Ali Atshani

Ali Atshani was born on May 16, 1978 in Iran. Ali Atshani's big-screen debut came with Democracy in Daylight directed by Ali Atshani in 2010.

Ali Atshani was born in Isfahan. His first cinematic attempt was during his high school years. It was a short movie called "Namaye Entezar" , which was chosen for the second annual 100 movie festival.By the time he entered the university to study computer engineering, he had completed some short movies and documentaries. During his college years, he started a student critique association which focused on contemporary Iranian and world cinema. Ashtani continued his cinematic activities during his college years and produced a few more short movies. After graduation in 1999, he moved to Tehran in order to continue his art career at the professional level.In 2002, Ashtani directed a documentary called "Unfinished" which is about religious rituals in Iran. Because of the high sensitivity of this subject in the Iranian society, the documentary was banned by the government and never distributed in Iran but the widespread reception among the international community gradually helped Atshani establish his reputation as a young talent. When "Unfinished" was screened in countries such as the U.S., England and Estonia, it won the second prize in 2003 Houston Movie Festival.In 2004 and 2006, Atshani made two long movies called "The Forgotten Positives" and "One step to God" out of his own pocket. This movie was screened in countries such as the U.S., Germany, Uruguay, Egypt, Japan, Hungry, and Italy. After receiving positive reviews from critics, Atshani won the third place award from the Houston Movie Festival in 2005. These two movies faced no legal ban in Iran and were successfully screened and distributed by the national television.In 2007, Ali Atshani directed another movie called "Banana Skin". This movie is considered his first professional project which featured professional cast. This controversial movie focused on spiritual concepts related to the posthumous life. His movie received mixed reviews and faced legal bans in Iran. This movie was eventually screened in countries such as the U.S., Spain, Hong Kong, and Mexico and received positive reviews.From 2007 to 2009, Atshani received various awards in the domestic film festivals. In 2009, he directed "Democracy Tou Rouze Roshan" with an outstanding team of Iranian superstars. The movie benefited from surrealistic concepts and is considered an event-grade work in the Iranian cinema. This movie is about one of the military generals in the Iran-Iraq war who fled the service. Once again, this sensitive subject provoked harsh reactions by the clergy in Iran and Atshani was almost arrested. The movie set the record for the highest payroll for an Iranian actor who received $100,000 for only three minutes of screen time. This movie was among the bestselling movies in 2010 and helped Atshani gain a reputation as an accomplished independent movie maker. Another work called "Along City" was made in 2010. This movie was based on the outcomes of 2009 presidential elections in Iran and the related political events. It faced harsh reactions from the government and underwent heavy censorship before screening in 2011.In 2011, Atshani made "The President's Cellphone" which was considered critical towards the Iranian president in those days. The circle close to the Iranian president did not appreciate this movie and it was declared illegal directly by the president. However, by the end of the previous president's term, the movie was screened and received positive reviews.Another milestone for Atshani was that he made the first 3D movie in the history of Iranian cinema called "Mr. Alef". This movie did not attract the expected attention in Iran, mostly due to controversies about his previous works. But in the international community, this movie was recognized as an technological and artistic breakthrough for the Iranian and the Middle East film industry. It had a limited screening in Iran, partly as a result of technical deficiencies in the movie theaters. This movie was first screened in 2012 Fajr International Film Festival.In 2013, Atshani directed his fifth long movie called "Negar's Role". This movie was considered an unorthodox work from the structural point of view. This movie drew special attention because one of the pre-revolution Iranian movie stars, Naser Malek Motiee, was among the cast. This movie also faced a two-year ban in Iran until it was eventually screened in 2015.In 2015, Atshani directed his sixth movie in Germany called "Paradise". This movie touched a very sensitive subject and attracted many critics. The main theme of this movie is about a young clergy who falls in love with a young German girl through Facebook and the related radical Islamic beliefs existing in the society.Paper Dream Best Film - Tago (India) Best Film - Halocina (Paris) Best Film - Singapore (WFCS) Best Film - Indo Global FF India Best Film - Carnival FF Singapore Nominee - Viffka FF Russian Selected - Lift-Off UK Selected - First Time FF UK Selected - Panama Festival Selected - Bridge FF Canada Selected - Paradise (Hungry) Selected - Stockholm City FF Selected - Indo global FF India Selected - Ukrainian Dream FF Selected - Cinemaking BangladeshKatyusha AIFF Film Festival Marita Film Festival Inspiring Films of Australia The BeBop Channel Content Best DOC of American LIFF Film Festival Best Director of American LIFF Film Festival Best Feature Film of American LIFF Film Festival Certificate of Crossover Film Festival Film Festival Best Male Performance of American LIFF Film Festival Best Feature Film of International Rajasthan Jaipur Film Festival Best Supporting Male Performance of American LIFF Film FestivalWishbone Best Director of Wind International Film Festival Best Male Performance of Wind International Film Festival Best Supporting Male Performance of Wind International Film Festival Best Music of Wind International Film Festival Best Feature Film of Montreal World Film Festival Best Social Message of Angelica Film Festival of America Best Feature Film of Independent Filmmakers of London Best Female Performance of Iranian Film Festival - San Francisco Best Feature Film of International Lakeview Film Festival of India Universal Film Festival The Lift-Off Sessions Online Montreal World Film Festival Fajr International Film Festival Wind International Film Festival Angaelica Film Festival (America) International Nukhu Film Festival International Lift-Off Film Festival Independent filmmakers of London Iranian Film Festival - San Francisco The BeBop Channel Content Festival Nollywood International Film Festival Darbhanga International Film Festival Switzerland International Film Festival Kenya International Sports Film Festival International Markey of DC Film Festival International Depth of Field Film Festival Out of the Can International Film Festival International Garden of India Film Festival International Witches of India Film Festival Los Angeles International Cine Film Festival Lake View International Film Festival (India) Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival International Independent Filmmakers of Berlin Film FestivalParadise Best Feature Film of High Coast International Film Festival (2018) Best Director Award of International Chelsea Film Festival of NYC (2016) Best Male Performance of International Chelsea Film Festival of NYC (2016) Best Supporting Male Performance of International Chelsea Film Festival of NYC (2016) The Lift-Off Sessions (2018) Out of the Can Film Festival (2018) Gold Movie Awards Goddess Nike (2018) Switzerland International Film Festival (2018) The Buddha International Film Festival (2018) Williamsburg International Film Festival (2018) Fake Flesh Film Fest (2017) Marquee on Main Film Festival (2017) Caribbean Film Festival & Market (2017) Iranian Film Festival - San Francisco (2017) Cyprus International Film Festival "Golden Aphrodite" Paphos (2017)Negar's Role Fajr International Film Festival Afghanistan Human Rights Film Festival (2017) Nominated of best feature film of Afghanistan Human Rights Film FestivalThe President's Cellphone Fajr International Film Festival The International Lift-Off Session Online Nominated of Best Feature Film in the Lift-Off Sessions Online Certificate of Best Female Performance of Fajr International Film FestivalDemocracy in Daylight The Lift-Off Session Online Fajr International Film festival International San Francisco Film FestivalBanana Peel Boston International Film Festival Mexico International Film Festival Chicago International Film Festival Furnace International Film Festival Hong Kong International Film Festival* One Step to God