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- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Shohreh Aghdashloo was born Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar on May 11, 1952 in Tehran, Iran. In the 1970s at age 20, she achieved nationwide stardom in her homeland of Iran, starring in some prominent pictures such as The Report (1977) directed by the renowned Abbas Kiarostami, which won critics awards at the Moscow Film Festival. In 1978, she won wider acclaim and established herself as one of Iran's leading ladies with Desiderium (1978) directed by the late Ali Hatami. During the 1978 Islamic revolution, Aghdashloo left Iran for England, to complete her education. Her interest in politics and her concern for social injustice in the world would lead her to receive a Bachelor's degree in International Relations.
She continued to pursue her acting career, which eventually brought her to Los Angeles, California in 1987. She went on to marry actor/playwright Houshang Touzie, performing in a number of his plays, successfully taking them to national and international stages. However, this was not easy getting work in Hollywood as a Middle Eastern actress with an accent; she had roles in some decent, though not great, films, including Twenty Bucks (1993), Surviving Paradise (2000) and Maryam (2002). She received good reviews for her 12 episodes on the fourth season of the Fox television series 24 (2001) as Dina Araz, a terrorist undercover as a well-to-do housewife and mother in Los Angeles. She had to wait quite some time to receive her break in Hollywood.
And finally, years after having read the acclaimed novel "House of Sand and Fog", DreamWorks were in the process of bringing the story to the silver screen. After having cast Ben Kingsley (as Massoud Amir Behrani) and Jennifer Connelly in the lead roles, they were looking for a relatively unknown Iranian actress to play Kingsley's wife, Nadi. Shohreh Aghdashloo was duly cast. She stole the limelight and earned herself an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress amongst many other prestigious awards, including the Independent Spirit Sward as best supporting actress in a feature film, the New York and Los Angeles film critics award and others.- Actress
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Composer
Golshifteh started her acting career in theater at the age of 6 and has always kept a strong link with theater, but it was at the age of 14 that she acted in her first film The Pear Tree (1998), for which she won the prize for the Best Actress from the international section of the Fajr film festival, immediately making her one of the stars of Iranian cinema. Since then she has played in more than 15 films, many of which have been screened or awarded at international festivals. Amongst her latest films are Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon (2006) (winner of the Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián film festival 2006), Dariush Mehrjui's controversial The Music Man (2007), still banned in Iran, and the late Rasool Mollagholi Poor's M like Mother (2006), which after a huge success in Iran was chosen to represent Iran for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards in 2008. After playing in Body of Lies (2008) by Ridley Scott, Golshifteh became the first Iranian star to act in a major Hollywood production. Subsequently she was banned from her country. Her last film in Iran About Elly (2009) won a Silver Bear in Berlin and the Best Narrative Feature at Tribeca (2009). Golshifteh graduated from music school, she sings and plays the piano amongst other instruments. She is also fluent in French and English and lives in Paris now.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Nasim Pedrad (born November 18, 1981) is an American actress and comedian best known for her five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live (1975) from 2009 to 2014. She has since gone on to co-star in sitcoms such as Mulaney (2014), Scream Queens (2015), People of Earth (2016), and New Girl (2011).
Pedrad was born in Tehran, Iran, to a Muslim family. Her parents are Arasteh Amani and Parviz Pedrad. Pedrad's family emigrated to the United States in 1984 when she was three years old. Her younger sister is comedy writer Nina Pedrad. Both sisters are fluent in Persian. The sisters were raised in Irvine, California, and graduated from University High School. Nasim graduated from UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2003. She was a member of the UCLA Spring Sing Company.
Pedrad was a performer with the Sunday Company at The Groundlings. She frequently performed her one-woman show Me, Myself & Iran at the Los Angeles divisions of ImprovOlympic and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. The show was selected for the 2007 HBO Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. She received an LA Weekly Best Comedic Performance of the Year Award as the lead in the comedic spoof After School Special.
Pedrad made her first television appearance on an episode of Gilmore Girls (2000). In 2007, she made a guest appearance on The Winner (2007). She had a recurring role on ER (1994) as Nurse Suri. In 2009, she had a guest appearance on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005).
Pedrad joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2009 as part of the 35th (2009-2010) season. Pedrad is one of a handful of cast members born outside North America (joining Italian-born Tony Rosato, New Zealand-born Pamela Stephenson, English-born Morwenna Banks, and Chilean-born Horatio Sanz). Pedrad became a repertory player in the 2011-12 season after two years of being a featured player. Pedrad left SNL in 2014 to work on Mulaney.
In 2011, she was a recurring voice on the Fox animated series Allen Gregory (2011). She appeared with a small role in the 2011 film No Strings Attached (2011). In 2012, she had a supporting voice role in the animated feature film The Lorax (2012) and a small appearance in The Dictator (2012). In 2013, Pedrad had another supporting voice role in Despicable Me 2 (2013). In the autumn of 2014, she left Saturday Night Live to star in a new Fox sitcom, Mulaney. On October 18, 2014, Fox shut down production of the series by reducing the 16-episode order by three episodes. Filming for the thirteenth episode had just been completed prior to the order reduction, and the fourteenth episode was about to enter production.
Beginning in 2015, Pedrad has a recurring guest role as LAPD officer Aly Nelson on the Fox sitcom New Girl. She portrayed Gigi Caldwell in season one of Fox horror-comedy Scream Queens.
In 2016, she appeared in a commercial for Old Navy alongside comedian Kumail Nanjiani and other SNL cast members Cecily Strong and Jay Pharoah.
In 2017, she joined the cast of season two of the TBS comedy series People of Earth. Later that same year, she also made guest appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013).- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Nazanin Boniadi is rapidly making her mark in both film and television. She co-starred as CIA analyst Fara Sherazi on seasons three and four of the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning drama Homeland (2011), for which she shared a 2015 SAG Award nomination in the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series category. Boniadi appeared in the 2016 MGM-Paramount remake of Ben-Hur. Directed by Timur Bekmambetov, the film stars Ms. Boniadi in the female lead role of Esther opposite Jack Huston, Morgan Freeman and Toby Kebbell. She will next appear in a leading role opposite Armie Hammer and Dev Patel in Anthony Maras's Hotel Mumbai.
Among her many television credits, Boniadi portrayed Nora, a relatively longstanding love interest to Neil Patrick Harris's Barney Stinson, in seasons six and seven of How I Met Your Mother (2005). She also appeared as the notorious Adnan Salif in season three of Shonda Rhimes' hit political drama Scandal (2012). She will next star alongside J.K. Simmons in the original Starz series Counterpart (2017), created by Justin Marks and Executive Produced by Morten Tyldum.
On film, Boniadi appeared as Amira Ahmed in Jon Favreau's Iron Man (2008) and portrayed a young mother, Elaine, in Paul Haggis' The Next Three Days (2010). She also has several independent features to her credit.
Born in Tehran at the height of the Iranian Revolution, Boniadi's parents relocated to London, England, shortly thereafter, where she was raised with an emphasis on education. While she was involved in theatre early in life, Boniadi later decided she wanted to become a physician. She moved to the United States at the age of 19 to attend the University of California, Irvine, where she received her Bachelor's Degree, with Honors (Dean's Academic Achievement and Service Award) in Biological Sciences, and won the "Chang Pin Chun" Undergraduate Research Award for her work in heart-transplant rejection and cancer research.
Switching gears to pursue her first love, Boniadi then decided to study acting, which included training in Contemporary Drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London under the supervision of dramaturge Lloyd Trott.
Boniadi is fluent in both English and Persian. She is a dedicated human rights activist. Boniadi served as a spokesperson for Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) 2009-2015, and continues to partner with the non-profit as an AIUSA Artist of Conscience. In 2014, she was selected for term membership by the Council on Foreign Relations.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Paniz Zade was born in Tehran, Iran. She is known for Tracker (2024), The Handmaid's Tale (2017) and Blood & Treasure (2019). She is married to Ryan Bruce.- Actress
- Producer
Pegah Ghafoori was born on 18 April 1999 in Tehran, Iran. She is an actress and producer, known for From (2022), One Must Wash Eyes and Hello Au Revoir (2021).- Actress
- Producer
She is half-Scottish (father) and half-Israeli (mother). Her father, Professor David Stronach, was a notable expert on Persian antiquities. The family had to flee Persia/Iran during the Revolution. They went to Israel, then to America where Tami is still based. She was studying acting in California when she was chosen for her role as the child-like Empress. She has been a dancer throughout her life and has opted for this as her main career though she has recently returned to acting. She has been heavily involved in the Neta Dance Troop. She speaks several languages including English and Hebrew.- Actor
- Casting Department
Omid Abtahi was born on 12 July 1979 in Tehran, Iran. He is an actor, known for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015), Brothers (2009) and My Own Worst Enemy (2008).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Arian Moayed is an Iranian-American actor, writer, and director. Moayed received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and also starred in the Tony Award-winning The Humans. Moayed gained prominence for his role as Stewy Hosseini in HBO's Succession, and later as Todd Spodek in Netflix's Inventing Anna.- Elnaaz Norouzi is an Iranian born actress/model who lives in India and stars as one of the leads in India's first and massively popular Netflix series, SACRED GAMES, which was nominated for an International Emmy Award. She can be seen recurring in season 2 of the Apple TV+ series TEHRAN and the major motion picture KANDAHAR with Gerard Butler and Travis Fimmel. She will soon be seen playing the lead role in the Amazon international hit anthology series MADE IN HEAVEN. Her film HELLO CHARLIE was released on Amazon Prime Video and she can also be seen as one of the leads in the Sony series CHUTZPAH. Elnaaz grew up in Germany mastering Farsi, German, English, French and now she speaks fluent Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi too. Before she started acting, she had been working for more than 10 Years as a very successful international model for brands like Dior, Lacoste and Le Coq Sportive, to name a few.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Bobby Naderi was born in Tehran, Iran during the Iran/Iraq war. His youth consisted of a nomadic upbringing due to the political unrest in the region. Brushing shoulders with all walks of life as a child, Bobby developed a natural gravitational pull toward the world of cinema.
Bobby starred in the BAFTA and BIFA winner UNDER THE SHADOW written and directed by Babak Anvari, he recently wrapped Adam Saunders's Feature Film, DOTTY & SOUL, and can currently be seen in Netflix's drama series BLACK SUMMER created by John Hyams. He is well known for starring in the Sundance hit THE TAQWACORES and also starred opposite Will Smith and Joel Edgerton in David Ayer's Netflix feature BRIGHT. On the TV side, he recurred on the AMC hit, FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, as well as on DEPUTY, and Fox's reboot of PRISON BREAK.
In 2023, Bobby wrapped a lead role on David Ayer's Miramax/MGM feature THE BEEKEEPER, opposite Jason Statham and Jeremy Irons.- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Dominic Rains was born in Tehran, Iran. He is an actor and producer, known for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), Burn Country (2016) and The Taqwacores (2010).- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
Born in Mashhad, Iran, Navid Negahban's passion for acting led him to Germany where he spent eight years before embarking on Hollywood. Dubbed as "the man of a thousand faces," he garnered critical acclaim for his role "Abu Nazir" on the Emmy® Award-winning series Homeland. His quiet and composed depiction of the al-Qaeda leader won Negahban worldwide recognition, but it was his portrayal of the Sultan, in Disney's remake of Aladdin, which made him a household name.
Negahban's film credits include Twelve Strong, American Assassin, Damascus Cover, Baba Joon, and American Sniper. His extensive and diverse television portfolio consists of the portrayal of "Amahl Farouk/The Shadow King" on FX's Legion, making him the first Farsi speaking character in the Marvel Universe. He has also guest starred in classics such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Law & Order: SVU, Veep, CSI:NY, The Closer, The West Wing, and more.
Negahban received a historic BAFTA nomination for his performance as "Hajj Agha" in the video game 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, marking the first time a Middle Eastern and Muslim actor has been nominated in this category.
In 2019 he started Romany Road Artist Foundation, a safe haven celebrating artistry, built by artists for artists.- Ardalan Esmaili was born on 22 March 1986 in Tehran, Iran. He is an actor, known for The Charmer (2017), Greyzone (2018) and Domino (2019).
- Director
- Writer
- Actor
Ali Abbasi was born in 1981 in Tehran, Iran. He is a director and writer, known for Border (2018), Holy Spider (2022) and The Last of Us (2023).- Actor
- Producer
Shaun Toub was born in Tehran, Iran. He was raised in Manchester, England. At 14 he moved to Switzerland and then to New Hampshire. After two years of college in Massachusetts, Shaun transferred to USC where he graduated.
Toub has received accolades for several of his appearances in over 100 television episodes including his newer work playing Terence in Snowpiercer for 2 seasons. He also played Majid Javadi in two seasons of Homeland. His work includes Little America on AppleTv, Scandal, Grimm, Seinfeld, The Sopranos, Castle, NCIS, Chuck, Lost, Charmed, ER, Just Shoot Me!, JAG, Married... with Children and various movies made for television.
His latest series Tehran just won an International Emmy playing Faraz Kamali, the intelligent officer. The second season will be streaming on May 6 on AppleTVPlus.
His filmography includes his memorable performance in Bad Boys, Broken Arrow, The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, Iron Man, The Last Airbender, and the Oscar-winning film Crash. Including Papa Hemingway in Cuba, the life story of Ernest Hemingway, in the role of Evan Shipman the poet.
Shaun resides in Los Angeles. Loves the outdoors, sports, and music.- Writer
- Director
- Editor
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.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Phoenix Raei is a Persian-born Australian actor, writer and director born in Shiraz who immigrated to Perth, Australia as a child.
In 2019, he was the recipient of the Casting Guild of Australia, Rising Star Award and was cast as a lead in the Netflix series Clickbait (2021) (NBCUniversal International Studios, Matchbox Pictures).
Phoenix will also appear as Javad, a charismatic detainee and leader, in the highly anticipated drama Stateless (2020) with Cate Blanchett, Yvonne Strahovski and Jai Courtney. He can also be seen in the critically acclaimed ABC series The Heights (2019) (Matchbox Pictures and NBC) in which he plays series regular Ash.
His breakthrough role came in Kriv Stenders' Australia Day (2017) starring next to Bryan Brown, Daniel Webber and Sean Keenan. Phoenix was praised by audiences for his performance as Yaghoub Ghaznavi, a small-time drug dealer who feels the pressure from his family to take action when his brother is violently assaulted.
He also starred in the feature film, Below (2019) which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival alongside Anthony LaPaglia and Ryan Corr. Critics praised Phoenix's performance for carrying the heart of the film.
Phoenix has worked as a recurring guest star on multiple award-winning series such as Romper Stomper (2018) (2018) with writer/director of the original Geoffrey Wright, the hit prison drama Wentworth (2013) (2017/18) and Mustangs FC (2017) (2017).
He is a co-founder of Little Fish Films alongside his partner Kate Lister.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Asghar Farhadi was born in 1972 in Iran. He became interested in cinema in his teenage years and started his filmmaking education by joining the Youth Cinema Society of Esfahan in 1986 where he made 8mm and 16mm short films. He received his Bachelors in Theater from University of Tehran's School of Dramatic Arts in 1998 and his Masters in Stage Direction from Tarbiat Modarres University a few years later. During these formative years, Farhadi made six shorts and two TV series for Iran's National Broadcasting Corporation (IRIB) of which Story of a City (2000) is most noteworthy. In 2001, he debuted in professional cinema by co-writing the script for Low Heights (2002), a post-9/11 political chronicle of Southwest Iran, with famed war film director, Ebrahim Hatamikia. The film was met with both critical and public success. The following year, Farhadi made his directorial debut, Dancing in the Dust (2003), about a man forced to divorce his wife and go hunting snakes in the desert in order to repay his debts to his in-laws. The film earned recognition at Fajr and Moscow International Film Festivals and a year later, Beautiful City (2004), a grave work about a young man condemned to death at the age of sixteen, received awards from Fajr and Warsaw International Film Festivals. His third film, Fireworks Wednesday (2006), won the Gold Hugo at the 2006 Chicago International Film Festival. His fourth film, About Elly (2009), was called "a masterpiece" by film critic David Bordwell and won the Silver Bear for Best Director at 59th Berlin International Film Festival as well as Best Picture at Tribeca Film Festival. It was also Iran's official submission for the Foreign Language Film competition of Academy Awards in 2009. His more recent film, A Separation (2011), became a sensation. It got critical acclaim inside and outside of Iran; Roger Ebert called it "the best picture of the year," and it was awarded the Crystal Simorgh from Fajr Film Festival, Golden Bear and Prize of the Ecumenical Jury from Berlin International Film Festival, and also won Best Foreign Language Film from The Boston Society of Film Critics, Chicago and Los Angeles Film Critics Association, New York Film Critics Circle, National Board of Review, Golden Globes, César Award, Independent Spirit Award, and ultimately the Academy Award in the "Best Foreign Language Film of the Year," making him the first Iranian filmmaker ever to win an Oscar. His Oscar acceptance speech at the 84th Academy Awards, a message of peace in tens political times in his country, made him an instant hero among st Iranians. His film also received nomination for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award in the "Best. Film Not in the English Language" category and for an Academy Award in the "Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen" category. A few days after receiving an Oscar, Farhadi signed with the United Talent Agency (UTA). While A Separation (2011) was being screened in different festivals and countries, Asghar Farhadi and his family moved to Paris so he could start work on the screenplay of The Past (2013), a story that takes place outside of Iran. The main character, Ahmad, returns to Paris after a four-year absence to finalize the legal aspects of his divorce from Marie. Ahmad's presence in Marie's life after all this time creates a complicated situation for them, and forces them to dig into their common past. The Past (2013) was released in 2013 in France during the Cannes Film Festival and again it had around one million admissions. It won the Best Actress Award at Cannes Festival and was nominated for the Golden Globes and the César. Farhadi returned to Iran in 2015 to shoot The Salesman (2016). The film was completed in 2016 and selected in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, where Farhadi won Best Screenplay while Shahab Hosseini, the lead actor, took home Best Actor. The Salesman (2016) was released in France that fall as well as in Iran where it became Farhadi's biggest success. In February 2017, he won his second Oscar for Best Film in a Foreign Language, making him one of the few directors worldwide who have won the category twice. A few months after, Farhadi kicked off his following project for which he reunites on screen Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem. All shot in Spain and in Spanish, Everybody Knows (2018) also stars the Argentinean actor Ricardo Darín. The film is selected as the 71st Cannes Film Festival's opening film while also being in competition. Then at the 74th Cannes Film Festival, for his fourth appearance on the Official Competition, he presented A Hero (2021), which won the Grand Prix.- Director
- Producer
- Writer
Mohammad Rasoulof was born in Shiraz, Iran in 1972. He is an independent director, writer and producer. He studied sociology. Rasoulof started his filmmaking with documentaries and short films. For his first film 'Gagooman'(The Twilight, 2002) Rasoulof won the prize for the best film at the Fajr Film Festival in Iran. After his second film 'Jazireh Ahani' (Iron Island, 2005) he began to have problems with the censorship system in Iran and his possibilities for the further production and screening of films were strongly limited or prohibited. To this date Mohammad Rasoulof has produced five feature films which none of have been shown in Iran due to the censorship, while his films are enjoyed by a broad audience in cinemas and festivals outside of Iran. Until 2010 Rasoulof mostly used metaphoric forms of storytelling as his means of expression in his films. Since then he has shifted to using more direct forms of expression. In March 2010 Rasoulof was arrested on set at a filming location together with Jafar Panahi while they were directing a film together. In the following trial, he was sentenced to six years in jail. This sentence was later reduced to one year. He was then released on bail and is still waiting for the sentence to be executed. Mohammad Rasoulof has won many prizes for his films. In 2011, he won the prize for best director in Un Certain Regard for his film 'Bé Omid é Didar'(Goodbye, 2011) at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2013 he won the FIPRESCI Prize in Cannes for the film 'Dast-Neveshteha-Nemisoozand'(Manuscripts Don't Burn, 2013) from the International Federation of Film Critics in Un Certain Regard.- Tala Ashe stars as Zari Adrianna Tomaz in The CW series "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." Ashe is an Iranian-American actress who speaks fluent Farsi and received a BFA in Acting from Boston University, with training from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and UCB theater. She was recently seen in the off-Broadway production of "The Profane" at Playwrights Horizons, a New York Times Critic's Pick exploring what it means to be Muslim in America. Her additional theatre credits include "Troilus and Cressida" at The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park, "Head Over Heels" at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the off-Broadway productions of "The Who & The What" at Lincoln Center Theatre and "Urge for Going" at The Public Theater. Ashe's television credits include a recurring role on "American Odyssey," opposite Anna Friel and Peter Facinelli, and an arc on "Smash," opposite Debra Messing, as well as guest spots on "30 Rock," "Law & Order" and "Covert Affairs."
- Pegah Ferydoni was born on 25 June 1983 in Tehran, Iran. She is an actress, known for A Murder at the End of the World (2023), Women Without Men (2009) and Stand Up (2021).
- Melika Foroutan was born in 1976 in Teheran, Iran. She is an actress, known for The Empress (2022), Tribes of Europa (2021) and Pari (2020).
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Shahab Hosseini was born on February 3, 1974 in Tehran, Iran. He grew up in a family of six and was the oldest child. He earned his high school diploma in Biology. Once a psychology student at the University of Tehran, he dropped out with the intent of emigrating to Canada. Instead, he ended up as a radio host in Iran. This was followed by hosting "Oxygen," a TV show for the youth audience, and some small acting roles in a few TV series of which "After Rain" (Pas Az Baran) was the first. His debut in cinema was in Rokhsareh (2002), performing alongside Mitra Hajjar. His acting career took off with his performance in movies such as Tahmineh Milani's The Fifth Reaction (2003) (Vakonesh-e-Panjom) and Superstar (2009). He won the Crystal Simorgh from Tehran's 27th Fajr International Film Festival for his performance as Kourosh in "Superstar". Two years later, he received the Diploma of Honor from Fajr Film Festival and the Silver Bear Award from the prestigious Berlin International Film Festival for his memorable role as the hot-tempered Hodjat in Asghar Farhadi's internationally critically acclaimed film, A Separation (2011). He has also received several nominations and awards from Iran's House of Cinema including Best Actor in a Lead Role for his performance in Asghar Fardadi's previous film, About Elly (2009).- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Narges Rashidi was born in Iran, settled in 1987 with her family at first in Turkey and a year later to Germany. After graduation she moved to Berlin and studied acting. In 2005 she attended in Los Angeles the Master Class with MK Lewis. In 2007 she received the award for Best Young Actress at the New York International Independent Film Video Festival for her role as Lolita in A2Z. The German public knows her, among other things through her roles in Schwarze Schafe, Schimanski: Schicht im Schacht, Breathful, Dating Lancelot and KDD. In 2012 Narges Rashidi will be one of the main cast of a new Sat.1 series.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Zar Amir Ebrahimi was born on 9 July 1981 in Tehran, Iran. She is an actress and producer, known for Holy Spider (2022), White Paradise (2022) and Tatami (2023).- Actor
- Producer
Marshall Manesh was born in Iran. He lost his father at an early age and was raised by his beloved mother, whom he feels he got his strength from to make it in show biz. He came to the United States in the mid '70s and joined the Persian Theater Group and traveled extensively through out the US, Canada and Europe for 8 years. His debut film was "True Lies" as Jamal Khaled, directed by James Cameron. Marshall has done more than 100 feature films, television projects and more than 40 commercials. He had a recurring roles on Will & Grace as Mr. Zamir, How I Met Your Mother as Ranjit, Scrubs as Dr. Akbar, and was also a series regular on Andy Barker P.I.- Bahar Soomekh was born on March 30, 1975 in Tehran, Iran, to a Persian Jewish family. She is the daughter of Manijeh and Hamid Soomekh, who owned a women's high fashion company. She has a sister, Saba Soomekh. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1979, to escape the Iranian revolution. She attended a yeshiva, Sinai Akiba Academy, and Beverly Hills High School, where she played the violin in the school orchestra. She majored in environmental studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Soomekh began working at a corporate job, and took acting classes at night, before quitting her job to pursue a full-time acting career.
Bahar began acting at age 27, guest starring in television shows like Without a Trace (2002), 24 (2001), JAG (1995), among others. She got her big break portraying an Iranian-American woman named Dorri, speaking fluent English and Farsi, in the Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Crash (2004). The whole cast won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture. Bahar also appeared in the director's cut version of another Academy Award winning movie, Syriana (2005), playing Yassi. Bahar got some more attention playing Davian's translator in Mission: Impossible III (2006). She had a leading role in the horror film Saw III (2006), playing a victim, Dr. Lynn Denlon. She had also portrayed Margo on the television series Day Break (2006). Recently, Soomekh got one of the lead roles as Hollis on the television series The Oaks (2008), which will come out in the fall of 2008. - Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Actor
Darius Khondji was born on 21 October 1955 in Tehran, Iran. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for Amour (2012), Se7en (1995) and Delicatessen (1991). He is married to Marianne Khondji. They have three children.- Actor
- Producer
Navid Mohammadzadeh is an Iranian actor. He has received various accolades, including two Crystal Simorghs, four Hafez Awards, three Iran Cinema Celebration Awards and four Iran's Film Critics and Writers Association Awards. In 2017, he won the Orizzonti Award for Best Actor at the 74th Venice International Film Festival for his performance in No Date, No Signature (2017). His performance in the movie I'm Not Angry (2012) was praised by critics, and for it, he was nominated for the Crystal Simorgh for Best Actor from the Fajr Film Festival. He has also won the Crystal Simorgh for the best supporting actor of the Fajr Film Festival twice in a row for his roles in Abed and Yak Roz and Without Date, Without Signature. His first experience was in a show was the Frog series. He is of Persian and Kurdish origin. He has an associate degree in civil engineering. On July 19, 2021, he officially announced his marriage to Fereshteh Hosseini via a post on his official Instagram account.- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Born on September 19, 1978 in Tehran, Iran, Ramin Karimloo is an Iranian-Canadian singer and actor, best known for his work in musicals. When he was 2 months old, his parents were forced to flee Iran because of the Islamic Revolution. After spending two years in Italy, the family moved to Peterborough, Canada, where Karimloo grew up. At 12, he went on a school trip to see a touring production of "The Phantom of the Opera" and was so moved by Colm Wilkinson's performance as the Phantom that he decided to become an actor. He moved to Richmond Hill to attend Alexander Mackenzie High School, but dropped out at 18. He landed a job as a performer on a cruise ship, despite not having any experience in dancing, and two weeks later, after the lead singer dropped out, Karimloo took his place. On one such cruise he met Amanda Ramsden (known as Mandy), who later became his wife. In 2001, he and Mandy moved to London, where he got a job at a factory, but also found a voice teacher and an agent, landing a number of small roles in touring musicals such as "Sunset Boulevard" and "The Pirates of Penzance". In 2002 he debuted on West End as Feuilly in "Les Misérables", understudying Marius and Enjolras. In 2003 he got the role of Raoul in "The Phantom of the Opera" and went on to perform in "Les Misérables", this time as Enjolras, and in a touring production of "Miss Saigon" as Chris. In 2004, he appeared in a small role of Christine's father in the movie adaptation of The Phantom of the Opera (2004). In 2007, he became the youngest actor to ever play the Phantom in "The Phantom of the Opera" and two years later he was chosen by Andrew Lloyd Webber to be the Phantom in "Love Never Dies", a new musical continuing the character's story. In 2010, he played Enjolras in Les Misérables in Concert: The 25th Anniversary (2010), appearing on stage alongside his childhood hero Colm Wilkinson. A year later, they met again when Karimloo played the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall (2011), in which Wilkinson appeared as a special guest. In 2012 he released his first album, entitled simply "Ramin" (renamed "Human Heart" in the US). 2013 marked his Broadway debut, again in "Les Misérables", but this time in the leading role of Jean Valjean. This performance got him a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He went on to appear in musicals such as "The Secret Garden" (as Archibald Craven), "Murder Ballad" (as Tom), "Anastasia" (as Gleb Vaganov) and "Evita" (as Che). Him and Mandy have two sons, Jaiden and Hadley.- Shervin Alenabi is an actor known for Baghdad in My Shadow (2019) Shervin was born in Iran in 1995. He along with his family immigrated to the UK in 2007. He made his feature film debut at the age of 22 as Nasseer in the political thriller, set in London, Baghdad in My Shadow (2019), for which he learned to speak Arabic for the role. He is also fluent in Persian and Kurdish. He resides in London.
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Lara Wolf is a Swiss-Persian actress, singer, and polyglot. She was born in Tehran and raised in Zurich where she studied psychology at the University of Zurich while working as a translator, a model, and a TV-host for StarTV. After graduating she moved to New York to pursue acting at the Lee Strasberg theatre and film institute. Since 2014 she's worked in TV (Believe, Bluebloods, Blindspot, Wanted, Quantico) as well as in Film (BigHouse, DaysOfPower, Roxana, LeftWithOnlyRain, HotAir, The Performance) and has acted alongside Gerard Depardieu, Steve Coogan, Til Schweiger, Matthias Schweighöfer, Priyanka Chopra, Blair Underwood, Robert Carlyle, and Jeremy Piven. She's also a member of the Primitive Grace Theatre Company (founding members: Paul Calderon, David Zayas). Left With Only Rain (directed by Todd Bogin) and The Performance (directed by Shira Piven) in which she has a starring role as a singer from the 30ies will be released in 2022 Lara is a proud New Yorker and a Brooklynite.- Paul Chahidi is a Tony, Olivier and Royal Television Society nominated British stage and screen actor. His most recent screen work includes roles in the feature 'See How They Run', 'The Serpent Queen' (Starz) and two seasons of the Iranian-American comedy 'Chad' (TBS/Roku). Other work includes Neil Gaiman's 'Good Omens' (Amazon Prime) three seasons of the BAFTA-winning BBC comedy series 'This Country', as well as Armando Iannucci's feature 'The Death of Stalin'. He has worked extensively in film, television and on stage, most notably with the RSC, National Theatre, Donmar, Shakespeare's Globe and Royal Court theatres as well as on Broadway in the all-male production of Twelfth Night opposite Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry. In addition to his Tony and Olivier nominations, he is the winner of a Theatre World Award for outstanding Broadway debut and The Clarence Derwent Award and was nominated for an Outer Critic's Circle Award (for his performance as Maria in Twelfth Night). He is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
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Saeed Roustayi (born 14 August 1989) is an Iranian film director and screenwriter. He graduated from Soore University with a Bachelor of Film and Television in Directing. Life+1 Day is his first major cinematic work. At the Fajr International Film Festival, Roustayi won 2 Crystal Simorghs for best directing and best screenplay. He received the 2016 Reflet d'Or for Best Feature at the Geneva International Film Festival Tous Ecrans. His works primarily focus on issues of social injustice, as well as his portrayals of women in Iranian society.- Actress
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Born on January 12th 1984 in Tehran. Her father is a former national team football player, Hamid Alidoosti. She started her career as an actress visiting Amin Tarokh's acting school in 2000. Soon she was chosen for her first role in I'm Taraneh, 15 (2002) (I'm Taraneh, 15), which has so far remained her main success. Her first steps in acting brought her the silver Leopard on the 55th Locarno film festival, and the Cristal Simorgh on Iranian's biggest film festival, Fajr. Being extremely selective her next appearance was 3 years later, Beautiful City (2004) (Beautiful city) by Asghar Farhadi. Fireworks Wednesday (2006) (Fireworks Wednesday) and About Elly (2009) (About Elly) are her next movies with Asghar Farhadi. She has also played in Canaan (2008) by 'Mani Haghighi' which is going to be released in October 2008. Doubt (2009) (by Varuzh Karim-Masihi) is her latest movie which is being shot now in Tehran. She has also appeared in two theater plays, both written and directed by Mohammad Rahmanian.- Director
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Amir Shervan, was born Amir Hosein Ghaffar in Tehran, Iran on May 24, 1929. In the U.S. he is mostly known for directing the movies Hollywood cop and Samurai Cop but was better known in Iran for his directing, writing and acting in numerous films.
Shervan studied theater in Pasadena California in the 1940s and returned to Iran to begin his career in film. During the 1979 Iranian Revolution all movies were subject to review by the Iranian government and many of them banned due to their content while others were "purified" or altered to suit the growing anti-western and pro-Islamic sentiment. This caused a pause in his film career starting in 1980 and ending with his move to the United States where he settled in California to begin his work on Hollywood Cop. He apparently received a social security number in Alabama but it is unclear how long he was there or for what purpose.
On the set Shervan used improvisational acting and dialog often, in part due to this technique having cultural roots and later due to English being his second language. He often worked with actors/directors/writers in Iran who were never educated in film making, many of which had never graduated high school. His Iranian audience of the 1950s to 1980 was therefore accustomed to a much lower standard than the average U.S. viewer of the late 1980s. This combination of circumstances made for a large degree of accidental humor and bloopers as perceived by his new viewer base and also led to his post-mortem success as a cult-classic b-movie director. Ironically, Shervan was one of the more polished and educated filmmakers of his time in Iran and was respected as such.
He died on November 1, 2006 at age 77 soon before his rise in popularity in the U.S. as a b-movie director. He is survived by a son named Ben Shervan.- Director
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Barbet Schroeder was born on 26 August 1941 in Tehran, Iran. He is a director and producer, known for Our Lady of the Assassins (2000), Single White Female (1992) and Murder by Numbers (2002). He has been married to Bulle Ogier since April 1991.- Actress
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Award-winning actress, Leila Hatami, was born on October 1, 1972 in Tehran, Iran, to legendary Iranian Director, Ali Hatami, and actress mother, Zari Khoshkam (Zahra Hatami). During her childhood, she appeared in several of her father's films including the historical TV series, Nightingales (1988), and biopic Kamalolmolk (1984), as well as a role as Leila, the blind Turkish princess in the film The Love-stricken (1992). After completing high school, she moved to Lausanne, Switzerland and started her studies in Electronic Engineering. However, after two years she changed her major to French Literature. She completed her studies in a couple of years and moved back to Iran.
After a pause in her film career of a few years which included her studies in Switzerland, she made her professional entry into cinema with Dariush Mehrjui's film Leila (1997) as the title character. Her performance in the film received rave reviews from critics and audiences worldwide. She also received the Diploma of Honor for Best Actress from the 15th Fajr Film Festival. Later, she married her co-star Ali Mosaffa in 1999. They now have two children: a son named Mani (born February 2007) and a daughter named Asal (born October 2008).
To date, Hatami has worked with some of the most celebrated Iranian directors. Moreover, her performance in The Deserted Station (2002) won the Best Actress award from the 26th Montreal World Film Festival. She also appeared in her husband's directorial debut film, Portrait of a Lady Far Away (2005). In 2011, she won the prestigious Silver Berlin Bear award at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival for the Best Actress in a Leading Role in Asghar Farhadi's internationally acclaimed film, A Separation (2011).- Sam Asghari is an American actor that is up-and-coming in the TV/Film industry. Sam was born in the country of Iran, he then migrated to the United States in the year of 2006 with his father. In high school Sam played American football at Westlake High School in Southern California. He was also involved with acting on stage in the school's drama program. After graduating high school, Sam continued with football and drama programs in college--after college, Sam decided to get involved in the fitness industry and help people achieve their goals. Sam lost about 100 pounds and became an inspiration for the people around him. After having a big following on social media, mostly fitness-driven people Sam began his career in both TV and film just a few years ago.
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Maz Jobrani was born on 26 February 1972 in Tehran, Iran. He is an actor and writer, known for Friday After Next (2002), Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero (2016) and Dragonfly (2002). He has been married to Preetha since 2006. They have two children.- Writer
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Majid Majidi was born on April 17, 1959 in Tehran, Iran to a middle class family. He started acting in amateur theater groups at the age of fourteen. After receiving his high school diploma, he started studying art at the Institute of Dramatic Art in Tehran. After the Islamic Revolution of 1979, his interest in cinema brought him to act in various films, notably Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Boycott (1986) where he played a frustraited communist and Ali Asghar Shadravan's The Execution (1986) where he played the role of real life character, Andarzgoo. Later, he started writing and directing short films. His feature film screenwriting and directing debut is marked by Baduk (1992), which was presented at the Quinzaine of Cannes and won awards at Tehran's Fajr Film Festival. Since then, he has written and directed many noteworthy films that won worldwide recognitions, notably Children of Heaven (1997), winner of the Best Picture award at the Montreal International Film Festival and nominated for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, The Color of Paradise (1999), which also won the Best Picture award from Montreal International Film Festival and set a new record of box office for an Asian film, and Baran (2001), which won several major awards worldwide, notably the Best Picture award at the 25th Montreal World Film Festival and received nomination for the European Film Academy Award. In 2001, during the Afghanistan anti-Taliban war, he produced Barefoot to Herat (2003), an emotional documentary about Afghanistan's refugee camps that won the Fipresci Award at Thessaloniki International Film Festival. Majjid Majid has also received the Douglas Sirk Award in 2001 and the Amici Vittorio de Sica Award in 2003. In 2005, he directed The Willow Tree (2005) about a blind man who falls in love with someone other than his wife when he gets the chance to see again, which won four awards at the 2005 Fajr Film Festival in Tehran. He is one of Iran's most influential directors and his films have a simple and poetic feel to them.- Marina Ghane was born on 24 March 1946 in Tehran, Iran. She is an actress, known for El Dorado (1966), The Green Hornet (1966) and The Wild Wild West (1965). She was previously married to Erik Holland.
- She is an Iranian actress and one of the most talented, rapidly fame growing celebrities among new generation stars of Iranian Cinema. Her fame is mainly due to her indispensable performance, outstanding face-acting and exceptional enunciation.
Born in 1985 Iran, Babol (Mazandaran province) upon being accepted in the university, course of Graphic Arts, she moved to Tehran. While studying university, she was offered an audition which led to her first appearance in a movie named "A Man and a City" (2007). This movie was not successful in both box office (indeed it did not get general presentation) and critic reviews.
She made her breakthrough by appearing in TV series "Five Kilometres to Paradise" (2011) and TV series Zamaneh (2012) alongside with some successful Telefilms such as "The Pool" (Estakhr, 2014). Then she starred in the home video network series "Shahrzad" (2015-16) in which she played a leading role and got her triumph.
The series succeeded by her appearance in first film director Saeed Roustayi's movie "Life plus one day" (2015) in which she played the main character then nominated and won the Crystal Simorgh for the best actress in the 34th International Fajr Film Festival.
She is also involved and interested in charity work and Animal rights. In 2013 she participated in a reading plays, giving away all the acquired money to Mahak, which is an organization that supports cancerous children. She also contributes to animal shelters from time to time. - Actress
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Bahar Pars is an actress known for feature films A Man Called Ove, Handling the Undead and Maya Nilo (Laura). A Man Called Ove was nominated in the category Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards 2017. In 2015, she was awarded the Medea Award with the citation "In her own personal way Bahar Pars widens the ways to play classical female roles and bring them into our present time"- Actor
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Raised in Northern California, Ali Afshar grew up in the green Sonoma Mountains of Petaluma. His passion for speed and entertaining was evident at a very early age as his family could often find him racing motorcycles and horses at the age of 5 on their 200 acre ranch. The son of Eskandar Afshar and Leila Kasra Afshar, he is the youngest of 3 brothers. His father is an international agricultural business man and his mother was a world renowned Persian poet and lyricist before her passing in 1989. In addition to his parents guiding influence, Ali experienced a vast variety of life experiences following in the footsteps of his two older brothers, Pasha and John. He grew up competing in Break-Dancing & Bicycle Freestyle events all over Northern California. Once he tasted freedom with his driver's license at age 16, Ali won his first High School Challenge for drag racing at Sears Point International Raceway, representing Casa Grande High School. Through high school, Ali could be found almost every week at the Sears Point Raceway competing in the Wednesday Night Drags, racing his classic 1967 Chevrolet Camaro. If he wasn't racing he was in wrestling practice honing his skills. Ali was an outstanding wrestler and set numerous school records. His diligence paid off and made him a California State Finalist in 1991.
After high school, Ali turned his attention to his dream of acting and relocated to Los Angeles. While fulfilling his parents wishes of studying medicine at California State University Northridge, he began to pursue a career in acting for movies and television. Ali immediately started learning from some of the most talented teachers available in Los Angeles and started auditioning. He quickly landed his first job as a skateboarder in a Pepsi commercial and was then cast as the principal actor in a commercial for the Southern California family water park "Raging Waters". Ali paired his acting and racing income to pay for his tuition for college which ultimately led to his graduation from California State University Northridge with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology as a pre-med major. However, his true desires soon led him away from medicine and toward Hollywood.
Screen Shot 2016-10-11 at 3.34.24 PM.png While pursuing his acting career, Ali also founded Easy Street Motorsports (also known as ESX Motorsports), an automotive performance and race facility that eventually led him to race for Subaru of America and achieved a certain celebrity racing status. ESX became a 2 Time NHRA National & World Champion Team, 18 Time NHRA event champion, 2005 Rally America Champion (with Rocket Rally) and dozens of Import Face Off, IDRC, NOPI and Battle of the Imports series all while setting multiple world records! Ali also created the exclusive and highly anticipated "Ali Afshar Signature Series ESX'' line of Aston Martin and Subaru vehicles that are sold directly through Subaru and Aston Martin dealerships across the nation. Ali also built the one of a kind, carbon fiber, full tube chassis, 1400HP, all-wheel drive Subaru. This Subaru set the record for the World's Quickest and Fastest All Wheel Drive car and the World's Fastest Subaru! This Subaru thundered down the 1/4 mile in 7.9 seconds at over 175 MPH back in 2006, and now Ali pilots a twin turbo 2000 horsepower 2013 Subaru BRZ that has blasted down the 1/4 mile in 7.2 seconds and is on it's way to be the first Subaru to run a 6 second 1/4 mile!
Ali landed his first major television acting role, as (a very fitting) mechanic-racer named "Grease" on the NBC show "Saved By The Bell". He then started working on a string of feature films such as "Three Kings", "Godzilla", HBO's "Guardian" and "The Siege". Ali got his first taste of working with great talent on these projects that included award winning directors and actors!
While most of his feature film projects were dramatic roles, Ali started showing his comedic funny bone on the small screen and landed the recurring role of "Sanjib" on the CBS hit show "The King Of Queens". He kept the smiles going as he worked on another CBS sitcom "City Guys", had a blast as the singing foreign exchange student "Bjorgy" on the FOX children show "The Masked Rider" and kept everyone on their toes with the very funny "Jamie Kennedy Experiment". While he was doing all of this "on camera" work, Ali also enjoyed a voice over gig that spanned over 3 years as the voice of the "Phantom Ranger" on the hit FOX/Saban children TV show "Power Rangers".
Ali soon returned to his dramatic strengths and landed a 4 episode arc on the CBS show "JAG". He continued in his serious ways and worked on two more CBS shows, "NCIS" and "The Agency." He also booked guest spots on the PAX Network show "It's A Miracle" as well the FOX show "Americas Most Wanted." This led him right back to CBS where he landed his first leading role opposite Chuck Norris in the CBS Movie of the Week "The President's Man: A Line in the Sand". He quickly followed his leading role and booked another dramatic supporting role on an NBC Movie of the Week titled "Homeland Security.'' Ali took a hiatus from his acting career while his race car driving talents had him traveling across the nation for Subaru of America and ESX Motorsports from 2004 thru 2009. After years of full-time racing, setting world records and winning national championships were scribed into the history books, Ali turned his full attention back to his acting career in late 2009.
Screen Shot 2016-10-11 at 3.36.04 PM.png His first role back from his racing "hiatus", Ali landed a supporting role in the feature film "He's Just Not That Into You", based on the best selling book. Ali plays the character of "Skip" alongside a star studded cast including Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Connolly, Ben Affleck, Justin Long, Kevin Connolly & more! This movie is directed by Emmy nominated director Ken Kwapis.
Ali kept busy in 2009, he played the character of "Cyrus" alongside Academy Award winner Holly Hunter on the hit "TNT" television show, "Saving Grace". He was cast as "Jonathan" in the comedic web series "Peas In A Pod". He was cast in a new web pilot/series titled "Marisa Rules/Girls Gone College" directed by "Ellen Sandler" (Writer/Producer of Everybody Loves Raymond). Ali also shot a national Mercedes-Benz commercial for the new 2008 "C-Class" titled "Projections" directed by Adam Berg and a "Blue Shield of California" insurance commercial. In November 2009, Ali filmed and worked alongside "The Most Interesting Man The World" in one of the extremely popular "Dos Equis" national beer commercials.
2010 brought Ali back his producing hat and created his first full length feature titled "Born To Race". A teen action film best described as "Fast and Furious meets Friday Night Lights"! Ali tapped into his rich auto racing history and brought dozens of sponsors to support him in this film including Subaru of America, NHRA, Pep Boys, Injen and more! Ali also had a supporting role in this film and played a character very close to home.. Himself! Born to Race was released in foreign markets in 2011 and was a hit on Netflix and in the spring of 2012 in North America. "Born to Race" surprised audiences and exceeded sales around the world thus, the second producing endeavor in Ali's auto based films titled "Born to Race FAST TRACK" was scripted and started filming in the fall of 2012.
Expanding his producing endeavors, Ali's "ESX Productions" created commercials for his special edition "Ali Afshar Signature Series Subaru and Aston Martin" vehicles, Subaru and Aston Martin promotional events, BFGoodrich Tires, Glendale Mitsubishi and a music video for "American Idol" finalist "Katelyn Epperly".
In June 2012, Ali booked roles in the highly anticipated "USA" network TV show "Political Animals" starring Sigourney Weaver and in the Oscar award winning Ben Affleck directed and starred film titled "Argo". Unfortunately a scheduling conflict didn't allow Ali to travel to the Middle East for filming and he had to pass on the great opportunity. In 2013 Ali got back in the saddle of a new Subaru Race Car, a 2013 Subaru BRZ and is attempting to set the world record with a 2000 horsepower, twin turbo, alcohol drinking, nitrous oxide breathing Subaru!
Screen Shot 2016-10-11 at 3.36.21 PM.png In summer of 2014, Ali won the IDRC Winter Nationals in Fontana, CA in his Worlds Fastest Street Subaru. Also, in the summer of 2014, the next generation of the limited "Ali Afshar Signature Series ESX STI" 2015 model year Subaru vehicles will be manufactured and become available thru participating Subaru dealerships across North America. These special 10th Anniversary editions are called the "Red Dragon" series.
In 2014, Ali partnered with Forrest Lucas of the Lucas Oil empire, including the Indianapolis Colts Super Bowl Stadium "Lucas Oil Stadium", Lucas Cattle and MAV TV, to create a slate of feature films. The first film "The Dog Lover" was filmed in late summer 2014. And "American Wrestler: The Wizard", a story best described as "Rocky meets The Karate," a heartfelt coming of age story of perseverance in the face of adversity based on Ali and his family, filmed Summer 2015. Starring Oscar winner Jon Voight and William Fichtner. The third film "Running Wild" starring Sharon Stone and Tommy Flanagan and fourth film "Pray for Rain" starring Jane Seymour also filmed in 2015. These films gained the attention of legendary studio executives at the legendary Warner Bros. Studios , and Ali relocated his offices on to the lot of the famous studio in late 2015.
In 2016 Ali produced "Dirt", a high action car racing film with heart starring Kevin Dillon and also produced "Ride", starring Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, a true story of an abused and racist young boy who gets adopted by an African American man, overcomes their differences and becomes a BMX bicycle world champion.
In 2016 after 2 years of racing development, Ali got back into the driver's seat and set the world record for the Quickest and Fastest Subaru ever, while he blistered down the 1/4 mile at 7.22 seconds at 195mph. In 2017 and 2018, Ali with the help of Warner Bros, started releasing their slate of films and kept his productions rolling, including the films "American Fighter", "Bennett's War, "Roped", "Lady Driver", "The Stand at Paxton County" and "Wheels of Fortune" which were all released on Netflix!
In 2019 Ali produced the MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) action film "Born A Champion" starring Dennis Quaid. In 2020, as the Covid pandemic started sweeping the county, Ali utilized his resources and went into producing on what may have been the first film in California during the Covid crisis, a small holiday film called "A California Christmas", which ultimately became a huge hit on Netflix when it was released in 2020! It was the #1 film worldwide on Netflix for almost 2 weeks! In the fall of 2020 Ali also helped create and produce his first series "Casa Grande"
In 2021 Ali kept the holiday spirit alive as he produced a slate of 3 films for Netflix, including "That's Amor", "I Believe in Santa" and the sequel "A California Christmas: City Lights".
Ali and ESX Productions have a slate of films scheduled for filming in 2022 under the new production banner Lila Lane Pictures! As the ESX family says, "The story has just begun".- Marjan Neshat was born on 10 October 1975 in Tehran, Iran. She is an actress, known for RoboCop (2014), Alfie (2004) and The Book of Henry (2017).
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Hossein Amini was born in Iran, and when he was 11 years old, he and his family moved to England. Amini's first screenplay was for the 1994 TV movie The Dying of the Light, which was directed by Peter Kosminsky. The TV movie covered the murder of Sean Devereux, an aid worker who was murdered in Somalia in 1993 for criticizing arms sales. It was nominated "Best Single Drama" at the British Academy Television Awards. Amini also wrote an adapted screenplay of the 1895 novel Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. Producer Andrew Eaton commissioned the screenplay in 1995, and it was filmed by Michael Winterbottom as Jude, released in 1996. Amini also wrote a screenplay for another TV movie, Deep Secrets, which aired in 1996. Amini wrote the adapted screenplay for The Wings of the Dove, which was based on the 1902 eponymous novel by Henry James. The film, directed by Iain Softley, was released in 1997 and received critical claim. Amini was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay. In September 2013, Amini delivered a screenwriting lecture as part of the BAFTA and BFI Screenwriters' Lecture Series.- Director
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Milad Alami was born on 14 May 1982 in Tehran, Iran. He is a director and writer, known for The Charmer (2017), Opponent (2023) and Intet kan røre mig (2011).- Actress
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Rosie Malek-Yonan is an Assyrian born in Tehran who lives in the U.S. She is an actress, award winning writer, director, producer, published author, documentary filmmaker, a classically trained pianist, composer, and an Assyrian advocate. She is a descendant of one of the oldest and most prominent Assyrian Christian families from the Middle-East, the Malek Family of Jilu, tracing her Assyrian roots back eleven centuries.
Rosie's father, George Malek-Yonan (1924-2014), an Assyrian, was Iran's Champion of Champions with numerous gold medals in track and field and the pentathlon. He became an international attorney and is credited with securing a seat for the Assyrian Christians as a recognized minority in the Iranian Parliament (Majlis). This was a huge milestone for a nation without a country since the fall of the Assyrian Empire. Rosie's mother, Lida Malek-Yonan (1928-2002) also an Assyrian, was a well-known humanitarian and activist who tirelessly worked a lifetime demanding rights for minority Assyrian Christian women in Iran and secured their recognition by establishing the Assyrian Women's Organization, the only Assyrian organization officially recognized as a charter member of the Iranian Women's Association presided over by Queen Farah Pahlavi.
Rosie's grandparents who were survivors of the Assyrian Genocide of 1914-1918, left Geogtapah during the Great Exodus from Urmia in 1918. After World War One, Dr. Jesse Malek-Yonan, her great uncle, represented the Assyrians of Urmia, Iran, at the Paris Peace Talks in 1919. Before WWII, the Malek-Yonan family returned to Tehran where her parents met and were married.
Her sister, Monica, works very closely with her on most of her projects. The Malek-Yonan sister are award-winning writers whose screenplays have earned more than a hundred awards and nominations at film festivals and screenplay competitions nationally and internationally. The sisters trained in the U.S. in figure skating and were to represent Iran in the 1980 Winter Olympics but decided not to compete after the Iranian Revolution made it virtually impossible. The new Islamic Government required them to denounce Christianity and become Muslim, wear head covering, long skirts, and perform without music.
Rosie began studying classical piano at the age of four and attended the Tehran Conservatory of Music. She won first place in many national piano competitions and was invited by Queen Farah Pahlavi to play at a Command Performance for the Royal Family.
She received her degree in English from the University of Cambridge and continued studying classical piano with Saul Joseph at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and acting with Ray Reinhardt at the American Conservatory Theatre. She graduated from San Francisco State University with two degrees in Music. She won an invitation to study drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and studied acting at the historic Pasadena Playhouse where she performed on the main stage in "The Time of Your Life". Rosie has directed and written numerous plays that have been produced and performed on stage to rave reviews.
She made her television debut on Dynasty (1981) in 1982 followed by a national commercial for AT&T where she spoke in Assyrian (related to Aramaic), a language that, years later, director Mel Gibson would use in The Passion of the Christ (2004). Since the early 1980s, she has worked on notable television shows, in films and onstage, opposite many of Hollywood's leading actors. She played Nuru Il-Ebrahim, opposite Reese Witherspoon, in New Line Cinema's Rendition (2007), directed by Academy Award-winning director Gavin Hood.
Rosie Malek-Yonan is an outspoken advocate of issues concerning her Assyrian nation, in particular bringing attention to the 1914-1918 Assyrian Genocide as well as the plight of modern-day Assyrians in the Middle-East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and its Coalition Forces. She is frequently interviewed on television and radio programs worldwide including Australia's ABC National Radio and publications such as the New York Times, giving her assessment of the current situation of the Assyrians in the Middle-East as well as discussing the topic of the Assyrian Genocide. As a public speaker, she has been invited to lecture on the topic of the Assyrian Genocide. She has lectured at University of California (Berkeley and Merced campuses) and at Woodbury University, among other schools. In 2008, she addressed the topic of genocide, world peace and the 1914-1918 Assyrian Genocide in statements invited to be presented at the House of Lords on 12 March and on 24 April at the UK House of Commons.
She is the author of "Rosie Malek-Yonan's The Crimson Field", an historical and literary epic novel, based on real events and true family chronicles set to the backdrop of the 1914-1918 Assyrian Genocide, in which 750,000 Assyrians were massacred by the Ottoman Turks, Kurds, and Persians in Ottoman Turkey and in the Assyrian inhabited region of Urmia in northwestern Iran.
In 2006, Washington D.C.-based Zinda Magazine, selected "Rosie Malek-Yonan's The Crimson Field" as The Assyrian Event of the Year 2005 and MAKE, a Chicago Literary Magazine featured it in their 4th edition. "Rosie Malek-Yonan's The Crimson Field" was added to the State University of New York (SUNY) course curriculum. This is the first time that the Assyrian Genocide was recognized and studied at an institution of higher learning.
When Rosie Malek-Yonan's The Crimson Field was brought to the attention of Congress, on June 30, 2006, Rosie was invited to testify on Capitol Hill before a Congressional Committee of the 109th Congress on religious freedom regarding the genocide, massacres and persecution of Assyrians in Iraq by Kurds and Islamists. During her 33-minute testimony, she compared the events of 1914-1918, as depicted in The Crimson Field, to the current plight of the indigenous Assyrian Christians in Iraq. Her passionate testimony and plea to the United States government, ultimately prompted Congressman Christopher Smith (R-NJ) to travel to war-torn Iraq to witness matters for himself. While in Iraq, after meeting with local Assyrians, he turned in Malek-Yonan's report to U.S. Officials in Iraq. One year later, a Congressional Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously voted on and sent $10 million to aid the Assyrians in Iraq.
Monica Malek-Yonan's documentary film, My Assyrian Nation on the Edge, was based on Rosie's Congressional Testimony. It was released September 2006. On 7 August 2008, the documentary film premiered at the Australian Parliament of New South Wales in Sydney.
Various media sources including The Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and the U.K. Iraqi Study have quoted and used Rosie Malek-Yonan's Congressional Testimony and her various published articles, speeches and interviews regarding the state of affairs in Iraq concerning its Assyrian indigenous people as well as the Assyrian refugees in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Her Congressional Testimony and her book, The Crimson Field, have been referenced in numerous academic papers and books.
Rosie Malek-Yonan is a contributing writer to "Seyfo: Genocide, Denial and the Right of Recognition" (ISBN 91-972351-2-1), a book which is a compilation of articles and speeches presented at conferences held in the European Parliament and published in the Netherlands.
At the 73rd Annual Assyrian Convention in Chicago, the Board of Advisers of the Assyrian American National Federation, Inc. named and awarded Rosie Malek-Yonan 2006 Woman of the Year.
For her numerous contributions as an actress, artist, director, author, and activist, IAPAC awarded Rosie Malek-Yonan the 2008 Excellence in Arts and Entertainment Award.
At the Assyrian Universal Alliance 26th World Conference in Sydney, Australia, Rosie Malek-Yonan was awarded and named the 2009 Assyrian Woman of the Year in recognition of her substantial contribution to advance the Assyrian national cause by promoting international recognition of the Assyrian Genocide, her extensive efforts in conveying the needs of the Assyrians to the United States government, and achievements in providing individual service to the Assyrian community worldwide.
For International Woman's Day, the Netherland based Assyrie Magazinë gave her the recognition of Assyrian Power-Woman.
Robert Kennedy Center Human Rights - Women's History Month Spotlight, Kerry Kennedy wrote: "Rosie Malek-Yonan fearlessly shines light on the challenges of Assyrians in Iraq...Rosie strives for peaceful conflict resolution in the face of violence."
She has spoken at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance to address the escalating crisis and the deadly attacks on the Assyrians in Iraq.
Rosie was an ambassador for the Swedish-based humanitarian organization, Assyrians Without Borders. She is a founding member of the Assyrian Cultural and Arts Society. For several years beginning in 2005 scholarships were given to students at Woodbury University's Design School through an annual Assyrian Design Competition.