Banned and Celebrated: The Bold Films of Iranian Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Banned and Celebrated: The Bold Films of Iranian Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf
💬 "Raw & Real: GenZ Conversations with Ali
In this episode Ali discusses Mohsen Makhmalbaf. He is a student journalist with us on a placement organised by the Oxford University Career Services. This article was edited using Lex.
🎧 listen to Ali's backstory here - she discusses her motivation & research as well.
Ali also wrote a short 2 min read article about Mohsen with a summary inforgraphic.
Mohsen Makhmalbaf is an Iranian film director, ex-revolutionary, and a refugee. He was born in Tehran in May 1957 and has been living in Paris since leaving Iran in 2005 and permanently relocating after the 2009 Iranian presidential election. He is one of contemporary Iran’s most celebrated and influential filmmakers, working in fictional and documentary films.
Makhmalbaf held revolutionary ideals opposing the monarchy government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi early in his life. At 15, he set up a guerrilla-style political group to overthrow the Shah. At 17, he was jailed for attempting to stab a policeman and was released five years later when the Shah fled during the 1979 revolution. In prison, he shared cells with famous revolutionaries. He was involved in politics since early in his life, and probably never stopped being a part of Iranian politics despite his later career as a filmmaker.
Makhmalbaf began his filmmaking in the 1980s writing screenplays for various directors. By the late 1990s and early 21st century, he had directed some of his best-known and controversial films, including A Moment of Innocence and Kandahar, both banned in Iran. A few years later, Makhmalbaf left Iran after criticizing the disputed re-election of President Ahmadinejad.
One of his post-emigration films, The Gardener, best demonstrates his filmmaking style. It's a documentary about the Baha’i Faith. (Makhmalbaf traveled to Israel and ensured a five-year prison sentence in Iran if he returned). He focuses less on the religion's doctrine and more on the interrelatedness of religion, social conventions, and human behavior
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