Majid Majidi Explained

Majid Majidi
Native Name:مجید مجیدی
Native Name Lang:fa
Birth Place:Talesh, Iran
Occupation:Director, producer, screenwriter
Years Active:1981–present
Children:2

Majid Majidi (Persian: مجید مجیدی|translit=Majīd Majīdī) is an Iranian filmmaker and producer. In his films, Majidi has touched on many themes and genres and has won numerous international awards.

Biography

Born in a Persian middle-class family, he grew up in Tehran and at the age of 14 he started acting in amateur theater groups. He then studied at the Institute of Dramatic Arts in Tehran.[1]

After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, his interest in cinema brought him to act in various films, most notably Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Boycott in 1985.

In 1997, Majidi directed Children of Heaven, which was nominated to receive the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Though it lost to the Italian film Life Is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni, Children of Heaven is the first Iranian film to have been nominated by the academy.

Majidi has directed several other feature films since Children of Heaven: The Color of Paradise in 2000, Baran in 2001, and The Willow Tree in 2005 (alternative English title One Life More). He also recently directed a feature-length documentary titled Barefoot to Herat which chronicles life in refugee camps and the city of Herat during and after the anti-Taliban offensive of 2001.

In 2008, Majidi's acclaimed film The Song of Sparrows was the opening film of the Visakhapatnam International Film Festival in India.[2]

Majidi was one of five international film directors invited by the Beijing government to create a documentary short film to introduce the city of Beijing, in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics which was held in the Chinese capital; the project was titled "Vision Beijing".[3]

Majidi pulled out of a Danish film festival in protest against the publication in Denmark of cartoons satirizing the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. He stated that he was withdrawing "to protest against insulting any religious belief or icon".[4]

Filmography

Director

Film

YearTitleclass"unsortable"Notes
1992 Baduk debut feature
1996 The Father (Pedar)
1997Children of Heaven (Bacheha-ye Aseman)
1999The Color of Paradise (Rang-e Khoda)
2001BaranDirector and Producer
2005The Willow Tree (Bid-e majnun)Director, writer and Producer
2008The Song of Sparrows (Avaz-e gonjeshk-ha)
2015Muhammad: The Messenger of GodDirector and writer
2017Beyond the Clouds[5]
2020Sun ChildrenDirector, writer and Producer

Shorts/documentaries

  1. Explosion (Enfejar) (1981) - documentary short
  2. Hoodaj (1984) - short
  3. Examination Day (Rooz-e Emtehan) (1988) - short
  4. A Day with POWs (Yek Rooz Ba Asiran) (1989) - documentary short
  5. The Last Village (Akhareen Abadi) (1993) - short
  6. God Will Come (Khoda Miayad) (1996) - short
  7. Barefoot to Herat (Pa berahneh ta Herat) (2002) - documentary
  8. Olympics in the Camp (Olympik Tu Urdugah) (2003) - documentary short
  9. Peace, Love, and Friendship (2007) - documentary short
  10. Vision of Beijing (2008) - short[6]
  11. Rezae Rezvan (2007) - documentary
  12. Najva ashorai (2008) - documentary

Awards

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Biography. Majid Majidi. 30 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20161031000840/http://www.cinemajidi.com/biography.html. 31 October 2016. dead.
  2. Web site: Art news in brief. 23 October 2009. Tehran Times.
  3. http://www.visionbeijing.com/en/index.asp Vision Beijing website
  4. News: Film festival hit by cartoon row. 24 March 2006. BBC News .
  5. Web site: Shahid's brother Ishaan to work with Majid Majidi, AR Rahman for Beyond The Clouds. 23 January 2017. Hindustan Times.
  6. Web site: Majidi begins "Vision Beijing" shoot . 6 November 2006 .