Masood Kimiai

Born in 1941, Masood Kimiai began his filmmaking career as Samuel Khachikian’s assistant in the production of the film “Goodbye, Tehran”. His first professional experience in cinema came with writing and directing the film “Come, stranger”, but it was with “Gheisar” that Kimiai started on his own brand of cinema. In fact, many consider Kimiai as the one who started the new wave of Iranian cinema. A narrative filmmaker, he is known for introducing many actors to the Iranian cinema.

Kimiai is also known for the stories he has written. He has been active as director, producer, screenwriter and editor, and has made some 25 feature films during the 40 years of his filmmaking career. His works have been screened in national and international film festivals and won him a number of awards including one from the Cairo Film Festival.

While Kimiai’s cinema is nearing film noir and gangster movies, it still keeps its identity as being Eastern. Kimiai is very good at selecting and writing the best parts and dialogs for actors. He has also been an active pioneer in social cinema. His pre-revolution films “The Deer” and the “Journey of the Stone” were much ahead of their time, and marked with a social outlook that he still demonstrates in his works.