Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Mojtaba Mirtahmasb is one of the most renowned Iranian documentary filmmakers. He started filmmaking in 1990, after admission to the University of Tehran where he received a BA in Handicrafts from the School of Art. He has conducted research, scriptwriting, directing and producing for nearly 40 documentary films which include Six Centuries Six Years, This Is Not a Film, Lady of the Roses, Off Beat, Back Vocal, The River Still Has Fish and The Banner. This Is Not a Film was the outcome of a directorial and production partnership with Jafar Panahi. It was first premiered at the 64th Cannes Film Festival (Official Selection) and was on the short list for the best documentary for the 2012 Oscar.
Mirtahmasb has won many awards and prizes including the Fajr International Film Festival Crystal Simorgh (Phoenix) and the Jury Award, the Special Jury Award at the Cinéma Vérité Film Festival, Best Documentary Film Award from the Grand Ceremony of the House of Cinema, the NETPAC Award, UNESCO Award for Best Documentary Film, and the award for the Best Experimental Documentary Film from the US National Society of Film Critics.
Mirtahmasb has been a member of the board of directors of the Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association (IRDFA) for six years, serving two years as its chairperson. He is one among very few independent Iranian documentary filmmakers. Besides filmmaking, he has recently undertaken producing several film projects.
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The River Still Has Fish
رودخانه هنوز ماهی دارد
Directed by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb • 2002 • Iran
Yesterday the river was alive. Roaring, pure and full of fish. But today the river is only a narrow brook without fish that only contain corpses of dead animals and sewage from surrounding houses and shops. In this situation, an ... -
Off Beat
ساز مخالف
Directed by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb • 2004 • Iran
Off Beat is about young music lover—influenced by musical trends in the world, some of which are deemed harmful by officials in Iran—who have no place in the formal Iranian music scene and who play music in the quiet of their homes. Once I st... -
Back Vocal
صدای دوم
Directed by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb • 2004 • Iran
Back Vocal tells the story of women singers, whose unaccompanied singing is forbidden by religious laws of the country, but who nonetheless try to remain active; even if that means taking the second seat. I knew from the beginning that such a ... -
Lady of the Roses
بانوی گل سرخ
Directed by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb • 2009 • Iran
“Lady of the Roses” is the name given to late “Shahindokht Sanati”, a lady who went to Lalehzaar region of Kerman before the Islamic revolution, and replaced poppies with roses and opium with rosewater, and took this so far as transforming... -
Six Centuries, Six Years
شش قرن و شش سال
Directed by Mojtaba Mirtahmasb • 2014 • Iran
Film portrays the endeavors of a group of Iranian master musicians who are trying to locate, restore and record a repertoire of compositions attributed to Abd al-Qadir Maraghi, a prominent composer who lived six centuries ago and greatl... -
Touran Khanom
توران خانم
Directed by Rakhshan Banietemad, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb • 2018 • Iran
Touran Mirhadi (Khomarloo) is the founder of Farhad School, the Children's Book Council, and the Encyclopedia for Young People. She was also actively involved with close to 20 other institutions dealing with child develo...
