- Actor
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Parviz Say'yad, is arguably the best known Iranian actor/comedian of the pre-revolution era in Iran. He still is a household name among Iranians today. A showman, actor, talented comedian, writer and producer of many TV shows and Iranian cinema. He created the character "Samad", a naive innocent country-boy, mischievous with a heart-of-gold whose views of life around him are simple and to the point. Samad through his childish take on life, hinted at political/cultural issues of the time. The character Samad has been compared with Chaplin's Tramp, and as a result, he often is referred to as Charlie Chaplin of Iran.2nd Generation
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Abbas Kiarostami was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1940. He graduated from university with a degree in fine arts before starting work as a graphic designer. He then joined the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, where he started a film section, and this started his career as a filmmaker at the age of 30. Since then he has made many movies and has become one of the most important figures in contemporary Iranian film. He is also a major figure in the arts world, and has had numerous gallery exhibitions of his photography, short films and poetry. He is an iconic figure for what he has done, and he has achieved it all by believing in the arts and the creativity of his mind.2nd Generation- Director
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Manoochehr Asgari-Nasab is known for Hey Joe! (1988), Beyond the Mist (1986) and Longsome Autumn (1993).2nd Generation
Director (Documentarian)- Writer
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Bahram Beizai started skipping school from around the age of 17 in order to go to movies which were becoming popular in Iran at a rapid pace. This only fed his hunger to learn more about cinema and the visual arts. By 1961 he had already spent a lot of time studying-and researching- ancient persian and pre-Islamic culture and literature. This led him to studying Eastern Theatre and traditional Iranian theatre & arts which would help him formulate a new non-western identity for Iranian theatre. By 1961 he had already published numerous articles in various Arts and Literary Journals. In 1962 he made his first short film (4 minutes) in 8mm format. In the next two years he wrote several plays and published "Theatre in Japan". In 1971 he made his first feature film Ragbar ( Downpour ) which to this day remains one of the best Iranian films ever made.2nd Generation
Director (Writer)- Director
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Kamran Shirdel was born in 1939 in Tehran, Iran. He is a director and editor, known for Tanhaee-ye avval (2002), The Morning of the Fourth Day (1972) and Gas, Fire, Wind (1986).2nd Generation
Director (Documentarian)- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
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2nd Generation
Documentarian (Poet)- Writer
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Amir Naderi is one of the most influential figures of 20th century Persian cinema. He developed his knowledge of cinema by watching films at the theater where he worked as a boy, reading film criticism, and making relationships with leading film critics. He began his career with still photography for some notable Iranian features. In the 1970s, Mr. Naderi turned to directing, and made some of the most important features of the New Iranian Cinema. In 1971, his directorial debut, GOODBYE, FRIEND, was released in Iran. Amir Naderi first came into the international spotlight with films that are now known as cinema classics, THE RUNNER (1985), and WATER, WIND, DUST (1989). THE RUNNER is considered by many critics to be one of the most influential films of the past quarter century. After expatriating to New York in the early '90s, Amir Naderi continued to produce new work. He was named a Rockefeller Film and Video Fellow in 1997, and has served as an artist in residence and instructor at Columbia University, the University of Las Vegas, and New York's School of Visual Arts. His US films have premiered at the Film Society of Lincoln Center/ MoMA's New Directors/ New Films series, the Venice, Cannes, Tribeca, and Sundance Film Festivals. His film SOUND BARRIER (2005) had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the prestigious Roberto Rossellini Prize at the Rome Film Festival. His last feature film VEGAS: BASED ON A TRUE STORY (2008) was in competition at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the CinemAvvenire Best Film in Competition Prize and the SIGNIS Award. The film was also shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, the Pusan International Film Festival and CineVegas in Las Vegas. His last three films MARATHON, SOUND BARRIER, and VEGAS were all shown at the FILMeX Film Festival in Tokyo.2nd Generation
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Sohrab Shaheed Salles was born in Tehran in 1944 to a middle-class family and lived in Tehran. Shahid Saless was a storyteller as a child, with a passion for visualizing his narrations. During his teenage years, he showed an imaginative talent, writing and acting in plays with friends. In 1963, Shahid Saless left Iran for Vienna, where he attended a film school and an acting school at the same time, but his studies were discontinued there in 1967 due to a sudden diagnosis of tuberculosis. In the midst of treatment, he left for Paris to continue his film studies at the prestigious Independent Conservatory of French Cinema, and shortly thereafter, in 1968, he returned to Iran. Upon his return to Tehran, Shahid Saless began work with the Iranian Ministry of Culture as a documentary filmmaker, where he produced multiple short films and documentaries, partly on the topic of traditional dance amongst different Iranian ethnic groups.
In the course of his stay in Iran (1968-74), he produced two major feature films, Yek ettefaq-e sada (A simple event, 1973) and Tabiat-e bijan (Still life, 1974), both of which won major international awards for their social realist depiction of life in Iran and for their innovative cinematographic and experimental style. In Yek ettefaq-e sade Shahid Saless entered the film scene with a distinctive style, reporting on the daily life of a ten-year-old villager, showing his struggles to meet ends through smuggling fish. In Tabiat-e bijan the life of a meagerly paid railroad guard worker who is forced to retire for a younger guard is portrayed. In the course of this film, the distressful life of working class is depicted in a critical light. Shahid Saless also made several short films for the Ministry of Culture and Arts. He made many commissioned films on the local folkloric dances of various ethnic groups. He also started making short documentaries depicting the unnerving condition of life among the working class. Unsurprisingly, the political subversive message of these films was disliked by the government, and Shahid Saless was forced to leave the country.
Settled in Germany in 1974, Shahid Saless started producing documentaries for the German media. The movies he made gained him further international recognition, and he continued making documentary and feature films for major German television programs. At this time, Ramin Molai (1939-2009) worked as a cameraman for many of his German movies produced in Berlin. In Germany, his television productions always had a distinguishing artistic quality. He made his last movie, Rosen für Afrika, in 1991 for German television. In 1992, he left Germany for the United States to join his family. He died from a chronic illness related to his liver from which he suffered throughout his life.
Shahid Saless is known to be a pioneer of the new wave of Iranian cinema. In his own words, his cinema intends to document the "antagonism between man and society" (Shahid Saless). In the course of his oeuvre, he viewed the role of cinema as "to make conscious of indignity and inhumanity of life".2nd Generation- Director
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Bahman Farmanara is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film producer. Bahman Farmanara is the second son in a family of four brothers and one sister. The family business was Textile and he was the only son who did not join the business and went off to United Kingdom and later on to United States to study acting and directing. He graduated from University of Southern California with a BA in Cinema in 1966. After returning to Iran and doing military service, he joined the National Iranian Radio and Television. He produced some major films, including Abbas Kiarostami's first feature, The Report (1977), Bahram Bayzai's The Crow (1977), Khosrow Haritash's Divine One (1976), Mohammad-Reza Aslani's Wind and Chess (1976) and Valerio Zurlini's The Desert of the Tartars (1977 co-production with Italy and France). Farmanara moved to France and then to Canada in 1980, establishing a distribution company and a film festival for children and young adults in Vancouver. He returned to Iran in the mid-1980s. He made and starred in Fragrance of Jasmine in 2000, which won several prizes from the International Fajr Film Festival, including The Best Film and The Best Director awards. He is shooting his last film Del Divaneh in north of Iran.2nd Generation- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
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Mohammad Tahaminejad is known for Sinama-ye Iran, az mashrootiat ta Sepanta (1970), Gerdoo (1988) and Sadegh the Kurd (1972).2nd and a Half Generation
Film Historian (Documentarian)- Director
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Graduated in the field of film directing from The Faculty of Dramatic Arts and joined the Iranian TV in 1973 beginning her career as continuity girl and assistant director. Later on, she made a number of short documentaries and directed her first picture 'Kharej az Mahdudeh (1986)'. Her next films are 'Zard-e Ghanari (1988)', 'Pul-e Khareji (1989)', 'Nargess (1992)' and 'Rusari Abi (1995)'.3rd Generation- Editor
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Kianoush Ayari was born on 14 May 1951 in Ahvaz, Khuzestan, Iran. He is an editor and director, known for The Abadanis (1993), To Be or Not to Be (1998) and Wake Up, Arezoo! (2005).3rd Generation- Writer
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Mohsen Makhmalbaf is known as one of the most influential filmmakers and founders of the new wave of Iranian cinema in the world today.
Many of his films like Salam Cinema, A Moment Of Innocence, Gabbeh, Kandahar and The President have been widely well received across the globe and have brought him over 50 international awards from the prestigious film festivals like Cannes, Venice, Locarno... His film Kandahar has been chosen as one of the top 100 best movies of history of cinema by Times Magazine.
His fame as the most prominent filmmaker of Iran made him the subject of an identity theft by someone who wished to become a filmmaker. This incident turned to a famous film called Close up by Abbas Kiarostami.
Makhmalbaf has also taught his three children about the art of cinema. His older daughter Samira holds the record for the youngest filmmaker who have been selected for the official section of Cannes at the age of 17 with her first debut titled The Apple. Samira has also won the Grand Jury Prize of Cannes twice with her second and and third film titled The Blackboards and At Five In The Afternoon. Hana, Makhmalbaf's younger daughter, won the Crystal Bear of Berlin and the Grand Jury Prize of San Sebastian Film Festival with her first feature film.
At the age of 17 as a political activist Mohsen was shot by the police and spent 5 years in prison as a political prisoner. His fight and human right activities against dictatorship in Iran has continued till today. With his film Afghan Alphabet he managed to change a law in Iran which resulted in opening the door of schools and universities for education of over half million Afghan children refugee in his country. Makhmalbaf, the prestigious Manhae Peace Award winner, had also established his own NGO in Iran in which he executed 82 different human right projects for helping women and children of Afghanistan.
Since 2009, all 40 films of Makhmalbaf family alongside Mohsen's 30 published book are banned in his homeland. The Iranian government has also levied a ban on Makhmalbaf's name in the media. In 2013, the Iranian government also removed over 120 international awards of Makhmalbaf family from the museum of cinema in Iran.3rd and a Half Generation
Director (Writer)- Director
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Khosro Masumi was born in 1955 in Behshahr, Iran. He is a director and writer, known for The Bear (2012), Tradition of Lover Killing (2004) and Taboo (2015).3rd and a Half Generation- Director
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Samira Makhmalbaf Filmmaker
Born on February 15,1980 in Tehran. At the age of eight, she played in "The Cyclist" directed by her father, Mohsen Makhmalbaf the celebrated Iranian filmmaker.
At the age of 17, she directed her first feature titled "The Apple" and She went on to become the youngest director in the world participating in the official section of the 1998 Cannes Film Festival. She was praised on different occasions by the legendary Jean-Luc Godard for her film. The Apple was invited to more than 100 international film festivals in a period of two years, while going to the screen in more than 30 countries.
In 1999, Samira made her second feature film titled "Blackboards" in Kurdistan of Iran, and for the second time was selected by the Cannes Film Festival to compete in the official section in 2000. She was granted the Special Jury Award. The Blackboards received many international awards including the "Federico Fellini Honor Award" from UNESCO and "Francois Truffaut Award" from Italy. The film was widely released across the world and more than two hundred thousand people watched the film in France alone.
Samira alongside other prominent director like Ken Loach, Shohei Imamura, Youssef Chahine, Sean Penn.... made one of the eleven episodes of the film "September 11". The film was premiered at Venice International Film Festival in 2002.
The third feature by Samira Makhmalbaf titled "At Five in the Afternoon", the first feature film shot in Afghanistan post Taliban. The film was selected for the competition section of Cannes Film Festival in 2003, receiving the Jury's Special Award for the second time. In 2004, she was selected as one of forty best directors of the world by Guardian newspaper.
Samira Makhmalbaf shot her fourth feature film in Afghanistan titled Two-Legged Horse in 2007, receiving the Grand Jury Awardof San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.
Samira Makhmalbaf has also participated as jury member in reputable film festivals such as Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Locarno, Moscow, Montreal...4th Generation- Producer
- Director
- Writer
Manijeh Hekmat was born in 1962 in Arak, Iran. She is a producer and director, known for Women's Prison (2002), Three Women (2008) and Bandar Band (2020). She is married to Jamshid Ahangarani. They have one child.4th Generation- Writer
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Parviz Shahbazi is a highly acclaimed Iranian filmmaker renowned for his independent films that prominently delve into social issues and the interplay between diverse generations. His cinematic journey has led him to grace some of the most prestigious film festivals worldwide, including the Cannes, Venice, and Berlin Film Festival, where he has received numerous awards for his storytelling prowess.4th Generation- Actor
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- Director
Mani Haghighi is an Iranian film director, writer, film producer, and actor. Haghighi started making movies in 2001.
Haghighi was educated in Iran and, from the age of 15, Appleby College in Canada. He took a BA in philosophy at McGill University in Montréal, where he studied under Charles Taylor and Brian Massumi, and directed plays including Pinter's Betrayal and Shakespeare's Macbeth. He then followed postgraduate studies at Guelph and Trent universities. He contributed a chapter to A Shock to Thought: Expression after Deleuze and Guattari, edited by Brian Massumi, and also translated Michel Foucault's This is Not a Pipe into Persian.
Between 2007 and 2016 Haghighi produced and directed two documentaries about the Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui. The shorter film Hamoun's Fans (2008) dealt with the phenomenal success of Mehrjui's classic cult film Hamoun (1989). Haghighi published an open call to everyone who considered themselves a fan of the film to write him a one-page explanation of their reasons for loving it. From the hundreds of responses he chose five people to tell their stories. The second film, Mehrjui: The 40 Year Report (2015), is an exploration of Mehrjui's entire oeuvre through detailed interviews with Mehrjui himself, as well as his collaborators and critics. The film won the Best Documentary Film Director Award from the Fajr Film Festival, Tehran.4th Generation
Director (Actor)- Director
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- Producer
Abdolreza Kahani is an award-wining Iranian director. He has a Master of Art in theatre from the University of Tehran. Kahani's career began by making experimental short films and documentaries at the age of thirteen. His first feature film "Dance with the Moon" was debuted in 2004. Kahani created eight feature films in his home country Iran, however, Some of his last films were banned from screening due to censorship laws. This left him with no choice but to leave Iran and move to France in 2015. However, despite the Iranian regime's antagonism against Kahani's works, his films were very successful both domestically and internationally, wining many awards from international film festivals such as Karlovy Vary and Thessaloniki. Since he left Iran, Kahani has been actively making films in various countries such as Thailand, France, and Canada. Today, Kahani considers himself a nomad director with having no belonging to one place or country. He enjoys creating in different places around the world and would like to continue to explore the world through the lens of cinema.5th Generation- Director
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Shahram Mokri was born on 17 August 1978 in Kermanshah, Iran. He is a director and writer, known for Fish & Cat (2013), Careless Crime (2020) and Ashkan, the Charmed Ring and Other Stories (2008).5th Generation- Writer
- Director
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Bahram Tavakoli is an Iranian film director. Winning numerous awards, he is a well-established filmmaker of the new generation of Iranian cinema. One of his most successful works is 'Here without Me (2011). It is a breathtaking adaptation of Tennessee Williams 'The Glass Menagerie' which was not only directed, but also written by Tavakoli.5th Generation- Director
- Writer
Narges Abyar graduated in Persian literature; She started writing books in 1997. Up to the present, she has written more than thirty story and fiction books for children, young adults and adults. She was selected as an Oscar Academy member in 2020.
Her famous novels are namely: . Mountain on the Shoulder of the Tree . A Boy with insatiable worms on his body . Third Eye . The Legend of A Skinny Spring . It Was Neither a Day Nor a Night . The Poems of a Sky-clad Fish . Story of Two Fives . The Agitated Existence of a Prosperous Idol
She has written and directed five drama films. Her recent film is called, Pinto. She had also made several short and feature-length documentaries since 2005. Her first experience was a fiction film called "The Kind Dead-End". She pursued her directing career further with seven features and documentaries and four cinema films, as listed below: . The Kind Dead-End (fiction 2006) . The story of a believable story (fiction 2007) . One day after the tenth day (documentary 2007)- Winner of the Best Documentary; Ismaili Festival, Egypt
- Winner of the Grand Prize; Batumi Festival, Georgia
- Winner of the Cinematic Success Award; AZA Festival, Greece
- Received Diploma of Honor; Iguana Festival, Italy
- Participated in the thirty-five World Festivals
. The Day of the End (Documentary 2008)- Winner of the Best Documentary, Cinema Verite Festival, Iran
. Mother of the City (documentary 2008)- Winner of the Best Film Award and Best Semi-long Script, Yazd Short Film Festival, Iran
. Ulcer,( Nasur ) (fiction 2009)- Winner of the Best Film; Three Decades of Presence Festival, Iran
- Attending the Plant Focus Festival, Greece
- Attending the Dhaka Lit Fest, Bangladesh
. Shirpooshan, (documentary 2010)- Nominated for the Best Documentary Award; Grand Ave Festival, Poland
. Objects In Mirror (2013)- Nominated in the 16th Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF), Shanghai, China
- Nominated in the 30th Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival (LAAPF), United States,
- Nominated in the Heartland International Film Festival, USA, 2014
- Winner of the Audience Award and Best Actress Award; Silver Akbuzat Film Festival, UFA RUSSIA, 2014
- Winner of the Best Film Prize; Festival International de Films de Femmes de Créteil, France, 2015
. Track 143 (2014)- Nominated for seven awards and winner of three Crystal Simorghs of the Audience Award, Jury Special Award and Best Actress; 32nd Fajr Film Festival, Iran.
- Winner of the Audience choice award and the Jury Special Actress Award; 1st Reel Sydney Festival of World Cinema, Australia
- Winner of the Best Direction & Best Actress Award; 8th International Film festival, "East-West" Orenburg, Russia
- Winner of the Jury's Special Award; Volokolamsky Rubezh international film festival, 2015, Russia
- Winner of the Best Women Film Award; 8th Jaipur Int'l Film Festival, 2016, India
- Winner of the Best Women Film Award, 14th Dhaka Int'l Film Festival, 2016, Bangladesh
- Winner of the Best Film Award; Golden Tower International Film Festival, Ingushetia, Russia 2015
- Winner of the Best Film Award; Busan International Film Festival, Korea , 2014
. Breath (2016)- Selected as the Iranian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards
- Winner of the Best Director Awards; 20th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Estonia
- Winner of the Special Jury Award and Best Actress Award; Fajr International Film Festival
- Winner of the Best Director Award and Best Actor of Children and Youth Award; 24th Minsk Film Festival, Belarus
- Winner of the Crystal Simorgh of the Best Film in the National View; 34th Fajr Film Festival, Iran
- Winner of the Crystal Simorgh for the Best Supporting Actress, 34th Fajr Film Festival, Iran
- Winner of the Statue of Best Supporting Actress; Celebration of Iran's Criticts and Writers Association
- Winner the Best Children's Film Award; 10th Asia Pacific Film Award, Australia-
- Winner the Best Actress Award, Best Director and Best Actor of Children and Youth; 1st Iranian Film Festival in Wisconsin, USA
- Attendance at the 15th Pune Film Festival, India
- Attendance at the 8th Sofia Film Festival in Bulgaria
- Attendance at the Iranian Film Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland
- Attendance at the 27th Iranian Film Festival, Chicago, USA
. When the Moon Was Full (2019)- Winner of six Crystal Simorgh of the Best Film, the Best Director, the Best Actor, the Best Actress, the Best Supporting Actress and the Best Makeup Award; 37th fair film festival and nominated for seven Crystal Simorgh in other sections of this festival
- Winner of the Audience Award in the 23rd Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Tallinn, Estonia
- Winner of the Jury's Grand Prize, The Student Award and The Best Performance Award; Carcassonne International Political Film Festival, 2019 France
- Nominated for Merit Statue in fourteen sections of competition and given the "record of most nominated" in 21st House of Cinema, Iran
- Winner of three Merit Statues; 21st House of Cinema, Iran
Judging records at film festivals:- Member of the Oscar Academy, 2020
- Member of the jury of the 37th Fajr National Film Festival, 2020
- Member of the jury of the 38th Fajr International Film Festival, 2019
- Member of the Jury of the 25th Listapad Film Festival in Minsk, Belarus, 2018
- Member of the jury of the 15th Pune International Film Festival in India, 2017
6th Generation
Director (Writer)