Mojtaba Mirtahmasb
Mojtaba Mirtahmasb is a renowned Iranian documentary filmmaker. Having graduated with a BA in Craft Design from the Art University, he started making films in 1990. He has conducted research, written the script, directed and/or produced for more than 50 documentary films, including Touran Khanom (2018), Six Centuries Six Years (1998), This Is Not a Film (2011), Lady of the Roses (2008), Off Beat (2004), Back Vocal (2004), The River Still Has Fish (2001) and The Banner (1996). 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 prizes including the Crystal Simorgh (Phoenix) and the Jury Award at the Fajr International Film Festival, 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 Best Experimental Documentary Film award from the US National Society of Film Critics.
Mirtahmasb was 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 of the founding members of Tehran Province Documentary Filmmakers’ Guild. In recent years, alongside researching and directing his own films, he has been conceiving and producing film projects, chief among them the Karestan Documentary Film Series.
The documentary series Master Class: New Page is his latest venture as director and producer.
- Born 1971, Kerman, Iran
- Active in professional filmmaking since 1990
- B.A in Handicraft Art, Art University, Tehran, 1995
- Active in documentary filmmaking since 1996 starting with Banner, (one film in Children of Iran Series) followed by about 40 more documentary films
- Member of "Society of Motion Pictures Sound Recordists of Iran" 1992-present
- Member of "Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association" (IRDFA) 1998-present
Member of the board of directors 2005-2010
President of the board 2008-2010
IRDFA’s Overseer 2010-2011
IRDFA’s representative in Arbitrary Council of the house of Cinema 2014-present - Founding member, Tehran Province Documentary Filmmakers’ Guild 2016-present
- Member of "European Documentary Network" (EDN) 2008-present
Filmography
Jila, 57 min, 2024
(Producer & Co-director with Rakhshan Banietemad) Karestan Documentary Film Series
New Page: Theater Directing Masterclass with “Ali Raffi”, 266 min, 2022
(Producer & Co-director with Mehdi Ganji)
New Page: Documentary Photography Masterclass with “Nasrollah Kasraian”, 180 min, 2022
(Producer & Co-director with Mehdi Ganji)
New Page: Children and Nature Masterclass with “Abdol-hossein Vahabzadeh”, 243 min, 2022
(Producer & Co-director with Mehdi Ganji)
New Page: Music Masterclass with “Hossein Alizadeh”, 373 min, 2021
(director & Producer)
New Page: Story Writing Masterclass with “Houshang Moradi Kermani”, 242 min, 2021
(director & Producer)
New Page: Acting Masterclass with “Fatemeh Motamed-Arya”, 230 min, 2021
(director & Producer)
New Page: Filmmaking Masterclass with “Rakhshan Banietemad”, 217 min, 2021
(director & Producer)
house of dreams, Director Mehdi Ganji, 47 min, 2019
(Producer) produced by University of Tehran Cultural Affairs
I'm from University of Tehran, Director Mehdi Ganji, 17 min, 2019
(Producer) produced by University of Tehran Cultural Affairs
Green Soil, Director Shirin Barghnavard, 9 min, 2019
(Producer) Produced by Keep Children in School (KCIS)
From Fooman to Fanni, 24 min, 2018
(Researcher and director) produced by University of Tehran
Touran Khanom, 91 min, 2018
(Co-director with Rakhshan Banietemad & Producer) Karestan Documentary Film Series
Poets of Life, Director Shirin Barghnavard, 73 min, 2017
(Producer) Karestan Documentary Film Series
Puzzleys, Director Mehdi Ganji, 70 min, 2017
(Producer) Karestan Documentary Film Series
Mother of the Earth, Director Mahnaz Afzali, 52 min, 2017
(Producer) Karestan Documentary Film Series
MAHAK: A World She Founded, Director Mohsen Abdolvahab, 57 min, 2017
(Producer) Karestan Documentary Film Series
Friends at Work, Director Mohsen Abdolvahab, 49 min, 2017
(Producer) Karestan Documentary Film Series
Flax to Fire, Director Bahram Azimpour, 52 min, 2017
(Producer) Karestan Documentary Film Series
Tale of a Home, Tale of a Land, 16 min, 2016
(Researcher and director) produced by The Fanni Alumni Association, University of Tehran
A Drop is an Ocean if..., 18 min, 2016
(Researcher and director) produced by The Fanni Foundation, University of Tehran
80 Years of Glory, 20 min, 2016
(Researcher and director) produced by College of Engineering Schools, On the Occasion of the University of Tehran's 80th Anniversary
A Lifetime in an Hour, Director Rakhshan Banietemad, 50 min, 2014
(Producer)
All My Trees, Director Rakhshan Banietemad, 51 min, 2014
(Producer)
MAHAK My Home, 12 min, 2014
(A teamwork with Rakhshan Banietemad, Mohsen Abdolvahab, Amir Esbati), Produced by International Society for Children with Cancer (ISCC)
A Tale Foretold, (Oud Concert by Negar Bouban), 80 min, 2014
(Director and Line Producer), Producer Negar Bouban
Keep Children in School, 6 min, 2013
(A teamwork with Rakhshan Banietemad, Mohsen Abdolvahab, Amir Esbati), Produced by Keep Children in School
Six Centuries, Six Years, 82 min, 2014
(Researcher, script writer, director and producer)
Tehran-Boston Engineers: 50 Years of Work, 41 min, 2012
(Researcher, script writer and director), Produced by Tehran-Boston Engineers (TBE)
This Is Not A Film, 75 min, 2011
(Co-script writer, co-director and co-producer with Jafar Panahi)
Lady of the Roses, 52 min, 2008
(Researcher, script writer, director and producer)
Foot on the Ball, 40 min, 2007
(Researcher, director and line producer), produced by Sport Department of Tehran Municipality
Ostad Motahari’s House-Museum, 18 min, 2007
(Director and line producer), produced by Art and Cultural Organization of Tehran Municipality
Home Is in Our Past, 57 min, 2005
(Director and co-editor with Hamed Mohammad Taheri)
Back Vocal, 40 min, 2004
(Researcher, script writer, director and producer)
Off Beat, 45 min, 2004
(Researcher, script writer, director and producer)
Documentary film based on the Play Mourning for Siavash, 30 min, 2003
(Director and line producer), produced by Dramatic Arts Center
Recorded play Mourning for Siavash, 130 Min, 2003
(Director and line producer), produced by Dramatic Arts Center. (Play writer and director: Pari Saberi)
The River Still Has Fish, 43 min, 2001
(Researcher, script writer, director and producer)
Stamp, 52 min, 2001
(Researcher, script writer and director), produced by I.R.I. Post Company
The first Presence, 5 min, 1999
(Researcher, script writer, director and producer), produced by UNICEF
Video clip Stars, 7 min, 1997
(Script writer and director) produced by I.R.I.B Sepah Group
Video clip Motherland, 7 min, 1997
(Script writer and director) produced by I.R.I.B Sepah Group
Video clip The Story of Khorramshahr, 6 min, 1997
(Script writer and director) produced by I.R.I.B Sepah Group
The Copper fish, 24 min, 1997
(Researcher, script writer and director), from Stories of Art Documentary Series
Patteh, 31 min, 1997
(Researcher, script writer and director), from Stories of Art Documentary Series
Smell of Rose, 25 min, 1996
(Researcher, script writer and director), from Stories of Art Documentary Series
Van-Yakad Tile, 28 min, 1996
(Researcher, script writer and director), from Stories of Art Documentary Series
Hasan-bodo, 29 min, 1996
(Researcher, script writer and director), from Stories of Art Documentary Series
Water and Mirror, 29 min, 1996
(Researcher, script writer and director), from Stories of Art Documentary Series
Mina, 31 min, 1996
(Researcher, script writer and director), from Stories of Art Documentary Series
My Father Was A Calico Maker, 30 min, 1996
(Researcher, script writer and director), from Stories of Art Documentary Series
Banner (from Children of Iran Documentary Series), 25 min, 1996
(As researcher, script writer and director)
Awards and Honors
For Karestan Documentary Film Series:
- Diploma of Honor of 'Children’s Research Institute, Tehran, Iran, December 2018
- Special Cinema Section Award, 2nd Davood Rashidi Commemorative Award, Tehran, Iran, August 2018
For Touran Khanom:
- Diploma of Honor of Child Book Council's, Tehran, Iran, March 2018
For Mother of the Earth:
- Best Documentary, from 9th London Iranian Film Festival, United Kingdom, November 2018
- Special Jury Award, 2nd Health Film Festival, Tehran, Iran, August 2017
- Special Jury Award, 6th International Urban Film Festival, Tehran, Iran, August 2017
For Poets of Life:
- "Best Documentary" from 8th London Iranian Film Festival, United Kingdom, November 2017
- "Honorable Mention" from 16th Innsbruck Nature Film Festival, Austria, October 2017
- "National Prize" from 6th International Green Film Festival, Tehran, Iran, September 2017
- Special Jury Award, 14th Green Film Festival, Seoul, South Korea, May 2017
For Friends at Work:
- Best Documentary Film, 4th Technological and Industrial film and Photo Festival (Farda), aslauyeh, Iran, April 2017
For Six Centuries, Six Years:
- Best Documentary Film, 12th Action On Film (AOF) International Film Festival, L.A., USA, September 2016
- Best Documentary Film, 6th London Iranian Film Festival, UK, November 2015
- Best Music by Jury, The Archaeology Channel (TAC) International Film and Video Festival, USA, May 2015
- Received the following 3 awards from First AHVAZ International Science Film Festival, February 2015:- NETPAC (Network for Promotion of Asian Cinema) Jury Award for Best Film, International Jury Omar Khayyam Award for Best Film, and The University Professors Jury Award for Best Film.
- Candidate for receiving Best Film award, received the Festival’s trophy and Honorary Diploma for Best Research, 8th International Cinema Verite Festival; Tehran, December 2014
- Candidate for receiving 3 awards for Best Documentary Film, Best Directing and Best Research, as well as receiving Honorary Diploma for Best Sound from 16th Grand Ceremony of Iranian House of - Cinema, September 2014
- Jury’s Special Prize for Documentary Film Section, 32nd Fajr International film Festival, Tehran, February 2014
For This is Not a Film:
- Best Documentary Award, a Special Award and nominee for Best Film Not in the English Language, 16th Annual Online Film Critics Society (OFCS), USA, December 31, 2013
- Nominee for Best Documentary, 11th Gold Derby Film Awards, USA, 2013
- Best Experimental Film Award and runner-up for Best Non-Fiction Film, 47th National Society of Film Critics’ Awards, USA, January 2013
- Best Documentary Award and 9th place for Best Film Not in the English Language, 10th International Cinephile Society (ICS) Awards, USA, February 2013
- Nominee for receiving Best Picture, Best Documentary and Best Foreign Film Awards, 2nd Georgia Film Critics Association (GFCA) Awards, February 2013
- 3rd place for Best Non-Fiction Film, 78th New York Film Critics Circle Awards, USA, December 2012
- Best Documentary Award and 5th place for Best Film, Indie wire Critics Poll (ICP) Awards, USA, November 2012
- Best Documentary Feature Film Award and 5th place for Best Film, Village Voice Film Poll Awards, USA, November 2012
- Shortlisted as one of 15 films eligible for Best Documentary Feature at the 85th Academy Awards, USA, December 2012
- UNESCO Award for Best Documentary, Sofia International Film Festival Awards, Bulgaria, March 2012
- Best Picture Not Released in 2011 Award, 9th International Cinephile Society (ICS) Awards, USA, January 2012
- Muhr AsiaAfrica Documentary Award, 8th Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF), UAE, December 2011
- Nominee for Amnesty Award, 10th Copenhagen International Documentary Festival (CPH:DOX) Awards, Copenhagen, Denmark, November 2011
- Nominee for Best Film, 25th Mar del Plata Film Festival, Argentina, November 2011
- Official Selection and Special Screening, 64th Cannes Film Festival, France, May 2011
For Lady of the Roses:
- Best Documentary Film Award, 11th Hafez Cinema-Television Ceremony, Tehran, March 2009
- Golden Trophy of Honor by the Young Jury, Second Biennial Shahid Avini Grand Prize Dedicated to Best Documentary Films of the Year, May 2009
- Diploma of Honor, Second Biennial Shahid Avini Grand Prize Dedicated to Best Documentary Films of the Year, May 2009
- Best Documentary Film in the eyes of the jury, the Society of the Critics and Writers of Iranian Cinema, 2nd International Documentary Film Festival of Iran “Cinema Verite,” October 15 – 20, 2008
- Special Prize of the Festival’s Secretary, 2nd International Documentary Film Festival of Iran “Cinema Verite,” October 2008
- Candidate for receiving 3 awards: Best Documentary Film, Best Directing, and Best Photography, Twelfth Grand Ceremony of Iranian House of Cinema, September 2008
For Off Beat:
- Best Documentary Film, 8th Grand Ceremony of Iranian House of Cinema, Tehran, September 2004
For The River Still Has Fish:
- Candidate for Best Documentary Film, 6th Grand Ceremony of Iranian House of Cinema, September 2002
- One of Selected Works of Iranian Cinema After the Islamic Revolution, published by House of Cinema, Feb. 2009
For The Story of Khorramshahr:
- Best Video Clip, 7th Holy Defence Film Festival, Hamedan, October 1998
For My Father Was A Calico Maker:
- Best Director in Educational Film Section, 27th Roshd International Film Festival, Tehran, Nov. 1997
Other Activities in Cinema
- Artistic Director and Line Producer: The Flaming Torch (Video recording of Radif Iranian traditional music played on Kamancheh by Ali-Akbar Shekarchi), 2015
- Director’s Advisor and Line Producer: The Mirrors Recital, Director Rakhshan Banietemad, 2014
- Director’s Advisor and Line Producer: The Concert of the Lords of Secrets, Director Rakhshan Banietemad, 2014
- Director’s Advisor and Line Producer: The Other Side of Mirrors, Director Rakhshan Banietemad, 2014
- Director’s Advisor and Line Producer: Don’t Stay in the Shadow, Director Bahram Azimpour, 2013
- Director’s Advisor: Changar, Director Mohsen Alikhani, 2013
- Line Producer: Im Bazar der Geschlechter, Director Sudabeh Mortezaei, Austria, 2010
- Line producer: Children of the Prophet, Director Sudabeh Mortezaei, Austria, 2006
- Production Manager: Osama, Director Sedigh Barmak, Afghanistan, 2002
- Assistant Director, Production Manager: Two Angels, Director Mohammad Haghighat, 2002
- Sound Editor: Afghan Alphabet, by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 2001
- Sound Editor: How Samira Made the Blackboard, Director Maysam Makhmalbaf, 2000
- Assistant Director, Production Manager and Still Photographer: Kandahar, Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 2000
- Assistant Director, Production Manager: The Day I Became A Woman, Director Marzieh Meshkini, 1999
- Assistant Director: The Blackboard, Director Samira Makhmalbaf, 1999
- Sound Editor: Zinat, One Special Day, Director Ebrahim Mokhtari, 1999
- Assistant Director: Iran Is my Home, Director Parviz Kimiavy, 1998
- Co-Sound Recordist: Milikan, Director Minoo Kiani, 1997
- Sound Recordist: Apple, Salt, Grapes, Director Arman Najm, 1997
- Sound Recordist: The Old Man and the Earth, Director Ata Salmanian, 1996
- Sound Recordist: Wind Ruined the School, Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1995
- Sound Recordist: Gabbeh, Director Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1995
- Sound Recordist: Godarlandar Dam, Director Ebrahim Mokhtari, 1994
- Assistant Sound Recordist: Salam Cinema, by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, 1994
- Assistant Director: Shahid Rajaei Power Plant, by Ebrahim Mokhtari, 1993
- Assistant Sound Recordist: Adult’s Game, by Kambozia Partovi, 1991
- Cooperation with Iranian Television’s (I.R.I.B) Channel 1’s Social Group between 1990 and 1995 in making several T.V. programs
Member of Jury
- Jury Member, LUCAS International Festival for young Lovers, Cinema Without Borders, Sep. 2019
- Jury Member, 17th Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema, France, Feb. 2011
- Selection Committee Member, 1st London Iranian Film Festival, England, Nov. 2010
- Jury Member, Feature film section, 12th Grand Ceremony of Iranian House of Cinema, Tehran, September 2008
- Jury Member, International Film Competition, 28th International Festival VGIK, Moscow, Russia, November 2008
- Selection Committee Member, Documentary Film Section, 10th Grand Ceremony of Iranian House of Cinema, Tehran, September 2006
- Jury Member, Documentary Film Section, 9th Grand Ceremony of Iranian House of Cinema, Tehran, September 2005
- Jury Member, Documentary Film Section, 7th Grand Ceremony of Iranian House of Cinema, Tehran, September 2003