Mitra Farahani

Mitra Farahani
میترا فراهانی
Farahani at the 72nd Berlin International Film Festival, 2022
Born	(1975-01-27) January 27, 1975 (age 50) Tehran, Pahlavi Iran
Nationality	Iranian
Education	Islamic Azad University, École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs
Occupation(s)	Filmmaker, painter
Notable work	Fifi Howls from Happiness

Mitra Farahani (in Persian: میترا فراهانی; born 1975)[1] is an Iranian filmmaker and painter who currently lives in Paris.

Biography

Mitra Farahani was born on January 27, 1975, in Tehran, Pahlavi Iran.[2] Farahani has a degree in graphic art (1997) from Islamic Azad University in Tehran.[2] After graduation she moved to Paris in 1998.[3] In 1999, she lived in Hamburg briefly.[2] In 2000, she studied at École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (ENSAD) in Paris.[2]

The film Tabous - Zohre & Manouchehr (2004) is about her artistic pursuits.[2]

She was arrested on June 17, 2009, by the Iranian government, on her arrival in Tehran from Paris and held in Evin Prison. It is said that her arrest is linked to the crackdown of opposition by the Iranian government following the presidential election, and by angering the Iranian government by making non-Islamic films outside Iran.[4][5] The Iranian government released her from prison on 30 June 2009.[4]

After having screened several of her films at the festival, she was selected as a member of the jury for the 64th Berlin International Film Festival in 2014.[6] She returned to the Berlin International Film Festival in 2022 with her documentary See You Friday, Robinson, selected in the section Encounters.[7]

Filmography

Farahani has directed several films including;

• Juste une femme (in English: Just a Woman) (2002), the first film about a gender reassignment in Iran, which was mostly shot on hidden cameras.[8]
• Tabous - Zohre & Manouchehr (2004)
• Behjat Sadr: Time Suspended (2006)
• Fifi az Khoshhali Zooze Mikeshad (in English: Fifi Howls from Happiness) (2012), a documentary about the Iranian painter, sculptor and theatre director Bahman Mohasses.[9][10]
• See You Friday, Robinson (French: À Vendredi, Robinson) (2022)[11]

Farahani has worked as a cinematographer for films including;

• Ziarat (English: Pilgrimage)(2005)
• Fifi az Khoshhali Zooze Mikeshad (English: Fifi Howls from Happiness) (2012)

Awards

Farahani's Juste une femme (in English: Just a Woman) film won a Teddy Award in 2002 at the Berlin International Film Festival (or Berlinale).[2]

Her film See You Friday, Robinson (À vendredi, Robinson) premiered in the Encounters section of the 2022 Berlinale,[12][13] and won it the New Horizons Film Festival in Wrocław, Poland.

See also

• List of Iranian artists
• 2009 Iranian election protests
• Bahman Kiarostami, collaborated with Farahani

References

1. "Tabous zohre & manouchehr". Laboratorioimmaginedonna.it. Archived from the original on 2006-05-07. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
2. Pallister, Janis L.; Hottell, Ruth A. (2005). French-speaking Women Documentarians: A Guide (in French). Peter Lang. p. 152. ISBN 978-0-8204-7614-8.
3. "Behjat Sadr: Time Suspended". Butimar Productions. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
4. "Iran election: faces of the dead and detained". The Guardian. 2010-01-28. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
5. "Iran - Imprisonnement [sic] of the film-maker Mitra Farahani". BuddhaChannel. Archived from the original on 2012-02-17. Retrieved 2015-06-21.
6. "Berlinale 2014: International Jury". Berlinale. Retrieved 2013-12-31.
7. "Encounters: See You Friday, Robinson". Retrieved 2023-01-03.
8. Faris, David M.; Rahimi, Babak (2015-11-20). Social Media in Iran: Politics and Society after 2009. SUNY Press. p. 256. ISBN 978-1-4384-5884-7.
9. Dargis, Manohla (2014-08-07). "Artist Comes Cackling Back to the Limelight". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
10. Keough, Peter (October 29, 2014). "'Fifi Howls from Happiness' a revealing portrait of 'Persian Picasso' - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
11. Rapold, Nicolas (2022-12-14). "'See You Friday, Robinson' Review: Dear Godard". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-03.
12. Katz, David (February 21, 2022). "Review: See You Friday Robinson". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. Retrieved 2022-08-01.
13. "Berlinale 2022: Awards". Retrieved 2023-01-03.

External links

• Mitra Farahani at IMDb