Mohsen Makhmalbaf

It's time to bring here another great Iranian director: Mohsen Makhmalbaf. He is a man of cinema, a writer, also a human rights fighter. As a teenager he was put in prison for his revolutionary acts and spent there five years. Due to the tortures he lost the use of his legs and a lot of surgery was needed to make him able to walk again. He continues to be active politically, taking sides in Iran, also in Afghanistan, also in Tajikistan. To protest the Iranian regime, he decided to leave the country. Since 2005 he has been living in France, India, Afghanistan. As a man of cinema, he is total: creator of features, of shorts and of documentaries, creator of an art film house where he was joined by his wife and children. And some of his writings are about the movie universe. So far I have watched two of his movies and I'm looking for more. I think the best approach would be to discuss each movie on his own merits: because that's the way I discovered Makhmalbaf, film after film.

 

• Gabbeh (1996)
• The Gardener (2012)
• Close Up, 1990

(Iranian Film and Poetry)