Bahman Ghobadi

Biography

Bahman Ghobadi was born on February 1st, 1969 in Baneh, a city near the Iran-Iraq border in the province of Kurdistan, Iran. He was the first son in a family of seven siblings. He lived in Baneh until, at the age of 12, civil disputes caused his entire family to immigrate to Sanandaj (the center of Kurdistan Province in Iran).

After receiving his high school diploma from Sanandaj, he came to Tehran in 1992 in order to further his studies. Ghobadi started his artistic career in the field of Industrial Photography. Although he earned a B.A. in Film Directing from the Iranian Broadcasting College, he never properly graduated because he believed that he learned more by creating short films than during formal studies. His direct experience with film helped him to expand his individualistic voice and vision of the world he inhabited. He initially used 8mm film, shooting short documentaries as a starting point.

Beginning in the mid 1990s Ghobadi's short films received many foreign and domestic awards. One of his films, "Life in Fog" became known as "the most famous documentary ever made in the history of Iranian cinema." In the wake of being awarded several different International Awards, this film opened up new opportunities in Ghobadi's career.

With the making of his full-length feature "A Time for Drunken Horses" in 1999, Ghobadi became fully recognized as a professional director. Not only was this the first Kurdish full-feature film in the history of Iranian cinema, but Ghobadi also came to be recognized as the pioneer Kurdish director from Iran.

‍Participation in festivals as part of the Jury

1. Cannes International Film Festival, Golden Shell district, 2002
2. Rotterdam International Film Festival, 26 Jnuary to 6 februry, 2004
3. Gwangju International Film Festival, Korea, 28 April to 6 May, 2006
4. Vila do conde International Film Festival, Portogal, 3 to 11 Julay, 2006
5. Anonimul International Film Festival, 14 to 19 August, 2006
6. Sao Paolo International Film Festival, October, 2006
7. Eurasia International Film festival, Kazakhstan, 7-13 September, 2008
8. The independent Film festival off Camera, Poland. 1-5 October, 2008

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