biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1951– )
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| biography:
| Film director, born in Tehran, Iran. He left school aged 15 to form a group of religious activists in opposition to the government of Shah Reza Pahlavi. He was arrested and imprisoned at the age of 17 for attacking a policeman. Released in 1978, he went on to found the Centre for Propagation of Islamic Thought and Arts (1981). Here he wrote short stories and scripts before his directorial film debut in 1982 with Nassouh Repentant. His films include Dastforoush (1987, The Peddler), Bicycleran (1987, The Cyclist), Nobat e Asheghi (1990, Time of Love), Gabbeh (1996, Gabbe), Nun Va Goldoon (1996, Moment of Innocence), and Silence (1998). His films are starkly explicit in their depiction of poverty, corruption, and the aftermath of war. His daughter Samira Makhmalbaf (1980– ), also born in Tehran, is also an internationally acclaimed director. At the age of 18 she directed the award-winning semi-documentary feature film Sib (1998, The Apple), a film based on a real-life event in which the principal characters play themselves. This was followed by Takhte Siah (2000, The Blackboard), directed by Samira and scripted by Mohsen, a film about itinerant Kurdish teachers, which won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. |
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