Bahamn Ghobadi talks about his films, cinema and Kurdistan. About Ghobadi: Bahman Ghobadi (Kurdish: بههمهنی قوبادی, Persian: بهمن قبادی ) is a Kurdish Iranian film director. He was born on February 1, 1969 in Baneh, Iran. Ghobadi belongs to the so called "new wave" of Iranian cinema. He was born in Baneh, in northwestern Kurdistan Province of Iran. His family moved to Sanandaj in 1981. In 1983, Kambozia Partovi discovered him as a young talent and supported him to enter cinema. Among others who had major influence on Ghobadi, was Behrouz Maghsoudlou, a renowned Iranian documentary film director and film critic. Ghobadi received a Bachelor of Arts in film directing from the Iranian Broadcasting College. After a brief career in industrial photography, Ghobadi began making short 8 mm films. His documentary Life In Fog won numerous awards. Bahman Ghobadi was assistant director on Abbas Kiarostami's The Wind Will Carry Us. He was also one of the two main actors in Samira Makhmalbaf's The Blackboard (1999). Bahman Ghobadi founded Mij Film in 2000, a company with the aim of production of films in Iran about its different ethnic groups. His first feature film was A Time for Drunken Horses (2000), the first Kurdish film produced in Iran. The film won Caméra d'Or at Cannes Film Festival. His second feature was Marooned in Iraq (2002), which brought him the Gold Plaque from Chicago International Film Festival. His third feature, Turtles Can Fly, followed in 2004, winning the Glass Bear and Peace Film Award at Berlin International Film Festival and Golden Shell at San Sebastian International Film Festival. In 2006, Ghobadi's Half Moon won Golden Shell at San Sebastian International Film Festival. Iran's renowned actors Golshifteh Farahani, Hassan Poorshirazi and Hedyeh Tehrani (also assistant director) acted in this movie. The music of the movie was made by Iran's world-class musician Hossein Alizadeh. The film, which is a collaborative project by Iran, France, Austria and Iraq, was shot fully in Iranian Kurdistan. However, it narrates the story of a group of Iranian Kurdish musicians who would like to travel to Iraq and organize a concert in Iraqi Kurdistan. In 2006, Index on Censorship gave Ghobadi an Index Film Award for making a significant contribution to freedom of expression through his film "Turtles Can Fly Filmography: Short Films: Golbaji 1990 A Glance 1990 Again Rain with Melody 1995 Party 1996 Like Mother 1996 God's Fish 1996 Notebook's Quote 1996 Ding 1996 Life in Fog 1997 The Pigeon of Nader Flew 1997 Telephone Booth 1997 War is Over 2003 Daf 2003 Films: A Time for Drunken Horses 2000 Marooned in Iraq 2002 Turtles Can Fly 2004 Half Moon 2006 Author: OzuKardozi Keywords: Bahman Ghobadi Cinema Film Kurdistan Iran Iraq Kurds Kurdish art documentary experimental filmmaker reel interview manga short film trailer tutorial Added: May 16, 2008
