From "PERSIA" with love : Who is Iranian in Hollywood ?!
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Golshifteh started her acting career in theater at the age of 6 and has always kept a strong link with theater, but it was at the age of 14 that she acted in her first film The Pear Tree (1998), for which she won the prize for the Best Actress from the international section of the Fajr film festival, immediately making her one of the stars of Iranian cinema. Since then she has played in more than 15 films, many of which have been screened or awarded at international festivals. Amongst her latest films are Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon (2006) (winner of the Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián film festival 2006), Dariush Mehrjui's controversial The Music Man (2007), still banned in Iran, and the late Rasool Mollagholi Poor's M like Mother (2006), which after a huge success in Iran was chosen to represent Iran for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards in 2008. After playing in Body of Lies (2008) by Ridley Scott, Golshifteh became the first Iranian star to act in a major Hollywood production. Subsequently she was banned from her country. Her last film in Iran About Elly (2009) won a Silver Bear in Berlin and the Best Narrative Feature at Tribeca (2009). Golshifteh graduated from music school, she sings and plays the piano amongst other instruments. She is also fluent in French and English and lives in Paris now.- Actress
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Shohreh Aghdashloo was born Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar on May 11, 1952 in Tehran, Iran. In the 1970s at age 20, she achieved nationwide stardom in her homeland of Iran, starring in some prominent pictures such as The Report (1977) directed by the renowned Abbas Kiarostami, which won critics awards at the Moscow Film Festival. In 1978, she won wider acclaim and established herself as one of Iran's leading ladies with Desiderium (1978) directed by the late Ali Hatami. During the 1978 Islamic revolution, Aghdashloo left Iran for England, to complete her education. Her interest in politics and her concern for social injustice in the world would lead her to receive a Bachelor's degree in International Relations.
She continued to pursue her acting career, which eventually brought her to Los Angeles, California in 1987. She went on to marry actor/playwright Houshang Touzie, performing in a number of his plays, successfully taking them to national and international stages. However, this was not easy getting work in Hollywood as a Middle Eastern actress with an accent; she had roles in some decent, though not great, films, including Twenty Bucks (1993), Surviving Paradise (2000) and Maryam (2002). She received good reviews for her 12 episodes on the fourth season of the Fox television series 24 (2001) as Dina Araz, a terrorist undercover as a well-to-do housewife and mother in Los Angeles. She had to wait quite some time to receive her break in Hollywood.
And finally, years after having read the acclaimed novel "House of Sand and Fog", DreamWorks were in the process of bringing the story to the silver screen. After having cast Ben Kingsley (as Massoud Amir Behrani) and Jennifer Connelly in the lead roles, they were looking for a relatively unknown Iranian actress to play Kingsley's wife, Nadi. Shohreh Aghdashloo was duly cast. She stole the limelight and earned herself an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress amongst many other prestigious awards, including the Independent Spirit Sward as best supporting actress in a feature film, the New York and Los Angeles film critics award and others.- Actress
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Nazanin Boniadi's film and television credits are a testament to her versatility, spanning a breadth of genres including drama, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy and action. She recently starred as Bronwyn in the first season of Amazon's global hit series adaptation The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), she also starred alongside J.K. Simmons in the critically acclaimed Starz series Counterpart (2017), created and produced by Justin Marks. She was the female lead of the Thunder Road / Bleecker Street feature Hotel Mumbai (2018) from director Anthony Maras, in which she starred opposite Dev Patel and was nominated for an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Award (AACTA), as well as had a supporting role in the Jay Roach and Charles Randolph's Roger Ailes film BOMBSHELL for Lionsgate and BRON opposite Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie. She also portrayed Ester in the 2016 major motion picture Ben-Hur (2016), and had a supporting role in Jon Favreau's Iron Man (2008).
Among her many television credits, Boniadi earned an outstanding drama ensemble SAG nomination for her work on Showtime's hit series Homeland (2011) in which she played CIA analyst Fara Sherazi. She portrayed Nora, a relatively longstanding love interest to Neil Patrick Harris's Barney Stinson, in seasons six and seven of How I Met Your Mother (2005). She also appeared as the notorious Adnan Salif in season three of Shonda Rhimes' hit political drama Scandal (2012).
Born in Tehran in the direct aftermath of the Iranian Revolution, Boniadi's parents relocated to London, England, shortly thereafter, where she was raised with an emphasis on education. While she was involved in theatre early in life, Boniadi later decided she wanted to become a physician. She moved to the United States at the age of 19 to attend the University of California, Irvine, where she received her Bachelor's Degree, with Honors (Dean's Academic Achievement and Service Award) in Biological Sciences, and won the "Chang Pin Chun" Undergraduate Research Award for her work in heart-transplant rejection and cancer research.
Switching gears to pursue her first love, Boniadi then decided to study acting, which included training in Contemporary Drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London under the supervision of dramaturge Lloyd Trott.
Boniadi is fluent in both English and Persian. She is also a longtime, renowned human rights activist, with a focus on her homeland Iran. Among her numerous recognitions she is the 2023 Sydney Peace Prize laureate. She has served as an ambassador for Amnesty International UK since 2020, and has been a member of the board of directors of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran since 2023. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.- Actress
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Sarah Shahi was born Aahoo Jahansouzshahi in Euless, Texas, to an Iranian father and Spanish-Iranian mother. She is a former NFL cheerleader and a descendant of a 19th-century Persian Shah. She attended Trinity High School and Southern Methodist University, studied opera and majored in English. As a teenager, she won several beauty contests and took first place in the Miss Fort Worth USA pageant in 1997. She joined the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders and was part of the 1999-2000 squad. She also appeared on the cover of their 2000 calendar.
While working as an extra on the set of Dr. T & the Women (2000), she met director Robert Altman, who encouraged her to move to Hollywood to pursue a career as an actress. Shahi was the first ghost in Supernatural (2005), the CW paranormal drama series. She had recurring roles in several TV series, such as Alias (2001), in which she played "Jenny"; and Dawson's Creek (1998), where she was "Sadia Shaw". She became a fan favorite in her role as the Mexican-American DJ "Carmen de la Pica Morales" in the Showtime series, The L Word (2004), which she joined in its second season. Sarah did not renew her contract with the show for a fourth season and, consequently, her character was written out.
However, she is best-known for her main role as "Sameen Shaw" on the CBS show Person of Interest (2011) playing a CIA agent turned-vigilante with a heart of gold.
She also appeared on HBO's The Sopranos (1999), in the episode Kennedy and Heidi (2007) as "Sonya Aragon", a stripper and a college student who spends a weekend with Tony after a death in his family. Although uncredited by most sources, Sarah also appeared in the Jackie Chan film, Rush Hour 3 (2007), as one of the girls being handcuffed along with Mia Tyler for a traffic offense by Chris Tucker early in the film. She also starred with Damian Lewis in the NBC show, Life (2007).
Sarah speaks English, Farsi, and some Spanish, and has a brown belt in karate.- Actor
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Peyman Maadi was born in 1972 in New York City to an Iranian couple. His father was a lawyer. His family moved back to Iran when he was 5 years old. He graduated in Metallurgical Engineering from Karaj Azad University. Maadi started his film career as a screenwriter in late 2000s. He is the writer of several famous Iranian films. He started his acting career in Asghar Farhadi's film About Elly (2009). Two years later, he received the Silver Bear award for Best Actor in Leading Role for his performance as Nader in Farhadi's A Separation (2011) from the Berlin International Film Festival.- Cinematographer
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Darius Khondji was born on 21 October 1955 in Tehran, Iran. He is a cinematographer and actor, known for Amour (2012), Se7en (1995) and Delicatessen (1991). He is married to Marianne Khondji. They have three children.- Writer
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Asghar Farhadi is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Iranian cinema as well as world cinema in the 21st century. His films have gained recognition for their focus on the human condition, and portrayals of intimate and challenging stories of internal family conflicts. In 2012, he was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. That same year, he also received the Legion of Honour from France.
Farhadi was born in Isfahan, Iran. At the age of 15, in 1987, he joined the Isfahan branch office of the Iranian Youth Cinema Society, which had been established for 4 years earlier and he made several short films. He is also a graduate of theatre, with a BA in dramatic arts and MA in stage direction from University of Tehran and Tarbiat Modares University, respectively.
While completing his studies, he wrote a number of radio plays for Iran's national broadcasting service and directed several television programs. In 2001 Farhadi co-wrote the screenplay for the political satire Ertefa-e past (Low Heights, 2002), with famed war film director, Ebrahim Hatamikia.
Farhadi's first feature film, Dancing in the Dust (2003), tells the story of a young man who is forced to divorce his wife and go hunting snakes in the desert in order to repay his debts to his in-laws. His next film, The Beautiful City (2004), is about a young man who is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.
Farhadi's breakthrough came with his third film, About Elly (2009), which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The film tells the story of a group of friends who go on a weekend trip to the Caspian Sea, and the secrets that are revealed over the course of the weekend.
Farhadi's next film, A Separation (2011), won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film tells the story of a middle-class Iranian couple who are going through a divorce, and the moral dilemmas they face as they try to decide what is best for their young daughter.
Farhadi's subsequent films, The Past (2013) and The Salesman (2016), were also critically acclaimed. The Salesman won a second Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Farhadi's latest film, A Hero (2021), was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. The film tells the story of a man who is released from prison and tries to win back his wife's trust.
Farhadi's films are known for their their complex and suspenseful plots, their realistic characters, and their exploration of moral dilemmas. His films often deal with themes of family, relationships, and social class.
Farhadi is a master of creating suspense, and his films are often compared to those of Alfred Hitchcock. He is also a skilled director of actors, and his films have featured some of the most celebrated Iranian actors, including Shahab Hosseini, Leila Hatami, and Taraneh Alidoosti.
In 2022, Farhadi was accused of plagiarism by a former student, who claimed that he had stolen the idea for his film A Hero from a documentary she had made. Farhadi denied the allegations, and a court in Iran eventually ruled in his favor. However, the allegations have tarnished Farhadi's reputation and raised questions about his creative process.
Asghar Farhadi is one of the most important filmmakers of our time. His films are both entertaining and thought-provoking, and they offer a unique insight into Iranian society and culture. He is a true auteur, and his work is sure to be studied and admired for many years to come.- Composer
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Ramin Djawadi is an Iranian-German film score composer known for composing the hit HBO series Game of Thrones and the Marvel films Blade: Trinity, Iron Man and Eternals. He also composed Clash of the Titans, A Wrinkle in Time, Pacific Rim, Westworld, Gears of War 4 and 5, Medal of Honor, Open Season 1 and 2, Jack Ryan and Warcraft. He won two Emmy Awards for Game of Thrones.- Producer
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Ramin Bahrani was born on 20 March 1975 in North Carolina, USA. He is a producer and director, known for 99 Homes (2014), The White Tiger (2021) and Man Push Cart (2005).- Writer
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Hossein Amini was born in Iran, and when he was 11 years old, he and his family moved to England. Amini's first screenplay was for the 1994 TV movie The Dying of the Light, which was directed by Peter Kosminsky. The TV movie covered the murder of Sean Devereux, an aid worker who was murdered in Somalia in 1993 for criticizing arms sales. It was nominated "Best Single Drama" at the British Academy Television Awards. Amini also wrote an adapted screenplay of the 1895 novel Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. Producer Andrew Eaton commissioned the screenplay in 1995, and it was filmed by Michael Winterbottom as Jude, released in 1996. Amini also wrote a screenplay for another TV movie, Deep Secrets, which aired in 1996. Amini wrote the adapted screenplay for The Wings of the Dove, which was based on the 1902 eponymous novel by Henry James. The film, directed by Iain Softley, was released in 1997 and received critical claim. Amini was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay. In September 2013, Amini delivered a screenwriting lecture as part of the BAFTA and BFI Screenwriters' Lecture Series.- Actor
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Mosaffa was born in Tehran, Iran. His father, Mozaher Mosaffa is a renowned Persian poet and professor of Persian literature at the University of Tehran (UT). Mosaffa's mother, Amir Banoo Karimi is also a leading scholar and professor of Persian literature at the University of Tehran (UT) and the eldest daughter of the legendary Persian poet, Amiri Firuzkuhi.
As a child, Mosaffa discovered his interest in story writing and english, contributing to his fluency in the language. He is a graduate of Civil Engineering from the University of Tehran (UT) where he showed an interest in acting; making his debut in the 1991 film, Omid. Mosaffa went on to win the prize for best male actor the following year at the Fajr International Film Festival for his role in Darius Mehrjui's film, Pari. Mosaffa met his future wife, Iranian actress Leila Hatami on the set of Dariush Mehrjui's 1996 film, Leila. The two married in 1999 and have two children, a son named Mani (born February 2007) and a daughter named Asal (born October 2008).
Mosaffa's experience with directing began with the short films, Incubus, The Neighbor and the documentary feature, Farib-e-She'r or The Deceit of Poesy. He then went on to direct his first film in 2005 with Portrait of a Lady Far Away /Sima-ye Zani Dar Doordast, starring Leila Hatami and Homayoun Ershadi which was awarded the Sutherland Trophy at the BFI London Film Festival also known as the London Film Festival. His first feature film subsequently won the hearts of the audience winning the People's Choice Award at the Chicago International Film Festival and was nominated for the Crystal Globe at the 2005 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Mosaffa's second film, The Last Step /Pele ye Akhar, starring Leila Hatami has received acclaim from critics and audiences worldwide following its international premiere at the 2012 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival which gained Mosaffa the international critics' FIPRESCI prize for best film and awarded Leila Hatami with the Crystal Globe for Best Actress for her leading role in the film.
In October 2012, Mosaffa joined Oscar winning director of A Separation, Asghar Farhadi in Paris; starring alongside Bérénice Bejo and Tahar Rahim for Farhadi's first foreign language film, "Le Passé" or "The Past" set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2013.- Producer
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Bob Yari was born on 30 May 1961 in Iran. He is a producer and director, known for Crash (2004), Papa Hemingway in Cuba (2015) and Agent Cody Banks (2003).- Homayoun Ershadi is an Iranian actor, known for his debut role in Taste of Cherry (1997), and several Iranian and other films since then, including Hollywood movies The Kite Runner and Zero Dark Thirty. Ershadi studied architecture in Italy, graduating in 1970 and worked as an architect for many years. He was discovered as an actor by acclaimed Iranian New Wave film director, Abbas Kiarostami. While Ershadi was sitting in his car in traffic in Tehran he was approached by Kiarostami and eventually chosen to play the leading role in the film, Taste of Cherry. In 2007 he was cast in The Kite Runner, a film about two young boys growing up in Afghanistan.
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Farhad Safinia was born in 1975 in Tehran, Iran. He is a writer and producer, known for Apocalypto (2006), The Professor and the Madman (2019) and Boss (2011). He has been married to Laura Regan since 2007.- Actor
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Adrian Pasdar was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, to Rosemarie Pasdar (née Sbresny), who owns a travel agency, and Homayoon Pasdar, a prominent heart surgeon. His father is Iranian and his mother, who was born in Germany, is of German, and some Polish, descent. At the age of 2, his father moved the family to Powelton, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. In high school, he excelled at football, eventually leading to a football scholarship at the University of Florida in 1983. Football may have been a promising future, had it not been for a terrible accident during his freshman year that left his face scarred and his legs badly injured. A very driven Adrian finished his freshman year in a wheelchair, doing intensive physical therapy and turning his attention to campus stage productions and rediscovered a childhood interest in writing and acting. No longer able to play football, he dropped out of school and returned home, taking a job with a theater group "People's Light and Theatre Company". Here, he worked on sound, lighting and set construction. While constructing a set, he cut off the end of his left thumb. Adrian, having the ability to turn tragedy into triumph, used his medical compensation to pay for attendance at the famous Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. At the age of 19, he auditioned for a role in Top Gun (1986). Director Tony Scott was so impressed that he wrote the part of "Chipper" just for him. This led to bigger roles in Solarbabies (1986), Streets of Gold (1986), and Kathryn Bigelow's 1987 cult vampire movie Near Dark (1987), with Adrian in the lead role of "Caleb Colton". He also appeared in Vital Signs (1990). Adrian has always been an actor ahead of his time, opting for roles in independent and cable movies long before they were considered fashionable for feature actors to do. In 1992, feeling completely out-of-touch with reality, Adrian left Hollywood to return to New York. He worked as a cashier for room and board, while taking the occasional small part, such as "Frankie" in Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way (1993). Another major break came in 1995, when Adrian was cast as the title character on the short-lived Fox series Profit (1996). He continues to act in supporting roles and has now added directing to his already impressive body of work. He wrote and directed the short film Beyond Belief (1999) and also directed a feature film entitled Cement (2000).- Additional Crew
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Reza Badiyi was born on 17 April 1929 in Arak, Iran. He was a director and producer, known for Carnival of Souls (1962), Stop Susan Williams (1979) and Get Smart (1965). He was married to Tania Harley, Barbara Turner and Gwendolyn M Dennis. He died on 20 August 2011 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Director
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Barbet Schroeder was born on 26 August 1941 in Tehran, Iran. He is a director and producer, known for Our Lady of the Assassins (2000), Single White Female (1992) and Murder by Numbers (2002). He has been married to Bulle Ogier since April 1991.- Writer
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Abbas Kiarostami was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1940. He graduated from university with a degree in fine arts before starting work as a graphic designer. He then joined the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, where he started a film section, and this started his career as a filmmaker at the age of 30. Since then he has made many movies and has become one of the most important figures in contemporary Iranian film. He is also a major figure in the arts world, and has had numerous gallery exhibitions of his photography, short films and poetry. He is an iconic figure for what he has done, and he has achieved it all by believing in the arts and the creativity of his mind.- Writer
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Christiane Amanpour was born on 12 January 1958 in London, England, UK. She is a writer and actress, known for Zoolander 2 (2016), Iron Man 2 (2010) and Trash (2014). She was previously married to James Rubin.- Actress
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Yara Shahidi was born on 10 February 2000 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Salt (2010), Black-ish (2014) and Grown-ish (2018).- Director
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Nicole, the daughter of two prominent Iranian-American journalists, Nader Sadighi and Shahla Arasteh, grew up in London, England.
She has worked with Producer Georgia Masters (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) whom she'd worked with previously on the BAFTA nominated 'One Night Stand' starring Jemma Redgrave (Howard's End, Dracula, Doctor Who) and James Purefoy, (The Following, Revenge, A Knight's Tale, Resident Evil).
More recently winning many awards for starring in the foreign-language film 'I Am Neda', a passion project which was also her directorial debut at the 65th Cannes International Film Festival's American Pavilion. 'I Am Neda' also stars award-winning actress Mary Apick, (Dead End, Checkpoint, Homeland).
'I Am Neda' is an Iranian language film with English subtitles, based on a true story of the young Iranian woman Neda Agha Soltan whose murder went viral for the world to see, 'I Am Neda' has received a lot of attention from the press such as the Huffington Post and legendary film critics like F.X. Feeney of LA Weekly for its heartwarming yet controversial subject matter.
Being a passionate advocate of many causes, Nicole is keenly committed to exposing human rights violations across the globe. She was also a former fellow researcher at the Center for the Promotion of Human Rights and Democracy for Iran. She is often approached as a keynote spokesperson on behalf of numerous non-profit human rights groups and NGOs, both domestically and internationally . One of Nicole's most prominent invitations was from the famous group 'Hands Off Cain' in Rome, Italy, where she was invited alongside distinguished panelists, Italian politicians Marco Pannella and Daniele Capezzone. The conference was held in support of the UN General Assembly Resolution for the universal moratorium on capital punishment, which was also presented to the European Commission.
She not only has an artistic flair as a creative writer but has been a freelance writer for many leading publications and newspapers for a number of years.
Fortune led her to find the insight and inspiration to write, produce and direct her very first award-winning short film, 'I Am Neda', which she starred in as Neda, while also adding another hyphenate in front of her name as director. It was at this time she founded her own production company Persepolis Pictures.
The film has since won 11 awards and has received 21 nominations at different film festivals, such as USA Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival's American Pavilion. Including nominations for Best Actress for her performance as Neda, Best Director and Best Screenplay for 'I Am Neda'. In an interview with the BBC, Nicole commented: "As an actress who wore many hats for the making of I Am Neda, to also be recognized for my written and directorial debut is beyond thrilling. This film has been a huge endeavor for me, and there were so many challenges on the way. It has given me new found respects for the "Clint Eastwoods'" of the world who have not only written and directed but at times have starred in their own movies."
I Am Neda has won at the following film festivals:
Platinum Remi Special Jury Award: WorldFest Houston Int'l Film Festival 2012 Finalist: Cannes The American Pavilion for Emerging Filmmakers 2012 Finalist: USA Film Festival 2012 Best International Short: Burbank Int'l Film Festival 2012 Best Drama Short: Action on Film Int'l Film Festival 2012 Atlantis Award Best Film Score:(Rino Amato)Moondance Int'l Film Fest 2012 Best Short: World Music and Independent Film Festival 2012 Honorable Mention: Los Angeles Movie Awards 2012 Honorable Mention: Hollywood and Vine Film Festival 2012 Semi-Finalist: Best Short Film: Moondance Int'l Film Festival 2012
I Am Neda has been nominated at the following film festivals:
Official Selection Focus on World Film Montreal World Film Festival 2012 Nominated Best Actress in a Short (Nicole Kian Sadighi): WMI Film Fest 2012 Nominated Best Director in a Short(Nicole Kian Sadighi): WMI Film Fest 2012 Nominated Best Supporting Actress in a Short(Mary Apick): WMI Film Fest 2012 Nominated Best Screenplay Short (Nicole Kian Sadighi): WMI Film Fest 2012 Nominated Best Dialogue: Action on Film Int'l Film Festival 2012 Nominated Audience Choice Awards: Beverly Hills Film Festival 2012 Nominated Best Film: American Insights Free Speech Film Festival 2012 Nominated Best Foreign Film: BeFilm The Underground Film Festival 2012 Official Selection: Arpa Int'l Film Festival Official Selection 2012 Official Selection 2011: Santa Rosa International Film Festival.
Ms. Sadighi interviewed by has been interviewed and featured by C-Span, The Huffington Post, BBC, Associated Press, France24, Los Angeles Times, CCTV, Paris Match, Voice of America, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, Christian Science Monitor, Radio Vaticana, LA Observed, FrontPage Magazine, Women's Media Center, Universal Film Magazine, Kayhan London, and many more.- Sheila Vand was born in Los Angeles, California, USA. Sheila is an actor, known for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), Argo (2012) and We the Animals (2018).
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Catherine was born in London, but she moved to California with her Iranian mother at the age of two. Her mother still acts as her personal assistant. As a girl, she acted in various TV advertisements. She went to UCLA to study biology/ pre-medicine, but she dropped out to become a model in Japan. She moved back into acting with a Mexican commercial for American Express, and then she followed that up by being Isabella Rossellini's nude body double in Death Becomes Her (1992), when she also met her future husband, Adam Beason, who was the director's Robert Zemeckis's assistant. As of 2018, the two reside near Los Angeles with their daughter Gemma Beason and son Ronan Beason.- Stunts
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Nasim Pedrad (born November 18, 1981) is an American actress and comedian best known for her five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live (1975) from 2009 to 2014. She has since gone on to co-star in sitcoms such as Mulaney (2014), Scream Queens (2015), People of Earth (2016), and New Girl (2011).
Pedrad was born in Tehran, Iran, to a Muslim family. Her parents are Arasteh Amani and Parviz Pedrad. Pedrad's family emigrated to the United States in 1984 when she was three years old. Her younger sister is comedy writer Nina Pedrad. Both sisters are fluent in Persian. The sisters were raised in Irvine, California, and graduated from University High School. Nasim graduated from UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2003. She was a member of the UCLA Spring Sing Company.
Pedrad was a performer with the Sunday Company at The Groundlings. She frequently performed her one-woman show Me, Myself & Iran at the Los Angeles divisions of ImprovOlympic and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. The show was selected for the 2007 HBO Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. She received an LA Weekly Best Comedic Performance of the Year Award as the lead in the comedic spoof After School Special.
Pedrad made her first television appearance on an episode of Gilmore Girls (2000). In 2007, she made a guest appearance on The Winner (2007). She had a recurring role on ER (1994) as Nurse Suri. In 2009, she had a guest appearance on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005).
Pedrad joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2009 as part of the 35th (2009-2010) season. Pedrad is one of a handful of cast members born outside North America (joining Italian-born Tony Rosato, New Zealand-born Pamela Stephenson, English-born Morwenna Banks, and Chilean-born Horatio Sanz). Pedrad became a repertory player in the 2011-12 season after two years of being a featured player. Pedrad left SNL in 2014 to work on Mulaney.
In 2011, she was a recurring voice on the Fox animated series Allen Gregory (2011). She appeared with a small role in the 2011 film No Strings Attached (2011). In 2012, she had a supporting voice role in the animated feature film The Lorax (2012) and a small appearance in The Dictator (2012). In 2013, Pedrad had another supporting voice role in Despicable Me 2 (2013). In the autumn of 2014, she left Saturday Night Live to star in a new Fox sitcom, Mulaney. On October 18, 2014, Fox shut down production of the series by reducing the 16-episode order by three episodes. Filming for the thirteenth episode had just been completed prior to the order reduction, and the fourteenth episode was about to enter production.
Beginning in 2015, Pedrad has a recurring guest role as LAPD officer Aly Nelson on the Fox sitcom New Girl. She portrayed Gigi Caldwell in season one of Fox horror-comedy Scream Queens.
In 2016, she appeared in a commercial for Old Navy alongside comedian Kumail Nanjiani and other SNL cast members Cecily Strong and Jay Pharoah.
In 2017, she joined the cast of season two of the TBS comedy series People of Earth. Later that same year, she also made guest appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013).- Actress
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Leyla--AKA Lucky #13 can be seen on several hit network shows, several upcoming motion picture releases, as well as a new nationally televised Budweiser commercial.
As Brittany, "the girl on the go in the 310," Leyla Milani adds to her ever growing list of film credits, appearing in this highly acclaimed independent movie, The Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down. The theatrical opening of the feature film will occur nationwide on March 16, 2007. You can also see Leyla "Bring it" on her WWE Raw "Fan-nation" promos airing all year on USA network. Another of Leyla's feature film projects to be released later in the year is an award-winning horror film, "Wrestle Maniac."
In addition to her work on the large screen, Ms. Milani co-stars in the television show, My Network TV's "Desire: Table for Three." She's also co-starred in an episode of the hit series on Showtime, "Sleeper Cell" and her guest co-starring role on FOX TV's "Stacked" saw her face-off against Pam Anderson. Her appearance on the series "Las Vegas," - a guest starring spot along side Josh Duhamel and James Caan as a sexy diamond thief -- had male viewers on the edge of their seats. She'll be a co-star on Will and Jada Pinket - Smith's television series, "All of Us," and when Howie Mandel says "Open the Case" on the hit TV show, NBC's "Deal or No Deal," it seems that "Lucky Number 13" -- aka Leyla -- is a heartbreaker in real life and television. She always seems to have hundreds of thousands of dollars in her possession... enough to break the heart of any contestant, guy or girl.
Some of her newly cultivated legions of fans recognize Leyla as the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) Raw Diva Search 2005 finalist and runner-up. Selected from 8,000 applicants, for 8 consecutive weeks, Leyla made her way through the stiff competition and appeared live in front of millions to become the #2 Diva. As a result of her repeated appearances on WWE and the millions of viewers watching her worldwide, Leyla's website receives thousands of hits daily. In response, www.leylamilani.com, a new "members only" section will hopefully satisfy her hardcore fans. Leyla's status as "runner-up" began the constant stream of traffic on her website which continues to this day. She plans to begin "video-chatting" with her online fans later this year.
Local fame came early with Leyla hosting an after-school television show at the age of 12. With a flurry of local modeling gigs and runway appearances, she had already become an in-demand face at a very early age.
After high school, the family moved from Toronto to Los Angeles. For Leyla this was exactly where she wanted to be. With her options completely open, she enrolled in L.A's Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. Amazingly, by the age of 20, Leyla Jeans Couture, her high-end contemporary denim line was already the talk of the industry. Another Leyla inspired line was also a hit with consumers, with the collection eventually finding its way into the mega Forever 21 stores, nationwide.
Her go-getter attitude paid off as Hollywood stood-up and took notice and Leyla began appearing with greater frequency on the small and large screen. She's appeared on several hit television shows including CMT's reality show, Popularity Contest, the new TNT drama, Wanted and Larry David's HBO smash, Curb Your Enthusiasm. She recently returned from Sao Paulo, Brazil where she performed on Show Fight, Brazil's version of UFC, broadcast all over South America.
With her newfound popularity and her will to succeed reaching new heights, Leyla remains in constant motion. With feature film roles in the works, the girl with that sexy mane and the heart of a lioness continues to accomplish her career goals as a sought-after host, model, actor and noted fashion designer.- Actress
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Nadia Bjorlin was born the fifth out of six children. Her parents were Ulf Björlin (a Swedish conductor and composer, known to be the world's most active opera composer during the 20th century) and Fary Bjorlin. Her siblings are Katja, Kaj, Kamilla, Ulf Jr and Jean Paul. (Each sibling have a history of artistic or creative work in their background. A very stunning and talented family indeed). Nadia was born in Newport, Rhode Island (USA), but her family soon moved to Sweden. This was only for a few short years before moving back to the USA again.
Nadia worked the opera scene before becoming an actress. It was a fast lane change by a sudden contract with NBC who needed an opera singing girl for a permanent part in a television series. Nadia has since then appeared in both movies and TV series. She has played lead characters in big screen productions and she has been a guest star in shows like CSI, Two an a half men, Two Broke Girls, as well as other comedy shows. Her talent is strong in comedy as well as in drama. She is also quite the dancer, which can be seen in Ricky Martin's music video "Shake Your Bon Bon". She was second runner up placing in Miss Teen Florida. Her voice won a sought after first place in a world proclaimed a opera competition in Italy.
Nadia is fluent in Swedish, English and Farsi. Because of her education in opera, she is schooled in several more languages like Italian and French. Nadia was a child prodigy who excelled in her studies at school as well as voice, theater, dance, and music. She started her professional career at six years old and won several awards while attending the Interlochen Center for the Arts and the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.
She currently (2014) lives in California. Her school years were mostly in Palm Beach, Florida and New York. Her most beloved father died of leukemia in 1993. This has inspired Nadia to become a spokesperson and represent The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society for many years now.- Actress
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Kathreen Khavari was born in Oakland, California, USA. She is an actress and writer, known for Avengers Assemble (2012), Big Little Lies (2017) and Insecure (2016).- Actress
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Susan Taslimi was born on 7 February 1950 in Rasht, Iran. She is an actress and director, known for Black Crab (2022), Hus i helvete (2002) and Maybe Some Other Time (1988). She was previously married to Dariush Farhang.- Actress
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Miss SAYE YABANDEH is an Iranian-born Hollywood actress focused on using her platform to bring awareness to global issues and to give back to refugees and underserved children and families around the world.
Miss Sayé Yabandeh, a humanitarian and award-winning actress of remarkable scope, has joined Virgin Galactic's NEXTGEN astronaut program. As a Goodwill Ambassador for the ENGin program, she dedicates her time to connecting English-speaking volunteers with Ukraine's young generation during their time of need. As a Global Ambassador for the Global Citizen Foundation and her 501(c)3 non-profit organization Sayé org, she champions education, community building, and sustainable development for underprivileged children worldwide. Through her organization, she extends her philanthropic reach to empower impoverished families globally, fostering self-sufficiency rather than dependency. Sir Richard Branson has crowned her a "Woman of the World" as she embodies the essence of a true Global Citizen, transcending borders and embracing the human race with compassion. With a passion for adventure and athleticism rivaling her dedication to helping others, Miss Yabandeh excels as an avid polo player, who has participated in several world snow polo championships and many exhibition, charity-oriented polo matches worldwide, swimmer, yoga enthusiast, and has trained with Navy SEAL Team Six in support of the Department of Defense. Her impressive filmography and nominations for Best LGBT Project and Best Female Filmmaker attest to her artistic prowess. As she embarks on this extraordinary journey, Miss Yabandeh embodies the spirit of the NEXTGEN astronaut, inspiring future generations to boldly explore the unknown.- A native of Valencia, CA, Nazanin Mandi Pimentel is a natural- Born Performer; Singing at age 5, Modeling at age 10, performing the Mozart Requiem at Carnegie Hall and acting at age 15. Her beginnings in the world of entertainment whispered Greatness from an early age.
Her evolution continues to be televised on hit shows, such as BET's "Twenties", CBS's "The Young and The Restless", Disney's "That's so Raven", E! Channel's "The Platinum Life" & currently a recurring role on BET's "Games People Play". With an inspiring array of print campaigns, that includes Savage x Fenty; Summer and Valentine's Day Campaign, Olay, Missguided, along with numerous editorials, interviews and films - "DreamCatcher" out March 2021 and "The Last Conception" out now on all streaming platforms. Her debut single "Forever Mood" premiered on Billboard in the summer of 2019 & in September 2020 she walked the official Savage X Fenty Show. Now a Certified Life Coach she hopes to bring ordinance and positivity to many for years to come. - Shermine Sharivar was born on 17 September 1982 in Tehran, Iran. She is an actress, known for Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahnpolizei (1996), Traveling Light (2021) and Die Verräter (2023).
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She is half-Scottish (father) and half-Israeli (mother). Her father, Professor David Stronach, was a notable expert on Persian antiquities. The family had to flee Persia/Iran during the Revolution. They went to Israel, then to America where Tami is still based. She was studying acting in California when she was chosen for her role as the child-like Empress. She has been a dancer throughout her life and has opted for this as her main career though she has recently returned to acting. She has been heavily involved in the Neta Dance Troop. She speaks several languages including English and Hebrew.- Director
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Mania Akbari was born in 1974 in Tehran, Iran. She is a director and writer, known for 20 Fingers (2004), One 2 One (2011) and 10 + 4 (Dah be alaveh chahar) (2007).- Anicée Alvina was born on 28 January 1953 in Boulogne-Billancourt, Hauts-de-Seine, France. She was an actress, known for Friends (1971), Paul and Michelle (1974) and Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974). She died on 10 November 2006 in Paris, France.
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Born in Mashhad, Iran, Navid Negahban's passion for acting led him to Germany where he spent eight years before embarking on Hollywood. Dubbed as "the man of a thousand faces," he garnered critical acclaim for his role "Abu Nazir" on the Emmy® Award-winning series Homeland. His quiet and composed depiction of the al-Qaeda leader won Negahban worldwide recognition, but it was his portrayal of the Sultan, in Disney's remake of Aladdin, which made him a household name.
Negahban's film credits include Twelve Strong, American Assassin, Damascus Cover, Baba Joon, and American Sniper. His extensive and diverse television portfolio consists of the portrayal of "Amahl Farouk/The Shadow King" on FX's Legion, making him the first Farsi speaking character in the Marvel Universe. He has also guest starred in classics such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Law & Order: SVU, Veep, CSI:NY, The Closer, The West Wing, and more.
Negahban received a historic BAFTA nomination for his performance as "Hajj Agha" in the video game 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, marking the first time a Middle Eastern and Muslim actor has been nominated in this category.
In 2019 he started Romany Road Artist Foundation, a safe haven celebrating artistry, built by artists for artists.- Pej Vahdat was born in San Jose, California, USA. He is an actor, known for The Old Man (2022), City on a Hill (2019) and Shameless (2011).
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David Diaan has built an impressive career as an Iranian American Actor, Writer, and Producer. David came to the United States as a teenager and completed high school in the Midwest. He then studied Radio, Television, & Journalism at the University of Missouri Columbia. David's first endeavor in the entertainment world began when he founded Liquid Productions together with other talents such as popular stand-up comedian Maz Jobrani. Since then, David has continued to write, produce and star in an array of successful Film, TV and theatrical productions.- Actor
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Shaun Toub was born in Tehran, Iran. He was raised in Manchester, England. At 14 he moved to Switzerland and then to New Hampshire. After two years of college in Massachusetts, Shaun transferred to USC where he graduated.
Toub has received accolades for several of his appearances in over 100 television episodes including his newer work playing Terence in Snowpiercer for 2 seasons. He also played Majid Javadi in two seasons of Homeland. His work includes Little America on AppleTv, Scandal, Grimm, Seinfeld, The Sopranos, Castle, NCIS, Chuck, Lost, Charmed, ER, Just Shoot Me!, JAG, Married... with Children and various movies made for television.
His latest series Tehran just won an International Emmy playing Faraz Kamali, the intelligent officer. The second season will be streaming on May 6 on AppleTVPlus.
His filmography includes his memorable performance in Bad Boys, Broken Arrow, The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, Iron Man, The Last Airbender, and the Oscar-winning film Crash. Including Papa Hemingway in Cuba, the life story of Ernest Hemingway, in the role of Evan Shipman the poet.
Shaun resides in Los Angeles. Loves the outdoors, sports, and music.- Actor
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Marshall Manesh was born in Iran. He lost his father at an early age and was raised by his beloved mother, whom he feels he got his strength from to make it in show biz. He came to the United States in the mid '70s and joined the Persian Theater Group and traveled extensively through out the US, Canada and Europe for 8 years. His debut film was "True Lies" as Jamal Khaled, directed by James Cameron. Marshall has done more than 100 feature films, television projects and more than 40 commercials. He had a recurring roles on Will & Grace as Mr. Zamir, How I Met Your Mother as Ranjit, Scrubs as Dr. Akbar, and was also a series regular on Andy Barker P.I.- Actor
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Anthony Azizi started his career many years ago, as a child, acting in plays for the Touchstone Theater run by Bill and Bridget George in Bethlehem, PA. He also started writing and staging his own plays at the age of eight for school and other public venues. He continued in the arts throughout all of his schooling. Anthony attended Freedom High School where went to school with fellow alums Daniel Dae Kim and Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson. Anthony attributes the love for acting and the inspiration to pursue it as a career to Cathy Caparrazo and Mrs. Bauer while attending Freedom High School. Anthony was accepted to Muhlenberg College with a soccer scholarship, but soon fell into acting once again after a very bad knee injury ended his collegiate soccer career. While at Muhlenberg he received his BFA in Theater Arts and soon was performing in many of the plays and musicals at Muhlenberg. He starred in the world premier of accomplished playwright Jim Ryan's "South Pacific Snow" and was nominated for an Irene Ryan award for his portrayal of Sam in "The Miss Firecracker Contest." Anthony gives a lot of the credit for choosing a career in acting to Charlie Richter who was the head of the theater department at Muhlenberg. He believes that Richter's belief in him translated to belief in himself to make the choice of moving ahead with his professional career. Upon graduating, Anthony moved straight to New York and lived with his college buddy Spencer Holover. Although broke, Anthony believes that his "starving acting" period in New York was some of his happiest years as an artist. Anthony did not waste any time starting to do plays all over New York including working at the famed Ensemble Studio Theater run by the late Kurt Dempster and the Thirteenth St. Reparatory Company run by the legendary Edith O'Hara. It was at the 13th Street Rep where he finally got noticed in New York in the play "Three of a Kind." The play landed him his first agent and soon it was off to Los Angeles. Anthony ran his own theater company in New York called The Clandestine Group which used 13th Street's space to stage its own productions. Once in LA, Anthony started working quickly in film and television. In 1996, Bryan Spicer hired him to play one of Tim Curry's sidekicks in the Universal feature McHale's Navy. Anthony attributes this film to be one of his first and biggest breaks in his career. Anthony also credits Curry for mentoring him through his first studio picture by graciously teaching him the dos and don'ts of the business. Soon after McHale's Navy other roles started coming in including Three Kings with George Clooney, For Richer or Poorer with Tim Allen and Kirstie Alley, Tomcats with Jerry O'Connell, and many TV guest spots working with some of the best in the business including Eddie Griffin, Maria Bello, Kevin Dillon, Ellen Burstyn, Michael Chiklis, and many more. In 2001 came The Lost Battalion, a film about the battle of Argonne in France in which American forces were heavily outnumbered by the Germans but were able to turn them back, thus ending World War I. Anthony was very proud of the film which received critical acclaim for A & E. It was produced by the legendary David Gerber whom Anthony attributes for giving him another break in the business.
In 2003 Azizi landed his first series in ABC's one hour drama Threat Matrix starring opposite James Denton and Kelly Rutherford. He played Mo', a courageous Egyptian-American former CIA agent assigned to an elite task force whose mission is to keep the country safe from terrorism. The show took television audiences behind the headlines and into the world of homeland security. After extensive research, it came to light that Anthony was the first Iranian American actor in history to be a series regular on a network one hour drama and holds this as one of the most crowning achievements in his career.
Anthony continued to work in many series after Threat Matrix including Dragnet with Ed O'Neil and Ethan Embry, NYPD Blue, The Shield, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls to name a few. In 2002, he recurred as Mamud Faheen on the groundbreaking series 24 with Kiefer Sutherland; and then again in 2005 as Rafique. He has also recurred on Desperate Housewives playing Mr. Falati which reunited him with his Threat Matrix costar James Denton and producer George Perkins.
In 2005 Anthony got a call from Rod Lurie asking him to do his series Commander in Chief. No time was wasted in saying yes to the groundbreaking series about the first female president of the United States starring Geena Davis and Donald Sutherland. It was to be one of the most fulfilling experiences in Azizi's career. He played Vince Taylor, Chief Aid to the President of the United States, and his character was gay and had HIV. The show was critically acclaimed and the pilot was seen by 17 million viewers. Commander in Chief received a Peoples Choice Award nomination in 2005, as well as a GLAAD nomination for best series primarily because of Anthony's portrayal of Vince Taylor.
Many other guest spots came after Commander in Chief including CSI Miami, Without a Trace, Sleeper Cell, and Criminal Minds alongside Mandy Patinkin for which the episode won a couple of awards.
In 2006, Anthony starred opposite Tony Shalhoub in the film AmericanEast for director Hesham Issawi. The film has been an official selection for many of the world's most prominent film festivals and has won numerous awards. The film addresses the relationship between Muslims and Jews living in Los Angeles.
Anthony Azizi is currently recurring on the hit TV series Lost playing Omar which has reunited him with his dear friend Daniel Dae Kim whom he went to high school with.
Anthony played in rock band growing up and still would like to reunite for a few shows with his band mates. Scott Bradoka, who was their guitarist, is now an accomplished musician. Azizi was the Homecoming King of his high school and still maintains close ties to his roots in Pennsylvania and New York.
Anthony has a production company with his dear friend and ex Threat Matrix cast mate Kurt Caceres. They are producing many projects including a film with Mark Frydman of Battleplan Productions.
Anthony has a sister, Mona, who was a reporter for an ABC affiliate news station in New York.
Azizi is involved in many social causes including Equality Now and The Noor Film Festival which he co-founded.
He is married to Cymbeline Smith, an actress from England, whom he says is "a way better and more talented actor than I am." They reside in LA with their twin boys Kambel and Smith -- the greatest achievement to date for Azizi.
Anthony Azizi is a member of the Baha'i Faith - the guiding compass in his life.- Actor
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Max Amini was born in Tucson, Arizona. He was raised on the East Coast and graduated from UCLA's school of Theater, Film and Television in 2004. As an actor, Max has numerous film and television credits including NBC's Heroes, regular appearances on Comedy Central's Mind of Mencia, Netflix original Real Rob, and leading roles in several feature films.
Max is a sensational international Stand-up comedian and has been headlining his own tours since 2012. Every year he performs in Austrellia, German, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Canada, and the list goes on. He's truly a one of a kind talent and he has a loyal fan base that truly loves him. For more info please visit his website.- Behrouz Vossoughi is one of Iran's most legendary actors. He has over 40 years of experience in the motion picture industry, with featured appearances in more than 90 films. In addition to his work in films, television, radio and theater, Behrouz' performances have earned him recognition at several international film festivals. He was one of the first to play in American and European Co-Productions such as in Caravans (1978) in 1978 co-starring with Anthony Quinn, Jennifer O'Neill (I) and Michael Sarrazin. He was also to play in another American movie called The Invincible Six (1970) with Curd Jürgens in 1962. His major films were, of course, Iranian. In Iran, he is still truly a Mega Star and Role model for an entire generation of Iranians in Post Islamic Iran and under the Shah's Pro-American Regime. Co-starring with his future wife, singer and actress Googoosh in a number of films such as Honeymoon (1976) aka the Honeymoon.
He is certainly The Iranian actor who paved the road for the new generation of Iranians working today in Iran and aboard. - Sayeed Shahidi was born on 14 February 2003 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He is an actor, known for Alex Cross (2012), Unthinkable (2010) and Intelligence (2014).
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Omid Zader is an American film and television actor of Persian descent. He was born in Tehran, Iran to an Iranian father and mother. At the age of 10, his parents decided to immigrate to Holland in 1995 in order to provide a better future for him and a fresh new beginning for themselves. Omid and his family lived in Holland for 4 years until an opportunity presented itself for him and his family to immigrate to the United Sates. His parents decided to live in Los Angeles, since there is a huge Persian population there, in order for them to feel a bit closer to their home country.
He received his bachelor's degree in Sociology from California State University, Northridge and graduated in 2009. It was in those early college days that he started to garner an interest in stunt work in film and television. He trained for many years in several different facilities with a variety of mentors 4 to 5 times a weeks for years, since it is such a physically demanding career. He also started practicing a variety of different types of Martial Arts throughout the years, Muay Thai and Escrima being his top favorite disciplines. Through stunt work however, Omid started to fall in love with acting. He then pursued his new career goal by going through a variety of acting classes and seminars in order to get him more prepared for the years to come. Some of Omid's work can be seen on movies such as 3 Days to Kill, acting opposite Kevin Costner, to Guest-Starring roles on T.V. shows such as Major Crimes, Grimm and The Thundermans. He also has over 100 film and T.V. show credits as a stunt actor as well.
Today, Omid is the Co-Founder of Turbo Panda Productions, LLC, a Los Angeles based production company, and its affiliated post production company, Rocket Panda Post, based out of Burbank, CA. Omid and Turbo Panda Productions have multiple producing credits on various films, television shows, music videos and pilots and most notably, an episode of Sesame Street's live segments. When he is not working on sets or in the office, he enjoys many outdoors activities such as mountain biking, camping and hiking. He has also been an avid Eminem fan ever since his teenage years and would love to one day collaborate with him on any capacity.- Actor
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Nicholas Guilak was born in Houston,Texas and raised in La Jolla, California, moved to Los Angeles in 1991 and received his Bachelors of Arts from USC in Theatre, Humanities and Film. He then studied in London then Scotland were he performed in thirteen different shows, 168 performances and received two Fringe First nominations for directing and starring as Aldo Scaliki in John Patrick Shanely's Italian American Reconciliation at the '94 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He came back for his Masters of Fine Arts in Acting from UCLA and garnered the Laura Pell's Scholarship for great achievements in Acting. Being a strong advocate of the stage, he and fellow colleagues created the Los Angeles based non-profit theatre company, Big Dog Little Dog Productions, which was named "Top five not-for-profit theatre companies in Los Angeles" in 2000 by Bravo. Nico has been fortunate to play in over sixty different stage productions around the globe including The Last Days of Judus Iscariot, Glengarry Glen Ross, A Lie of the Mind, Hedda Gabler, Homesteaders, Twelfth Night, The Misanthrope, Three Sisters, The Rover, Baal among others. He has produced and directed over twenty plays, most recently David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross and has written several screenplays among them, Shattered, Parker: A Life Least Expected, and Happiness in New York City.
His film and television credits:
The Laundromat, Nefertari: Journey to Eternity, American Fighter, The Lost Weekend, Think Like a Man Too, American Wrestler; The Wizard, Cardle Swapping, 1979 Revolution, Laleh, His Secret Family, In Search of America, Inshallah, A Conscious Mind, Retribution, Of God and Kings, Solar Flight,The Lost Room,The Exquisite Continent, Delta Farce, Got Papers, Double Deception, Two Coyotes, Will Unplugged, Let the Devil Wear Black, Cruel Intention2 among others. His television credits include Ray Donovan, Henry Danger, Bones, Saving Jessica Lynch, Homeland Security, NCIS:LA, two seasons on 24, Chuck, HawthoRNe, Dark Blue, Las Vegas, CSI:Miami, NCIS, The Agency to JAG, She Spies, Threat Matrix, Dragonfire, Jane Doe, War Stories among others, for more information on credits go to resume.- Actor
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Marco Khan(lian) is a true citizen of the world. He was born March 27th of Armenian parents in Tehran, Iran. His father, Levon was born in Lebanon and raised in Iran where he met his wife Anna, born in Babol, Iran. Marco's grandparents (from his mother's side) were a grandfather from Russia and a grandmother from the country of Georgia. Marco and his younger brother left Iran at age 11 in pursuit of higher education. Schooled in Venice, Italy and then in Catalina Island, California. Marco now calls Los Angeles, CA, home. At age 17, Marco picked up English as his 4th language and assumed the responsibility as the caretaker for his entire family. While operating a series of restaurants for 12 years to support his family, Marco enjoyed brief stints as a Professional Athlete in Soccer, Football and Pro Wrestling! After his father passed away, he decided to pursue his lifelong passion of becoming an actor. His looks, talent, and diverse background have allowed Marco to play a variety of interesting characters. He is a versatile actor, achieving success in comedy, action and drama. Despite his "tough guy" appearance, his demeanor is quiet, gentle, gracious and sincere. As a father, he loves children and animals. Almost everyone who meets Marco agrees that there is "Just something special that draws you towards him." He is a kind and tolerant humanitarian who is relentless in his pursuit for peace. Always positive and encouraging to others, "Never Give Up" is the motto he lives by. Marco is a true believer that everything happens for a reason, that tests and trials in life shape your character and that his destiny is in God's hands.- Actress
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Shiva Negar is a Canadian Actress, Model, and Producer, who rose to prominence starring as Annika Ogden in CBS Films/Lionsgate Blockbuster Movie "American Assassin" and made the short list of Variety Magazine's "10 Canadians to watch".
Shiva can be seen on numerous Films and Network Television shows. Some of her latest credits include "The Cleaning Lady" on FOX and the CBS Military Drama "Seal Team".
Coming from a diverse background, born in Iran, raised in Turkey and Canada, Shiva began her career in music. She was a child performer in piano and guitar recitals and singing competitions, followed by theater and live performances throughout her adolescence. Performing Arts was always Shiva's passion and she had to overcome many obstacles and cultural traditions in order to follow her dreams and pursue her acting career. She also managed to graduate from York University with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Postgraduate degree in Events Management & Marketing.
Dedicated to using her work in performing arts as a medium to tell impactful stories, to inspire, support and empower women all over the world, Shiva hopes to spread more awareness about pressing issues surrounding modern culture and society.
Shiva Negar is one of the faces of the EDA (Ethnically Diverse Artists). She is a contributor and a child sponsor for the non-profit organization Mother Miracle, educating and feeding the impoverished children. She's also a Humanitarian and a Women's rights advocate.- Actor
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- Marjan Neshat was born on 10 October 1975 in Tehran, Iran. She is an actress, known for RoboCop (2014), Alfie (2004) and The Book of Henry (2017).
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Taies Farzan was born in Tehran, Iran. Her family moved to Turkey and thereafter to Germany. She speaks Persian, Turkish, German, English, Kurdish. She was on stage at the age of 14 in Cologne Germany and appeared in lead positions in more than 15 stage pieces until she met Daryush Shokof in a casting for a film which got her interest bent more towards the movies rather than Theater. She has been a long associate of Shokof with whom she produced 2 movies and acted in 2 films of Shokof as the lead (Tenussian Vacuvasco, and Breathful). She has two sisters Doris and Candice. Her mother is Farkhondeh and they all live in Germany. Her father was a famous Iranian actor, Dubbing master, who also Directed films before they left Iran after the revolution. Her mother was a well known Radio personality as well as a popular Voice Dub personality in the Iranian cinema before the revolution.- Mina Badie was born on 28 November 1970 in Los Angeles, California, USA. She is an actress, known for Road to Perdition (2002), Greenberg (2010) and Eleventh Hour (2008).
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Rosie Malek-Yonan is an Assyrian born in Tehran who lives in the U.S. She is an actress, award winning writer, director, producer, published author, documentary filmmaker, a classically trained pianist, composer, and an Assyrian advocate. She is a descendant of one of the oldest and most prominent Assyrian Christian families from the Middle-East, the Malek Family of Jilu, tracing her Assyrian roots back eleven centuries.
Rosie's father, George Malek-Yonan (1924-2014), an Assyrian, was Iran's Champion of Champions with numerous gold medals in track and field and the pentathlon. He became an international attorney and is credited with securing a seat for the Assyrian Christians as a recognized minority in the Iranian Parliament (Majlis). This was a huge milestone for a nation without a country since the fall of the Assyrian Empire. Rosie's mother, Lida Malek-Yonan (1928-2002) also an Assyrian, was a well-known humanitarian and activist who tirelessly worked a lifetime demanding rights for minority Assyrian Christian women in Iran and secured their recognition by establishing the Assyrian Women's Organization, the only Assyrian organization officially recognized as a charter member of the Iranian Women's Association presided over by Queen Farah Pahlavi.
Rosie's grandparents who were survivors of the Assyrian Genocide of 1914-1918, left Geogtapah during the Great Exodus from Urmia in 1918. After World War One, Dr. Jesse Malek-Yonan, her great uncle, represented the Assyrians of Urmia, Iran, at the Paris Peace Talks in 1919. Before WWII, the Malek-Yonan family returned to Tehran where her parents met and were married.
Her sister, Monica, works very closely with her on most of her projects. The Malek-Yonan sister are award-winning writers whose screenplays have earned more than a hundred awards and nominations at film festivals and screenplay competitions nationally and internationally. The sisters trained in the U.S. in figure skating and were to represent Iran in the 1980 Winter Olympics but decided not to compete after the Iranian Revolution made it virtually impossible. The new Islamic Government required them to denounce Christianity and become Muslim, wear head covering, long skirts, and perform without music.
Rosie began studying classical piano at the age of four and attended the Tehran Conservatory of Music. She won first place in many national piano competitions and was invited by Queen Farah Pahlavi to play at a Command Performance for the Royal Family.
She received her degree in English from the University of Cambridge and continued studying classical piano with Saul Joseph at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and acting with Ray Reinhardt at the American Conservatory Theatre. She graduated from San Francisco State University with two degrees in Music. She won an invitation to study drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and studied acting at the historic Pasadena Playhouse where she performed on the main stage in "The Time of Your Life". Rosie has directed and written numerous plays that have been produced and performed on stage to rave reviews.
She made her television debut on Dynasty (1981) in 1982 followed by a national commercial for AT&T where she spoke in Assyrian (related to Aramaic), a language that, years later, director Mel Gibson would use in The Passion of the Christ (2004). Since the early 1980s, she has worked on notable television shows, in films and onstage, opposite many of Hollywood's leading actors. She played Nuru Il-Ebrahim, opposite Reese Witherspoon, in New Line Cinema's Rendition (2007), directed by Academy Award-winning director Gavin Hood.
Rosie Malek-Yonan is an outspoken advocate of issues concerning her Assyrian nation, in particular bringing attention to the 1914-1918 Assyrian Genocide as well as the plight of modern-day Assyrians in the Middle-East since the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States and its Coalition Forces. She is frequently interviewed on television and radio programs worldwide including Australia's ABC National Radio and publications such as the New York Times, giving her assessment of the current situation of the Assyrians in the Middle-East as well as discussing the topic of the Assyrian Genocide. As a public speaker, she has been invited to lecture on the topic of the Assyrian Genocide. She has lectured at University of California (Berkeley and Merced campuses) and at Woodbury University, among other schools. In 2008, she addressed the topic of genocide, world peace and the 1914-1918 Assyrian Genocide in statements invited to be presented at the House of Lords on 12 March and on 24 April at the UK House of Commons.
She is the author of "Rosie Malek-Yonan's The Crimson Field", an historical and literary epic novel, based on real events and true family chronicles set to the backdrop of the 1914-1918 Assyrian Genocide, in which 750,000 Assyrians were massacred by the Ottoman Turks, Kurds, and Persians in Ottoman Turkey and in the Assyrian inhabited region of Urmia in northwestern Iran.
In 2006, Washington D.C.-based Zinda Magazine, selected "Rosie Malek-Yonan's The Crimson Field" as The Assyrian Event of the Year 2005 and MAKE, a Chicago Literary Magazine featured it in their 4th edition. "Rosie Malek-Yonan's The Crimson Field" was added to the State University of New York (SUNY) course curriculum. This is the first time that the Assyrian Genocide was recognized and studied at an institution of higher learning.
When Rosie Malek-Yonan's The Crimson Field was brought to the attention of Congress, on June 30, 2006, Rosie was invited to testify on Capitol Hill before a Congressional Committee of the 109th Congress on religious freedom regarding the genocide, massacres and persecution of Assyrians in Iraq by Kurds and Islamists. During her 33-minute testimony, she compared the events of 1914-1918, as depicted in The Crimson Field, to the current plight of the indigenous Assyrian Christians in Iraq. Her passionate testimony and plea to the United States government, ultimately prompted Congressman Christopher Smith (R-NJ) to travel to war-torn Iraq to witness matters for himself. While in Iraq, after meeting with local Assyrians, he turned in Malek-Yonan's report to U.S. Officials in Iraq. One year later, a Congressional Appropriations Subcommittee unanimously voted on and sent $10 million to aid the Assyrians in Iraq.
Monica Malek-Yonan's documentary film, My Assyrian Nation on the Edge, was based on Rosie's Congressional Testimony. It was released September 2006. On 7 August 2008, the documentary film premiered at the Australian Parliament of New South Wales in Sydney.
Various media sources including The Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, and the U.K. Iraqi Study have quoted and used Rosie Malek-Yonan's Congressional Testimony and her various published articles, speeches and interviews regarding the state of affairs in Iraq concerning its Assyrian indigenous people as well as the Assyrian refugees in Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Her Congressional Testimony and her book, The Crimson Field, have been referenced in numerous academic papers and books.
Rosie Malek-Yonan is a contributing writer to "Seyfo: Genocide, Denial and the Right of Recognition" (ISBN 91-972351-2-1), a book which is a compilation of articles and speeches presented at conferences held in the European Parliament and published in the Netherlands.
At the 73rd Annual Assyrian Convention in Chicago, the Board of Advisers of the Assyrian American National Federation, Inc. named and awarded Rosie Malek-Yonan 2006 Woman of the Year.
For her numerous contributions as an actress, artist, director, author, and activist, IAPAC awarded Rosie Malek-Yonan the 2008 Excellence in Arts and Entertainment Award.
At the Assyrian Universal Alliance 26th World Conference in Sydney, Australia, Rosie Malek-Yonan was awarded and named the 2009 Assyrian Woman of the Year in recognition of her substantial contribution to advance the Assyrian national cause by promoting international recognition of the Assyrian Genocide, her extensive efforts in conveying the needs of the Assyrians to the United States government, and achievements in providing individual service to the Assyrian community worldwide.
For International Woman's Day, the Netherland based Assyrie Magazinë gave her the recognition of Assyrian Power-Woman.
Robert Kennedy Center Human Rights - Women's History Month Spotlight, Kerry Kennedy wrote: "Rosie Malek-Yonan fearlessly shines light on the challenges of Assyrians in Iraq...Rosie strives for peaceful conflict resolution in the face of violence."
She has spoken at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance to address the escalating crisis and the deadly attacks on the Assyrians in Iraq.
Rosie was an ambassador for the Swedish-based humanitarian organization, Assyrians Without Borders. She is a founding member of the Assyrian Cultural and Arts Society. For several years beginning in 2005 scholarships were given to students at Woodbury University's Design School through an annual Assyrian Design Competition.- Soraya Esfandiary, second wife of Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, acted in one film: an Italian film cut in three parts directed by Michelangelo Antonioni called The Three Faces (1965) ("Three Faces of a Woman"). This was shot a few years after Soraya (who couldn't have children) and the Shah had divorced. Despite a promising debut, she did not pursue an acting career. She wrote her memoirs published in French under the title "Le Palais des solitudes" in the 1990 which included a reprint of her first biography and a recent novel, "Princesse d'argile". Ever since her divorce, Soraya has essentially mingled in the circles of the European Gotha.
- Actress
- Producer
Necar Zadegan is a versatile actress known for a career on stage and screen. She made her Broadway debut when she originated the role of the Leper in Rajiv Joseph's Pulitzer Prize nominated and multi Tony award accoladed play " The Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" opposite Robin Williams. She stars as Special Agent Hannah Khoury in the CBS global franchise series, "NCIS: New Orleans" and has joined the cast of the much anticipated and newest installation of the Star Trek franchise, "Picard".
Ms. Zadegan first garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of First Lady turned president Dalia Hassan on Fox's hit series "24", and most recently for her hilarious leading role in the absurdist docu-spoof film for IFC on Netflix called "Documentary: Now" written by Seth Meyers and alongside an all-star cast. The show has been nominated for multiple Emmys and has begun streaming in the UK. For HBO in the drama "Here and Now" from Oscar winning screenwriter, creator Alan Ball, she takes the lead in the delicate portrayal of Layla Shokrani.
In the much beloved Bravo comedy streaming on Netflix, "Girlfriends Guide to Divorce", Ms. Zadegan plays the character written for her by show creator Marti Noxon, of fashionable, high powered attorney and fan favorite, Delia Banai. The show recently began streaming its fifth and final season. The year also saw Ms. Zadegan join the cast of the ABC hit "The Good Doctor". Other series regular roles include her portrayal of Dr. Gina Bandari on "Emily Owens MD" and in the lead opposite Greg Kinnear in the FOX comedy "Rake".
Some highlights from her many other credits include roles for Steven Spielberg company produced series "Extant", opposite Sean Bean in spy series "Legends" and a very memorable turn as the Queen of Iran in Showtime's critical success "Masters of Sex" opposite Michael Sheen, with whom she also starred opposite in the Columbia Tri Star film, psychological thriller "Unthinkable" alongside Samuel L. Jackson. She appeared with Adam Sandler in Judd Apatow's "You Don't Mess With the Zohan" and played the title role in "Elena Undone" which enjoyed success at independent festivals worldwide.
Ms. Zadegan has worked at some of the world's most prestigious theaters including The Mark Taper Forum, the Royal Dramatic Theater of Stockholm, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and many more, and toured internationally in the Persian language production of "Satellite with Love".
Necar Zadegan was born in Heidelberg, Germany and raised in Northern California. She studied theater and dance on a performance scholarship at the University of California, Santa Barbara and graduated with honors and a BA degree in English Literature. She also studied at the Sorbonne University in Paris. She speaks Persian, French and German and has learned Spanish, Arabic and Hebrew while working in those languages. She works with USAID in supporting opportunities for education across the globe and is an ambassador for BuildOn.org and travels with them around the world building schools for children.- Bahar Soomekh was born on March 30, 1975 in Tehran, Iran, to a Persian Jewish family. She is the daughter of Manijeh and Hamid Soomekh, who owned a women's high fashion company. She has a sister, Saba Soomekh. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1979, to escape the Iranian revolution. She attended a yeshiva, Sinai Akiba Academy, and Beverly Hills High School, where she played the violin in the school orchestra. She majored in environmental studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Soomekh began working at a corporate job, and took acting classes at night, before quitting her job to pursue a full-time acting career.
Bahar began acting at age 27, guest starring in television shows like Without a Trace (2002), 24 (2001), JAG (1995), among others. She got her big break portraying an Iranian-American woman named Dorri, speaking fluent English and Farsi, in the Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Crash (2004). The whole cast won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture. Bahar also appeared in the director's cut version of another Academy Award winning movie, Syriana (2005), playing Yassi. Bahar got some more attention playing Davian's translator in Mission: Impossible III (2006). She had a leading role in the horror film Saw III (2006), playing a victim, Dr. Lynn Denlon. She had also portrayed Margo on the television series Day Break (2006). Recently, Soomekh got one of the lead roles as Hollis on the television series The Oaks (2008), which will come out in the fall of 2008. - Tala Ashe stars as Zari Adrianna Tomaz in The CW series "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." Ashe is an Iranian-American actress who speaks fluent Farsi and received a BFA in Acting from Boston University, with training from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and UCB theater. She was recently seen in the off-Broadway production of "The Profane" at Playwrights Horizons, a New York Times Critic's Pick exploring what it means to be Muslim in America. Her additional theatre credits include "Troilus and Cressida" at The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park, "Head Over Heels" at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the off-Broadway productions of "The Who & The What" at Lincoln Center Theatre and "Urge for Going" at The Public Theater. Ashe's television credits include a recurring role on "American Odyssey," opposite Anna Friel and Peter Facinelli, and an arc on "Smash," opposite Debra Messing, as well as guest spots on "30 Rock," "Law & Order" and "Covert Affairs."
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Narges Rashidi was born in Iran, settled in 1987 with her family at first in Turkey and a year later to Germany. After graduation she moved to Berlin and studied acting. In 2005 she attended in Los Angeles the Master Class with MK Lewis. In 2007 she received the award for Best Young Actress at the New York International Independent Film Video Festival for her role as Lolita in A2Z. The German public knows her, among other things through her roles in Schwarze Schafe, Schimanski: Schicht im Schacht, Breathful, Dating Lancelot and KDD. In 2012 Narges Rashidi will be one of the main cast of a new Sat.1 series.- Lanna Joffrey was born on 9 September 1977 in Iran. She is an actress, known for Fishing Naked (2015), The Murder Plans (2011) and Like No Tomorrow: An Apocalypse Anthology (2020).
- Doris Lessing was born on 22 October 1919 in Kermanshah, Persia [now Iran]. She was a writer, known for Adore (2013), Maupassant (1963) and Memoirs of a Survivor (1981). She was married to Gottfried Anton Nicolai Lessing and Frank Charles Wisdom. She died on 17 November 2013 in London, England, UK.
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Tandees' first film was destroyed when the building that housed her film school was hit by bombs in the Iran/Iraq war. She was then 16 years old. After graduating from high school, Tandees and her family moved to Vancouver, Canada, where she continued her studies in media, television and later on film.
After working in various capacities in television for over 5 years, Tandees returned to school. She graduated top of her class from the Vancouver Film School, and after a short period of working on various projects, registered her own company 'Fables Productions Inc.', developing various scripts and experimental projects. In 1997, Tandees and her partner registered another company 'Unavailable Pictures Ltd.' In 2000, Fables Productions and Unavailables were combined to create Filmatica Enterprises Inc., with Tandees as the sole owner of it.
Between the three companies, Tandees has created, written and produced over a dozen short and long format projects, mostly documentaries and experimentals. In 2002, Tandees created Impromptu, an unscripted comedy programming. The pilot of Impromptu, entitled The Audition, went on to win 3 Leo Award's nominations.
Since 2004, Tandees has joined forces with Sean Thomas from ChefThomas Productions, and together they are embarking on producing a series of feature length projects in various genres.
In her spare time, Tandees also writes and publishes articles.- Atossa Leoni was born in October 1977 in Berlin, Germany. She is an actress, known for The Kite Runner (2007), Eyes (2005) and The Florist (2004).
- Actress
- Producer
Shiva Rose was born in Santa Monica, Los Angeles. An American of Irish and Iranian decent, she was raised in Iran until the age of ten when she and her family were forced to escape to Paris, then to Los Angeles.
She began her stage career at 15 at several theaters in Santa Monica. She attended UCLA and then married actor Dylan McDermott. While devoting her life as a mother to raise a daughter, she continued to act on stage, television and film.
She gained recognition for her starring role in the critically-acclaimed David and Layla which Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter described as "'A bold, politically relevant film against impossible odds." The film got theatrical distribution, followed by Time Warner's VOD and Digital Distribution. It continues to be distributed abroad.
David & Layla garnered Shiva Rose the "Best Breakthrough Actress" Award.
She continues her career in the theater as an actress and writer. She wrote Fragile Life based on the life of the photographer Tina Modotti.
She is active with several charitable organizations including being a spokesperson for Amnesty International Refugee Program.
Shiva Rose and Dylan McDermott divorced in 2009. She continues to write for various magazines (Vogue, Lucky) and online sites (eco-stilletto, Huffington Post). She maintains a life style website devoted to her organic holistic lifestyle called The Local Rose.
Currently (2011), she is the Executive Producer of a feature film 'Relative Insanity', starring Maggie Grace and Helen Hunt.
Shiva Rose lives with her two daughters in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California.- Actress
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Yasmine Aker is an actress, singer and songwriter based out of Los Angeles, California. She was born in Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Iranian parents and later moved to Canada. She began performing at an early age, starring in school plays and community events. She sang soprano with the Voices of Bahá Choir for a performance at Carnegie Hall, New York, during the Conference of the Arts 2002. She has a passion for public service and was awarded the TD Canada Trust Scholarship for Community Leadership. Yasmine studied psychology at York University and the University of Western Ontario in London. After competing in the Miss World franchise as the titleholder, Miss London 2006, and Miss World Canada Photogenic 2006, she turned her sights back to her childhood dream of pursuing a career in film and television. She has starred in various motion pictures and television shows in Canada and the United States. Yasmine embarked on a solo singing career in 2009 with the Grammy nominated Canadian production team KUYA, who have worked with international stars such as Alessia Cara, Nelly Furtado, Akon, and Genuwine. She has since released three albums, her latest album titled "Unvarnished". Her musical sound combines elements from her Middle Eastern roots, pop, neo-soul and electronica. Yasmine moved to Los Angeles in 2011 to continue her work in film and television.- Garen Petrossian is an actor known for Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job and I don't Clean(2009), Expendible (2008), The Hurricane in the Rosegarden (2007).
Growing up he wanted to follow in his father's footstep and be a Civil Engineer which he did and received a degree in Bachelor of Science from Northeastern University in Boston, MA
His first introduction into acting was as a teenager in performance as a narrator produced by an Armenian Youth Organization. However, it will be more than 20 years for the interest in acting to grow and he moved to Los Angeles and started out in small theatre production, where his first stage work was "Jesus of Watts" by Gerald Lemmons and from there his interest grew and continued.
Garen is continuing his pursuit as an actor to be in a major TV and Film Production and continues his journey as an entertainer. He also has entered in voice over industry where he has lent his voice to Tim and Eric Awesome Show: I don't Clean episode and for his brother's company that introduces clients to his Bio Tech software system. - Actor
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Maz Jobrani was born on 26 February 1972 in Tehran, Iran. He is an actor and writer, known for Friday After Next (2002), Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero (2016) and Dragonfly (2002). He has been married to Preetha since 2006. They have two children.- Actor
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An actor and stand up comedian, born in London to Iranian parents of the Baha'i faith. He studied English and Theatre Studies. He recently starred in the Netflix Global drama The Letter for the King (2020) as Sir Fantumar and the HBO/BBC series His Dark Materials (2019). A Perrier Award nominee in 2002 and Edinburgh Comedy Award Panel Prize winner in 2016, Omid has starred in films such as the smash hits Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), the Oscar nominated Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015), Oscar winning Gladiator (2000), Sex and The City 2, The Mummy and The Infidel. Other films include Mr Nice, Grown Your Own, Over the Hedge, Casanova, Modigliani, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, The Calcium Kid, Anita & Me, Mean Machine and Spy Game. Other notable TV credits include two series of his own BBC One show, The Omid Djalili Show (2007), and a co-starring role in Whoopi Goldberg's NBC sitcom Whoopi. Omid was also part of the 2018 line-up for ITV's We Are Most Amused and Amazed, a televised celebration for The Prince of Wales' 70th birthday. Omid executive produced the acclaimed 2015 documentary We Are Many (2014) about the global anti-war demonstrations that took place in 800 cities on 15th February 2003.- Actor
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Babak Karimi was born on 22 March 1960 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He is an actor and editor, known for The Salesman (2016), The Past (2013) and A Separation (2011).- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
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Amir Mokri was born in Iran. He is a cinematographer and writer, known for Man of Steel (2013), Transformers: Age of Extinction (2014) and Lord of War (2005). He is married to Winnie Mokri.- Director
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Ali Abbasi was born in 1981 in Tehran, Iran. He is a director and writer, known for Border (2018), Holy Spider (2022) and Shelley (2016).- Director
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Tony Zarindast was born in 1934 in Tabriz, Iran. He was a director and writer, known for Cat in the Cage (1978), The Guns and the Fury (1981) and Hardcase and Fist (1989). He died on 29 November 2016 in Tehran, Iran.- Director
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Bahman Ghobadi was born in 1969 in Baneh, in the province of Iranian Kurdistan, near the Iran-Iraq border. Shortly after graduating from the National Audiovisual School, he made his first short, immediately acclaimed by the local critics. One of these short films, "Life in Fog" (1999) is even considered as the most famous short ever made in Iran. This success allowed Bahman Ghobadi to make several feature films, the best known being his first, "A Time for Drunken Horses" (2000), the first Kurd film in the history of Iran. This film and all the the others made by Ghobadi were hits in the festival circuit, garnered dozens of awards but were little seen or not seen at all in his native country. His last movie to date, filmed without official permit, rapidly and feverishly, "No One Knows About Persian Cats" (2009) is a remarkable semi-documentary about underground indie music in Tehran.- Writer
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Rafi Pitts' films have attained acclaim and awards around the globe. Pitts' first feature, Season Five (1997), premiered in the Venice Film Festival. His second, Sanam (2000) was hailed by French critics and compared to The 400 Blows (1959). In 2003, Pitts presented his controversial feature documentary, Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty (2003) in the Official Selection of the Locarno Film Festival . It's Winter (2006) premiered in the Berlin Competition, and one year later, the Seattle International Film Festival honored Pitts with the Emerging Masters Award for his work. In 2010, Pitts' fifth feature The Hunter (2010) was also nominated for the Berlin Golden Bear as well as Best Actor for his performance in the leading role. In 2012 Ben Affleck invited Pitts to join him as an actor as well as his personal consultant on the feature film Argo (2012), which went on to win the Oscar for Best Motion Picture the following year. In 2016 Pitts premiered Soy Nero (2016) in the Berlin Film Festival and for the third time running he was nominated for the Golden Bear.
Born 1967 in Iran, Pitts spent his childhood in Tehran, where he lived in a basement flat underneath a post-production studio. During the war between Iran and Iraq, in 1981, he fled the country and moved to Britain. In 1991 Pitts graduated from Harrow College - Polytechnic of Central London with a BA (Hons) Degree in Film and Photography. His first short, In Exile (1991), was presented the same year at the London International Film Festival. In the 90's, Pitts moved to Paris and worked on films by Leos Carax, Jacques Doillon and Jean-Luc Godard.- Producer
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Essy Niknejad was born on June 1960, in Tehran. He was 13 years old when he met the Swedish filmmaker, 'Ingmar Bergman'. Since then, he has been inspired to make movies. His desire and aspiration for writing, directing and producing movie started at very young age in his homeland. He made several short and feature films before finished his college. Right after his graduation, in the midst of his country at war, he made five documentaries (1982-84). One of his feature documentaries, "Barricade" (1983) made him a household name. Writing and directing feature film was his authenticity of life, "Bloody Rice" (1984) inspire by true story with political controversial subject matter traveled to the Tashkent Film Festival in USSR and received an Honorary Diploma, an award that garnered him attention internationally as Director amongst the independent film community. As an aggressive and out speaking filmmaker, Essy Niknejad set out to make his new miniseries, about a divorced woman in world of ideology, "The Fall of Sahara", (1985), later on "The Fall of Sahara" was broadcast syndicated stateside on PBS in the US (1994). His Immigration into the US in 1986, made him to continue his education. He went to the California institute of Arts, at Cal Arts and graduating with a Master Fine Arts, in Film & Television (1990), meanwhile he got a chance to direct a few segment of TV series (Eye on LA) for ABC and as result he got more TV episode to direct such as (Sighting) for Fox. Essy Niknejad culminated his educational, enrolling at Wayne State University at Michigan State for his Ph.D. in Film & Television. Essy Niknejad did set up his production company INPinc in Los Angeles (1997). He is a member of the Director's Guild of America and so many other professional organization and cultural institutions.- Writer
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Daryush Shokof is an artist and film-maker who left Iran in the 1970s for the U.S. and under the name of AliReza Shokoufandeh. He studied mathematics and physics at E.N.M.U. and then went on to get a masters degree in management from U.D. in Texas. He became a full-time artist in Germany where he moved to from New York in early 1980s. He coined the term maximalism in the arts in 1990 in Cologne Germany, and together with many of the artists of the time they made many exhibitions under the maximalists at Gallery Schulze in Cologne in 1990, both in Europe and in the U.S. He first made a name for himself as a script-writer by copying works from two great directors of the time Federico Fellini, and Pier Paolo Pasolini, changing the names of the characters and some situations and presented them to his father as his own works, which made his father believe he was a genius. He was soon the talk of a bigger circle of friends and family and had to write at a level to match his great idols from the age of eleven years. None of his writings ever showed any promise until finally and at age 42 he wrote a story which attracted the attention of two of the legendary names of cinema. Marlon Brando and Anthony Quinn both wanted to have the lead in Seven Servants. Quinn played the role along with David Warner, who played the role offered to Norman Mailer (who was so in admiration of the story that refused to play the role saying his acting was not up to the task). In the next 10 years he did more than 12 feature films and 10 short films with great originality both in writing and directing. He has made his movies through the help of private friends and contribution and cooperation from a great many professionals who believed and supported in his abilities as a film-maker. He has never had any of his movies released to the public and has never received any funding for any of his films from any official film industry companies, or from any country. He continues making films under amazing conditions, which in itself is truly a story to make a film about.- Director
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Marjane Satrapi was born on 22 November 1969 in Rasht, Iran. She is a director and actress, known for Persepolis (2007), The Voices (2014) and Chicken with Plums (2011). She is married to Mattias Ripa. She was previously married to Reza.- Producer
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Maziar Bahari was born on 25 May 1967 in Tehran, Iran. He is a producer and director, known for And Along Came a Spider (2003), To Light a Candle (2014) and The Voyage of the St. Louis (1995).- Composer
- Music Department
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Mamad Haghighat was born in 1952 in Isfahan, Iran. He is a writer and director, known for Two Angels (2003), L'etat de crise (1984) and Subjection (2019).- Producer
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Amir Naderi is one of the most influential figures of 20th century Persian cinema. He developed his knowledge of cinema by watching films at the theater where he worked as a boy, reading film criticism, and making relationships with leading film critics. He began his career with still photography for some notable Iranian features. In the 1970s, Mr. Naderi turned to directing, and made some of the most important features of the New Iranian Cinema. In 1971, his directorial debut, GOODBYE, FRIEND, was released in Iran. Amir Naderi first came into the international spotlight with films that are now known as cinema classics, THE RUNNER (1985), and WATER, WIND, DUST (1989). THE RUNNER is considered by many critics to be one of the most influential films of the past quarter century. After expatriating to New York in the early '90s, Amir Naderi continued to produce new work. He was named a Rockefeller Film and Video Fellow in 1997, and has served as an artist in residence and instructor at Columbia University, the University of Las Vegas, and New York's School of Visual Arts. His US films have premiered at the Film Society of Lincoln Center/ MoMA's New Directors/ New Films series, the Venice, Cannes, Tribeca, and Sundance Film Festivals. His film SOUND BARRIER (2005) had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and won the prestigious Roberto Rossellini Prize at the Rome Film Festival. His last feature film VEGAS: BASED ON A TRUE STORY (2008) was in competition at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the CinemAvvenire Best Film in Competition Prize and the SIGNIS Award. The film was also shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, the Pusan International Film Festival and CineVegas in Las Vegas. His last three films MARATHON, SOUND BARRIER, and VEGAS were all shown at the FILMeX Film Festival in Tokyo.- Writer
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Of Iranian descent, he was born in Boulder, Colorado, and grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. He graduated from Madison West High School and was a city boys high school tennis champion. Nowrasteh attended New Mexico State University on an athletic scholarship and later transferred to the University of Southern California to attend the School of Cinematic Arts. He is married to wife Elizabeth G. Nowrasteh commonly referred to as "Betsy." Nowrasteh's oldest son, Alex Nowrasteh, is an immigration policy analyst working at the Cato Institute. Nowrasteh's younger son, Mark Nowrasteh, studied in the UCLA Playwriting program. Mark's first play The Emperor & The Apostle will have its theatrical debut in Austin, Texas in Fall, 2013. Mark has also been hired by Rise Entertainment to write his first screenplay for a motion picture, for delivery in early 2014.
Nowrasteh began his career writing on the CBS television series, The Equalizer. He went on to work on other series (Falconcrest, D.E.A.), and wrote the pilot for the USA Network show La Femme Nikita (1996). He also worked on independent films such as the American/Brazilian production The Interview (1997, writer/co-producer), which played at Sundance and on the Showtime network; and Norma Jean, Jack and Me (1998), a film that was not theatrically released but played the festival circuit and aired on HDNet. In 2001 he wrote and directed the highly-rated, award-winning Showtime presentation The Day Reagan Was Shot, which starred Richard Dreyfuss as Alexander Haig and was executive produced by Oliver Stone. The following year he wrote 10,000 Black Men Named George, the story of the Pullman strike of the 1930s, for Showtime.
For both of the above films Nowrasteh received the Pen USA West Literary Award for Best Teleplay-the only writer in the history of the Pen awards to win two years in a row in the same category. The Day Reagan Was Shot also received the Eddie Award and the Golden Satellite Award for Best Motion Picture for Television, 2001, as well as a SAG nomination for Best Actor (Richard Dreyfuss). Nowrasteh also wrote the "Manifest Destiny" episode of the highly regarded (16 Emmy nominations) Steven Spielberg and TNT miniseries presentation, Into the West. Following that Nowrasteh wrote and produced the controversial ABC miniseries The Path to 9/11. He then went on to co-write (with his wife, Betsy Giffen Nowrasteh), and direct the film The Stoning of Soraya M., released in 2009 by Lionsgate Films.
Nowrasteh was attacked by Conservatives for an alleged "liberal bias" in his Showtime film, The Day Reagan Was Shot. Former Reagan National Security Advisor, Richard Allen, led the charge with a piece in the Wall Street Journal (December 14, 2001), accusing Nowrasteh and Executive Producer Oliver Stone of "yet another dubious Oliver Stone production" and referring to it as "The Day They Shot the Truth." Mr. Allen based his piece on tapes he had kept from that day, releasing only six minutes to support his position. Nowrasteh responded in the Los Angeles Times (December 24, 2001) and a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal (January 2, 2002), "the clear solution is to have Allen release the entire unedited tape and allow anyone to make the comparisons and draw whatever conclusions seem warranted." Nowrasteh concluded his Los Angeles Times piece by writing, "The Day Reagan Was Shot provides the first-ever dramatization of a constitutional crisis and government cover up (both amply supported by facts) and the threat they pose to a nation when a president becomes incapacitated. This is important and relevant and raises issues that should be discussed openly."
Nowrasteh was attacked by Liberals for an alleged "conservative bias" in his controversial ABC docudrama The Path to 9/11, which he wrote and co-produced. Nowrasteh describes himself as more libertarian than conservative or liberal.
The Stoning of Soraya M. was condemned and banned by the Iranian government but thousands of copies were bootlegged into the country and it became an underground hit in Iran - forcing the government to put a temporary moratorium on stoning as a punishment, most notably in the Sakineh Ashtiani case.
The Stoning of Soraya M. had its world premiere at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, where it won Runner-up for the Audience Choice Award. It also won Second Runner-up for the Cadillac People's Choice Award, as well as the Audience Award for Best Feature at the 2009 Los Angeles Film Festival. The film also won the Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award, and the 2009 Ghent Film Festival's Canvas Audience Award. At the 2009 Satellite Awards, it was named one of the year's Top Ten Films and nominated for Best Drama Film, while its star Shohreh Agdashloo won Best Actress in a Drama. In 2010, the film was hailed as one of Movieguide's Ten Best 2009 Movies for Mature Audiences and was the co-winner, with Invictus (film), of Movieguide's Faith and Freedom Award for Promoting Positive American Values for 2009. It also shared, with "Women in Shroud," the Cinema for Peace Award for Justice in conjunction with the Berlin Film Festival and won Outstanding Foreign Motion Picture at the NAACP Image Awards.
Nowrasteh is developing a film adaptation of The Last Campaign, Thurston Clarke's account of Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign.
Nowrasteh is working on an adaptation of Anne Rice's novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt that he will adapt (with wife Betsy) and direct. The project grew out of a rave review Ms. Rice wrote of the film, The Stoning of Soraya M., on her Facebook page. Through her agent her novel was sent to the Nowrasteh's and they agreed to pursue it, setting the project up with 1492 Pictures and CJ Entertainment.
His most notable other project is a film about Andrew Jackson entitled The Battle of New Orleans. He is partnered with producer/manager Alan Siegel and Gerard Butler has expressed interest in portraying Jackson who led a ragtag army in defeating the British at New Orleans on January 8, 1815.- Actor
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The son of orchestra conductor André Hossein, Paris-born Robert Hossein was trained at René Simon's acting school. Hossein labored away as actor/director with the legendary Theatre Grand Guignol in Montmartre, then spent several years on the "legitimate" stage. In films from 1955's Rififi (Rififi (1955)), he has been generally cast as jaded villains. Making his movie directorial debut with The Wicked Go to Hell (1955) The Wicked Go to Hell (1955)), Hossein went on to call the shots on such Film Noir fare as Toi... le venin (1958) and J'ai tué Raspoutine (1967). In the 1960s, Robert Hossein appeared regularly as Jeoffrey de Peyrac in the soft-core Angélique films. He also worked as director.
As he was one of the most prominent leading men in French cinema, he was the screen partner of leading ladies like Brigitte Bardot, Michèle Mercier, Marina Vlady, Stéphane Audran, Claude Jade or the Italian beauty Sophia Loren, and more recently with Audrey Tautou in Venus Beauty Institute (1999).- Visual Effects
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- Art Department
Habib Zargarpour graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design with Distinction after receiving a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of British Columbia. He started his film career on 3D IMAX films in Los Angeles, then moving to the Bay Area to work at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) as a VFX artist starting with The Mask. He developed the Nexus effect for Star Trek: Generations as well as the planetary explosion and first use of the CG Enterprise, working with VFX Supervisor John Knoll. He worked with VFX Supervisor Ken Ralston on the board game effects for Jumanji. Zargarpour also developed the first particle tornado for Twister working with Senior VFX Supervisor Dennis Muren on the test shot, and later with Stefen Fangmeier on the film VFX. Nominated for two Academy Awards and winner of two BAFTAs in Visual Effects for his work on Twister and The Perfect Storm while at ILM, some of his other film projects include Star Trek: First Contact, Star Wars Episode I, The Bourne Identity, Spawn, and Signs.
Zargarpour served as a Senior Art Director at Electronic Arts (EA) from 2002 - 2009 where he worked on Need for Speed Underground, 007 Bond Everything or Nothing, and Need for Speed Most Wanted for which he received a Visual Effects Society (VES) Award in 2006. He collaborated with Crytek on RYSE: Son of Rome, a launch title for the XBox One. In 2014 he became Director of Visuals for Global Publishing on Quantum Break, Crackdown 3, Scalebound, and ReCore.
Zargarpour has been passionate about using real time techniques in film making and combining his experience in film and games on Transmedia projects in order to cross-pollinate both industries with best practices of each. He is an active member of AMPAS, BAFTA, and a founding member of the Visual Effects Society and the 5D-Conference.- BARRY NAVIDI - PRODUCER As a producer, friend, and confidant to some of the greatest legends of world cinema, Barry Navidi has been privileged to work with John Huston, Lauren Bacall, Robert Mitchum, Michael Caine, Paul Scofield, Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, John Hurt, Sean Connery, Jeremy Irons, Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Chastain, and many others. Barry Navidi graduated in 1985 from The London Film School, receiving a Postgraduate Degree in the Technique and the Art of Filmmaking. While in film school Navidi forged a long and lasting friendship with Danny Huston, which led to a professional and personal relationship with the entire Huston family. In 1987, Navidi produced John Huston's last film as an actor, "Mister Corbett's Ghost" financed by John Paul Getty, Jr. and directed by Danny Huston. The same year Navidi served as production consultant on "Mr. North", starring Angelica Huston, Lauren Bacall and Robert Mitchum and finally, he worked on the production of John Huston's last directorial effort, "The Dead,"(1988) starring Angelica Huston, based on the story by James Joyce. In 1990, Navidi moved to Los Angeles, where during the next four years he developed and packaged a number of film projects at Columbia Pictures, Paramount, Universal, Fox and Warner Bros. In 1993 he met Marlon Brando and worked as a production consultant, on the production of "Don Juan DeMarco" (1994), "The Island of Dr. Moreau" (1996), as producer on "Divine Rapture" (1996), and again as production consultant on "Free Money" (1998) and "The Score" (2001); all films starring Marlon Brando. In 2001, Navidi co-produced, with Debra Winger, "Big Bad Love," a film directed by Arliss Howard, starring Debra Winger and Rosanna Arquette. The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2001. In 2004, Navidi produced the critically acclaimed adaptation of William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes. The film premiered both at the Venice International Film Festival and Toronto Film Festival in 2004, and, subsequently, had a Royal Premiere in London in the presence of HRH Prince Charles benefiting The Prince's Trust. In 2008 Navidi produced "Wilde Salomé" based on Oscar Wilde's play 'Salomé" starring Al Pacino and Jessica Chastain, directed by Al Pacino. The film launched the career and ensuing stardom of Jessica Chastain, premiering at both the Venice International Film Festival and Dublin Film Festival in 2012. The film version of the play "Salomé" also produced by Navidi was completed in 2013 and premiered in 2014 at the British Film Institute, London. Barry Navidi and Al Pacino, as producing partners, have a number of film and TV projects currently in development, including "King Lear" based on the play by William Shakespeare, " Modigliani,' "Family Flaw," and mini-series "Man On The Rock" based on the last years of Napoleon. London and Los Angeles based Barry Navidi is a member of The British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA), Ambassador to Prince Charles' Trust, The BFI Friend and Board of Directors, Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles .
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Nima Nourizadeh is an acclaimed British-Iranian filmmaker whose work spans across Film, TV, Commercials, Music Videos, and Art.
After graduating from Central St. Martins College of Art and Design with a degree in Fine Art Film & Video, Nima began his filmmaking career in London's alternative art scene where he and his friends created The Imaginary Tennis Club, an artistic collective dedicated to making provocative, multimedia work.
As a prominent director of award winning music videos and commercials, Nima stepped into the world of cinema with his debut feature film Project X, released by Warner Bros. with Todd Phillips & Joel Silver producing. The hit movie, chronicled the most epic house party of all time, and went on to gross over $100M worldwide.
Nima is the son of Dr. Alireza Nourizadeh, who is an Iranian scholar, journalist and a Political commentator.
Nima's brothers are music producers, 16B, & Nav.- Sound Department
- Producer
- Actor
Kami Asgar was born on 26 May 1965 in Iran. He is a producer and actor, known for Gran Turismo (2023), Apocalypto (2006) and Zombieland (2009).- Writer
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Massy Tadjedin was born in Tehran, Iran. Massy is a writer and director, known for Last Night (2010), The Jacket (2005) and The Adults.- Melika Foroutan was born in 1976 in Teheran, Iran. She is an actress, known for The Empress (2022), Tribes of Europa (2021) and Pari (2020).
- Actor
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Although Marsh Mokhtari was born in the UK, his father's nautical career took him to Persia for his first six years. He then spent the next 19 years in the UK. He holds a degree in 'Medical Physics' from the University of Newcastle. While at Newcastle he played American football for the UK national team and had a short career as a pro-athlete, (playing both rugby and American football) he then had a 'real-job' in London, focusing on the corporate world of executive search. It wasn't until 2001 when Marsh was taking a sabbatical in Australia that he found his true passion.
While in Sydney, he had a fortuitous encounter with the film, 'The Matrix Reloaded', and found himself on 'set' for 2 weeks as an extra. This very short taste was enough to give Marsh the momentum needed to give up a high paying executive job to focus on a 'whim'. He moved to Los Angeles in 2003 and enrolled in an acting class, he's been guest-starring in roles ever since, on shows such as, 'CSI: New York', 'The Young and the Restless' and 'The Closer'. Currently Marsh is working on an international show for the National Geographic channel, called 'Perilous Journeys', set to air late fall 2008.- Producer
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Dr. Sam Khoze, is an accomplished AI technologist and researcher, with extensive expertise in Multi-model AI systems, Generative AI, and Humanoid innovations. He holds a doctorate in medical science, a postgraduate degree from MIT, and a Master's in Artificial Intelligence from the University of York.
His journey began in film production and transitioned into AI and humanoid robotics, where he has made significant strides and gained recognition worldwide. Sam collaborated with prominent figures and organizations in the field such as Dr. Firouz Naderi, director of Solar System Exploration at NASA/JPL, Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro at Osaka University, and Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute (ATR). He developed and designed one of the most intelligent social robot series, which gained recognition at CES Las Vegas 2023. He also represented and managed some of the world's most advanced and intelligent robots, including Erica developed by Ishiguro Lab, Kyoto University, ATR, and Alter developed by Osaka University Ishiguro Lab and University of Tokyo artificial life researcher Takashi Ikegami. Dr. Khoze achieved the distinction of being the first to cast and train Hollywood's first fully autonomous artificially intelligent entity, in a Motion Picture, as featured by The New York Times.
As an AI advisor and director, Dr. Khoze offers his expertise to film studios, production companies, and Tech Companies, providing guidance and assistance in harnessing, deploying, and adopting AI technologies. Furthermore, Dr. Khoze is a passionate advocate for a human-centered collective intelligence approach, sharing his insights through lectures at universities, conferences, and technology events, inspiring society to embrace a human-centered collective intelligence approach.- Actor
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Dominic Rains was born in Tehran, Iran. He is an actor and producer, known for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), Burn Country (2016) and The Taqwacores (2010).- Camera and Electrical Department
- Cinematographer
- Director
Babak was born to parents who were both Writers and Filmmakers. He naturally followed in their foot steps early on and began making his own short films on super 8 and 16mm film at age 11. By the time he was 17 he co-wrote and shot and gaffed his first professional film. Intrigued by challenging camera moves created by great filmmakers, he took his cue from seeing the early Cohen Brothers films and their philosophy of less is more and began to create his own approach creating unique and challenging shots. Over the years his work has been sought after by many well known and award wining filmmakers.- Director
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- Writer
Kevin Hamedani was born in Kent, Washington, USA. He is a director and producer, known for Junk (2012), ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction (2009) and In Her Place (2015).- Actress
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- Travis Cody, the second of six brothers, was born in Laguna Beach California. His father is an Airline Captain, and his mother a Gospel Singer. He started acting in Church and school plays at age two; his first role was as Baby Jesus!
When he was cast in American Pie (1999), he was sixteen, and was therefore not allowed to see his own first "R" rated movie!
He was suffered serious injury in a head-on collision caused by a drunk driver, so missing his chance to be cast in the film American Pie II, and only a few days before his graduation from South Orange County School of Arts at Dana Point High School.
Travis hopes to return to acting upon graduation from Saddleback College School of Arts. Meanwhile, he is the lead singer guitarist in a local Christian punk rock band, The Second Chance. - Elnaaz Norouzi is an Iranian born actress/model who lives in India and stars as one of the leads in India's first and massively popular Netflix series, SACRED GAMES, which was nominated for an International Emmy Award. She can be seen recurring in season 2 of the Apple TV+ series TEHRAN and the major motion picture KANDAHAR with Gerard Butler and Travis Fimmel. She will soon be seen playing the lead role in the Amazon international hit anthology series MADE IN HEAVEN. Her film HELLO CHARLIE was released on Amazon Prime Video and she can also be seen as one of the leads in the Sony series CHUTZPAH. Elnaaz grew up in Germany mastering Farsi, German, English, French and now she speaks fluent Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi too. Before she started acting, she had been working for more than 10 Years as a very successful international model for brands like Dior, Lacoste and Le Coq Sportive, to name a few.
- Actor
- Talent Agent
- Producer
Alan Mehdizadeh was born in Hastings, East Sussex.
His early career started at the Questors Theatre in Ealing, where he appeared in a youth production of 'Godspell', when he was 14. He then went on to perform at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre in a production of 'Watership Down', where he played Cowslip. He also regularly appeared in popular BBC children's programme 'Grange Hill'.
Mehdizadeh graduated from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 2007 (where he read Drama).
Other educational institutions attended include Richmond Upon Thames College, and Drayton Manor High School.
Career As of 15 August 2016, Mehdizadeh joined the West End production of 'Kinky Boots' in the role of Don. He also played Big Davey in the West End musical 'Billy Elliot the Musical'. Mehdizadeh also appeared in the same role for both the worldwide live cinema release, and the subsequent DVD release of the show.
In 2016, Alan appeared in the UK premiere production of 'Swap!', written and directed by TV star Ian Ogilvy. The play toured the UK. Alan played Harry "The Hammer" Henson alongside several TV personalities (including Kim Tiddy & Louisa Lytton).- Rome Shadanloo was born In Tehran, Iran and grew up in Los Angeles, California.
She has appeared on several notable shows and the independent instant classic "A Girl Walks Home At Night". In 2017 she moved to Boston to finish her Holistic Psychology Degree. Rome is currently in Los Angeles and specializing in treating PTSD. (2020) - Actor
- Producer
Dar Dixon is a renowned actor, producer, and director whose remarkable career in Hollywood is only one facet of his extraordinary life.
Throughout his life, Dar has demonstrated a level of resilience that is truly inspiring. He has moved over 80 times, navigated challenging experiences including surviving the Iranian Revolution with only the clothes on his back, and escaping a pseudo-religious doomsday cult. His successful recovery from mind control and PTSD is a testament to his enduring spirit and strength.
Dar's talent and dedication have been recognized with three nominations for Best Actor, reflecting his broad range and depth as a performer. Beyond acting, he has demonstrated his versatility in the industry by working behind the camera as a producer and director. This multifaceted experience in the entertainment industry has given him a unique perspective and fueled his success.
In addition to his work in the film industry, Dar is a compelling public speaker. He is passionate about social justice, bias, race relations, and undue influence, topics that he addresses with honesty and conviction, drawing from his personal experiences and observations.
Dar lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Donzaleigh Abernathy, the youngest daughter of Rev. Dr. Ralph David Abernathy and Dr. Juanita Abernathy, co-founders of the Civil Rights Movement. His union with Donzaleigh bolsters his commitment to social justice and equality, making him an even more fervent advocate for these causes.
As an industry veteran with a compelling personal story, Dar Dixon is a truly unique presence in Hollywood. His courage, determination, and commitment to advocacy continue to inspire those both within and outside the entertainment industry.