Happy 63rd Birthday, Mohsen Makhmalbaf! Born today in 1957, this Iranian film editor, screenwriter, producer and film director has made more than twenty feature films, won some fifty awards and been a juror in more than fifteen major film festivals.
Among his credits, Makhmalbaf is best known for editing, writing and directing the 1996 Iranian drama/mystery film 'Gabbeh'.
Within this Iranian romantic fantasy, an elderly married couple, (Hossein Moharami and Roghieh Moharami, credited as Old Man and Old Woman) head to the river to wash their gabbeh, a traditional Persian carpet with a colorful illustration of a young woman woven into it.
Suddenly, the figure in the design (Shaghayegh Djodat) springs miraculously to life, declares herself to be called Gabbeh, and then spins a story about her history, her family and the man she loved but was forbidden to marry.
'Gabbeh' was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 49th Cannes Film Festival in May 1996. The film was selected as the Iranian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 70th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. The picture was also banned in Iran for being "subversive".
Makhmalbaf is also best known for editing, writing, producing and directing the award-winning 2001 Iranian drama/war film "Qandahar' ('Kandahar').
Its original Afghan title is 'Safar-e Ghandehar', which means "Journey to Kandahar", and it is alternatively known as 'The Sun Behind the Moon'.
Its original Afghan title is 'Safar-e Ghandehar', which means "Journey to Kandahar", and it is alternatively known as 'The Sun Behind the Moon'.
The film follows Nafas (Nelofer Pazira), a young Afghan journalist who has taken refuge in Canada.
She later receives a desperate letter from her little sister, who has stayed behind in Afghanistan and has decided to end her life before the imminently approaching eclipse of the sun.
She later receives a desperate letter from her little sister, who has stayed behind in Afghanistan and has decided to end her life before the imminently approaching eclipse of the sun.
Nafas fled her country during the Taliban civil war. She then decides to go and help her sister in Kandahar and attempts to cross the Iran-Afghanistan border...
'Kandahar' was filmed mostly in Iran, including at the Niatak refugee camp, but also secretly in Afghanistan itself.
The film premiered at the 54th Cannes Film Festival in May 2001, but did not get much attention at first. Post the September 11 attacks, however, it was widely shown.
Later that same year, 'Kandahar' won Makhmalbaf the Federico Fellini Prize from UNESCO, and is one of the "All-Time" 100 Movies by the periodical Time.
Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, photographer, and film producer Abbas Kiarostami edited, wrote and directed the 1990 Iranian docufiction/drama film 'Klūzāp, nemā-ye nazdīk' ('Close-Up').
The film follows Iranian cinephile and particularly big fan of Makhmalbaf named Ali Sabzian.
While reading a novel by the filmmaker on a bus, he strikes up a conversation with a pretty girl named Mahrokh Ahankhah. When she tells him her family admires Makhmalbaf's work, Ali pretends to be the filmmaker to impress her.
While reading a novel by the filmmaker on a bus, he strikes up a conversation with a pretty girl named Mahrokh Ahankhah. When she tells him her family admires Makhmalbaf's work, Ali pretends to be the filmmaker to impress her.
Becoming friendly with the Ahankhahs, Sabzian tells them he is preparing a new movie. However, when they uncover his true identity, he is arrested for fraud. This film reenacts the true story of the incident, with Sabzian, the family (and Makhmalbaf) playing themselves.
'Close-Up' is based on real events that occurred in Northern Tehran in the late 1980s. Kiarostami first heard about Sabzian in 1989 after reading about the incident in an article in the Iranian magazine Sorush by journalist Hassan Farazmand.
Kiarostami was allowed to film Sabzian's actual trial and to also got Sabzian, the Ahankhahs and Farazmand to agree to participate in the film and to re-enact incidents from the past.
Kiarostami also arranged for Makhmalbaf to meet Sabzian and help facilitate forgiveness between Sabzian and the Ahankhahs.
The latest documentary by Makhmalbaf is the poetic 2012 Iranian documentary/drama film 'Bāghbān' ('The Gardener') and latest feature being the 2014 Iranian drama/comedy film 'The President'.
Makhmalbaf has three adult children. Of these, his oldest, Samira, is an internationally acclaimed Iranian filmmaker and script writer. She is considered to be one of the most influential directors as part of the Iranian New Wave.
Makhmalbaf has been active from 1981–present.
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