One of the most promising Asian film makers of the day, Mohsen Makhmalbaf was born in Teheran on May 29, 1957.
Mohsen Makhmalbaf had been instrumental in bringing Iranian movies to international stages.
He dropped out of school to form an Islamic militant group and joined the fight against Shah's rule in Iran . He was arrested when he was only 17, and was given a five year long punishment. He was released after one year when the Islamic militants captured the power. The revolution which freed him, had bred him with creativity and inspiration which were the nutritions to his early works.
His entry to the film industry was as a scriptwriter.The movie was "The Explanation"(1981), and he directed his first feature, "Nassouh's Repentance", in 1982. From then he has and directed roughly one film a year.
His militant moralism has changed as he matured as an artist. He himself says that he no longer is in agreement with the extremist ideas in which he believed earlier.
Switching the gears, in 1992 he released "Once Upon a Time, Cinema", a comic film about the evolution of Iranian Cinema.
While making "The Actor", a satire of the media in contemporary Iran, his first wife burned to death in an accident after which he married her sister. 1994's Salaam Cinema, and 1996's Gabbeh were movies witch caught international attention. Makhmalbaf has directed several documentaries too.
Makhmalbaf became a controversial figure in 1991 when iwo of his films were banned. "A Time of Love" and "The Nights of the Zayandeh-Rude", were banned for dealing with physical love and raising doubts about a revolution.
He has been openly critical of the censorship codes, of Iran. In 1998, he went to Tajikistan to make "The Silence", about a 10-year-old blind boy supporting himself and his mother by tuning stringed instruments.The movie was based on a real-life incident.
He is father to Sameera Makhmalbaf, one of the world's most lauded young directors, aged 22.
Filmography: