Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian

Iranian film director

Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian

محمدحسین مهدویان

Mahdavian at the 2016 Fajr Film Festival

Born|  (1981-05-13) 13 May 1981 (age 44)

Babol, Iran

Alma mater| Soore University
Occupations|

* Film Director
* Screenwriter

Years active| 2012–present
Spouse| Mahbobe Golsorkhtabar
Children| 2

Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian (Persian: محمدحسین مهدویان; born 13 May 1981) is an Iranian film director and screenwriter.[1] He's best known for his films Standing in the Dust (2016), Midday Adventures (2017), Lottery (2018), Walnut Tree (2020) and Mortal Wound (2021).[2]

He won both Best Film and Audience Choice of Best Film for making the film Midday Adventures, making it one of only five films in The history of cinema of Iran to win the latter. (the other four are The Glass Agency, Low Heights, In Amethyst Color and Crazy Rook)[3][4]

## Career

[edit]

He graduated from Soore University with a Bachelor of Film and Television in Directing and a master's degree in production from the Iran Broadcasting University.[5][6][7]

Mahdavian received critical acclaim for making the film Standing in the Dust, he won the Crystal Simorgh for Best Film and received a nomination for Crystal Simorgh for Best Director in 2016 at the 34th Fajr Film Festival.[8][9]

in 2017 he won the Crystal Simorgh for Best Film and the Crystal Simorgh for Audience Choice of Best Film for Midday Adventures. When he received this award (Crystal Simorgh for Audience Choice of Best Film), he called it the most important award of the festival.[10][11]

He won the Crystal Simorgh for Best Director at the 38th Fajr Film Festival for making the film Walnut Tree. This film is about war it is about the ugliness of war the consequences of unconvee weapons.[12][13]

## Early life

[edit]

Mohammad Hossein Mahdovian was fascinated by the moving picture since his childhood. He was one of those children who, instead of playing in the street, always sat in front of the TV and watched even the most outlandish programs. He decided to enter the cinema for the first time when he was ten years old, and of course, as a child, he wanted to become an actor.

Cinema had captured his heart, and besides watching television constantly, at the age of thirteen, Mahdovian recorded a picture for the first time with his uncle's home camera and gave his cousins a mise-en-scène in front of the camera. In this regard, he wrote his first screenplay in high school.

Unlike his father, his uncle was interested in cinema, and his small age difference with Mahdovian made cinema more serious for Mohammad Hossein. Uncle and niece used to go to all their cinemas together in those days. He not only took Mahdovian to the cinema for the first time, but also gave him the first book of his childhood. "I don't remember anything specific about the first movies I saw in the cinema, but I'm sure that things from those years have influenced me, and sometimes the images that remain in my mind, surprise me."

### History

[edit]

As you can guess, Mahdovian's favorite subject was history, and according to himself, he used to read newspapers and follow events. What has been manifested in his films today is his interesting sensitivity to the contemporary history of Iran.

At the same age, he became interested in Jules Verne's books. His favorite movies before high school are lively and action movies with heroes, such as Western movies or "Eagles" and "Afee" among Iranian movies.

But after high school and by getting acquainted with philosophy, his tendency is more towards intellectual cinema. "Arusi Khoban" directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf and "Hamoun" by Dariush Mehrjoui are popular films of his era: "In those years, I used to watch intellectual films in an extreme way, which usually have a slow rhythm and their main focus is not on the narrative, a kind of intellectual stew in those years I had and I thought that a good film should be very complicated."

## Style

[edit]

One of the main tools used by Mahdavians to represent a documentary is the use of a hand-held camera in filming, which creates the illusion of more reality for the viewer. A technique that is, of course, used in many especially social films of Iranian cinema. But the visual quality and texture of the image that Mahdavian creates is not similar to the scenes on social films.

In the first place, it uses the Negative to add a nostalgic aspect to the films, which is in harmony with the story and the theme of the film. That is, the choice of whether to shoot a negative or digital film is directly related to the story. In "Standing in the Dust" or "Midday Adventures" and "Midday Adventures: Trace of Blood", a 16mm negative camera has been used to bring the film closer to its narrative since the 1960s. Digital cameras have been rebuilt and in "Walnut Tree" in each period of the film, i.e. the 60s, 80s and 90s, in order to remain faithful to the visual index texture in each decade, 16mm, 35mm and digital cameras, respectively, have been used. They have their own visual phase.

In addition, the camera movements are not like other social films, it has sloppiness and pus, which again emphasizes the documentary aspect. Of course, this does not mean that the director's design is not accurate, that exactly all the elements in front of the camera are placed in such a way that they look slutty and "unplaced". In Mahdavian's works, the camera serves to document and bring the viewer closer to the date and time in which the story of the film takes place.

In a conversation about making a film about Iran and Nationalism, Mahdavian said:

> My goal has always been to create national empathy, and I feel that the only thing that can save us today is empathy. Not to say that I am a very extremist nationalism. Not like that, but I have a deep patriotism. You can go back and see my films from the beginning until today, my problem is Iran and this issue has never changed.

## Filmography

[edit]

### Feature films

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Screenwriter

|
|
|

2016  | Standing in the Dust | Yes  | Yes
2017  | Midday Adventures | Yes  | Yes
2018  | Lottery | Yes  | Yes
2019  | Midday Adventures: Trace of Blood | Yes  | No
2020  | Walnut Tree | Yes  | No
2021  | Shishlik | Yes  | No
2022  | The Loser Man | Yes  | Yes

### Web

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Screenwriter  | Platform

|
|
|
|

2021–2025  | Mortal Wound | Yes  | Yes  | Filimo

### Television

[edit]

Year  | Title  | Director  | Screenwriter  | Network

|
|
|
|

2012  | The Last Days of Winter | Yes  | Yes  | IRIB TV1

### Documentary

[edit]

* Assassination of The Source
* Wound Bone
* The Great Dictator
* Three Sides of The Battlefield
* Sana
* Short Story of Death In Mid-summer
* Father
* Angel of Death
* Single Bed
* Beam and Hope Collection

## Recurring cast

[edit]

Actor  | The Last Days of Winter | Standing in the Dust | Midday Adventures | Lottery | Midday Adventures: Trace of Blood | Walnut Tree | Shishlik | Mortal Wound | The Loser Man

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Javad Ezzati |  |  | Y | Y | Y |  |  | Y | Y
Hadi Hejazifar  |  | Y | Y | Y | Y |  |  |  |
Amir Hossein Hashemi  |  | Y | Y | Y | Y | Y |  | Y | Y
Mahdi Zaminpardaz  | Y |  | Y | Y | Y |  |  | Y | Y
Hossein Mehri  |  |  | Y |  | Y |  |  |  |
Mahlagha Bagheri  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Y | Y |
Abbas Jamshidi Far  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Y | Y |
Rana Azadivar |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | Y | Y

## Awards and nominations

[edit]

Year  | Award  | Category  | Nominated Work  | Result

|
|
|
|

2016  | Fajr Film Festival | Best Director | Standing in the Dust | Nominated
Best Screenplay | Nominated
2017  | Best Director | Midday Adventures | Nominated
2019 | Best Director | Midday Adventures: Trace of Blood | Nominated
2020 | Best Director | Walnut Tree | Won
2018  | Hafez Awards | Best Director – Motion Picture  | Midday Adventures | Won
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture  | Nominated
2019  | Best Director – Motion Picture  | Lottery | Nominated
Jury Prize  | Won
2020  | Best Director – Motion Picture  | Midday Adventures: Trace of Blood | Nominated
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture  | Nominated
2021  | Best Director – Television Series  | Mortal Wound | Nominated
Best Screenplay – Television Series  | Won
Best Director – Motion Picture  | Walnut Tree | Nominated

## See also

[edit]

* Cinema of Iran
* Fajr International Film Festival

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "بیوگرافی محمدحسین مهدویان، کارگردان ایستاده در غبار". ساتین (in Persian). Retrieved 2017-09-28.
2. ^ Agency, قوه قضائیه | خبرگزاری میزان | Mizan Online News (January 30, 2021). "تغییر جهت "محمدحسین مهدیان" در جشنواره فجر ۳۹/ "شیشلیک" یک کمدی دقیقه ۹۰". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-11-26.
3. ^ "مهدویان و چالش طبخ یک "شیشلیک" تند!/ بازار گفتگو در "فجر" گرم شد". خبرگزاری مهر | اخبار ایران و جهان | Mehr News Agency (in Persian). 2021-02-02. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
4. ^ Agency, قوه قضائیه | خبرگزاری میزان | Mizan Online News (December 28, 2020). "احتمال انصراف "محمدحسین مهدویان" از فجر ۳۹/ "شیشلیک" به جشنواره نمی‌رود؟". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-11-26.
5. ^ Agency, قوه قضائیه | خبرگزاری میزان | Mizan Online News (October 2, 2021). "کارگردان زخم‌کاری "بازنده" به جشنواره فیلم فجر باز می‌گردد؟". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-11-26.
6. ^ ""بازنده"؛ فیلم تازه محمدحسین مهدویان". اصفهان امروز آنلاین (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-11-26.
7. ^ "فیلم "بازنده" محمدحسین مهدویان برای جشنواره فجر". ساتین ⭐️ (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-11-26.
8. ^ "بیوگرافی محمد حسین مهدویان و همسرش محجوبه گلسرخ تبار" (in Persian). 2020-03-22. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
9. ^ "محمدحسین مهدویان | بیوگرافی + عکس‌های محمدحسین مهدویان | سلام‌سینما". www.salamcinama.ir. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
10. ^ "بیوگرافی محمدحسین مهدویان کارگردان و همسر و فرزندانش +اینستاگرام". ✔️شبونه (in Persian). 2020-03-22. Retrieved 2021-11-26.
11. ^ ناصری, فرشاد (2020-11-29). "بیوگرافی محمدحسین مهدویان". عرصه سه (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-11-26.
12. ^ "سیمرغ بهترین کارگردانی به محمدحسین مهدویان رسید /تلویزیون بازهم سانسور کرد". روزنامه دنیای اقتصاد (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-11-26.
13. ^ "زندگینامه و بیوگرافی محمدحسین مهدویان". هنر ام‌روز (in Persian). Retrieved 2021-11-26.

## External links

[edit]

* Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Crystal Simorgh for Best Director

* Not Awarded (1983)
* Khosrow Sinai (1984)
* Yadollah Samadi (1985)
* Kianoush Ayari (1986)
* Abbas Kiarostami (1987)
* Kianoush Ayari (1988)
* Mohsen Makhmalbaf (1989)
* Dariush Mehrjui (1990)
* Varuzh Karim-Masihi (1991)
* Rakhshan Bani-Etemad (1992)
* Sirus Alvand (1993)
* Mohammad Bozorgnia (1994)
* Dariush Mehrjui (1995)
* Kiumars Pourahmad (1996)
* Majid Majidi (1997)
* Ebrahim Hatamikia (1998)
* Rasoul Mollagholipour (1999)
* Bahman Farmanara (2000)
* Majid Majidi (2001)
* Rasul Sadr-Ameli (2002)
* Reza Mirkarimi (2003)
* Ahmad-Reza Darvish (2004)
* Majid Majidi (2005)
* Asghar Farhadi (2006)
* Mohammad-Hossein Latifi/ Amir-Shahab Razavian (2007)
* Majid Majidi (2008)
* Asghar Farhadi (2009)
* Ebrahim Hatamikia (2010)
* Asghar Farhadi (2011)
* Parviz Sheikhtadi (2012)
* Parviz Shahbazi (2013)
* Ahmad-Reza Darvish (2014)
* Abolhassan Davoudi (2015)
* Saeed Roustayi (2016)
* Vahid Jalilvand (2017)
* Ebrahim Hatamikia/ Bahram Tavakoli (2018)
* Narges Abyar (2019)
* Mohammad Hossein Mahdavian (2020)
* Mehdi Jafari (2021)
* Reza Mirkarimi (2022)
* Mohammad Ali Bashe Ahangar (2023)
* Behrouz Afkhami (2024)
* Hamid Zargarnejad (2025)

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