Biography

Kamran Shirdel is an extremely influential figure of Iran’s new cinema and documentary school of filmmaking. In 1964, he graduated from the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia in Rome before returning to Iran where he directed numerous social documentaries for the Ministry of Culture and Art. Shirdel’s furious documentaries and cinematic language were highly contentious under the Shah as they spoke up for the underprivileged and criticised corruption. Most of his films were banned and he was expelled from the ministry. After the revolution, all his films were released in Iran and internationally. He is the founding director of the progressive Kish Documentary Film Festival, the only independent festival of its kind in Iran.