Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-50 of 1,712
- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Nazanin Boniadi's film and television credits are a testament to her versatility, spanning a breadth of genres including drama, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy and action. She recently starred as Bronwyn in the first season of Amazon's global hit series adaptation The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (2022), she also starred alongside J.K. Simmons in the critically acclaimed Starz series Counterpart (2017), created and produced by Justin Marks. She was the female lead of the Thunder Road / Bleecker Street feature Hotel Mumbai (2018) from director Anthony Maras, in which she starred opposite Dev Patel and was nominated for an Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Award (AACTA), as well as had a supporting role in the Jay Roach and Charles Randolph's Roger Ailes film BOMBSHELL for Lionsgate and BRON opposite Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie. She also portrayed Ester in the 2016 major motion picture Ben-Hur (2016), and had a supporting role in Jon Favreau's Iron Man (2008).
Among her many television credits, Boniadi earned an outstanding drama ensemble SAG nomination for her work on Showtime's hit series Homeland (2011) in which she played CIA analyst Fara Sherazi. She portrayed Nora, a relatively longstanding love interest to Neil Patrick Harris's Barney Stinson, in seasons six and seven of How I Met Your Mother (2005). She also appeared as the notorious Adnan Salif in season three of Shonda Rhimes' hit political drama Scandal (2012).
Born in Tehran in the direct aftermath of the Iranian Revolution, Boniadi's parents relocated to London, England, shortly thereafter, where she was raised with an emphasis on education. While she was involved in theatre early in life, Boniadi later decided she wanted to become a physician. She moved to the United States at the age of 19 to attend the University of California, Irvine, where she received her Bachelor's Degree, with Honors (Dean's Academic Achievement and Service Award) in Biological Sciences, and won the "Chang Pin Chun" Undergraduate Research Award for her work in heart-transplant rejection and cancer research.
Switching gears to pursue her first love, Boniadi then decided to study acting, which included training in Contemporary Drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London under the supervision of dramaturge Lloyd Trott.
Boniadi is fluent in both English and Persian. She is also a longtime, renowned human rights activist, with a focus on her homeland Iran. Among her numerous recognitions she is the 2023 Sydney Peace Prize laureate. She has served as an ambassador for Amnesty International UK since 2020, and has been a member of the board of directors of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Center for Human Rights in Iran since 2023. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Shohreh Aghdashloo was born Shohreh Vaziri-Tabar on May 11, 1952 in Tehran, Iran. In the 1970s at age 20, she achieved nationwide stardom in her homeland of Iran, starring in some prominent pictures such as The Report (1977) directed by the renowned Abbas Kiarostami, which won critics awards at the Moscow Film Festival. In 1978, she won wider acclaim and established herself as one of Iran's leading ladies with Desiderium (1978) directed by the late Ali Hatami. During the 1978 Islamic revolution, Aghdashloo left Iran for England, to complete her education. Her interest in politics and her concern for social injustice in the world would lead her to receive a Bachelor's degree in International Relations.
She continued to pursue her acting career, which eventually brought her to Los Angeles, California in 1987. She went on to marry actor/playwright Houshang Touzie, performing in a number of his plays, successfully taking them to national and international stages. However, this was not easy getting work in Hollywood as a Middle Eastern actress with an accent; she had roles in some decent, though not great, films, including Twenty Bucks (1993), Surviving Paradise (2000) and Maryam (2002). She received good reviews for her 12 episodes on the fourth season of the Fox television series 24 (2001) as Dina Araz, a terrorist undercover as a well-to-do housewife and mother in Los Angeles. She had to wait quite some time to receive her break in Hollywood.
And finally, years after having read the acclaimed novel "House of Sand and Fog", DreamWorks were in the process of bringing the story to the silver screen. After having cast Ben Kingsley (as Massoud Amir Behrani) and Jennifer Connelly in the lead roles, they were looking for a relatively unknown Iranian actress to play Kingsley's wife, Nadi. Shohreh Aghdashloo was duly cast. She stole the limelight and earned herself an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress amongst many other prestigious awards, including the Independent Spirit Sward as best supporting actress in a feature film, the New York and Los Angeles film critics award and others.- Actress
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Composer
Golshifteh started her acting career in theater at the age of 6 and has always kept a strong link with theater, but it was at the age of 14 that she acted in her first film The Pear Tree (1998), for which she won the prize for the Best Actress from the international section of the Fajr film festival, immediately making her one of the stars of Iranian cinema. Since then she has played in more than 15 films, many of which have been screened or awarded at international festivals. Amongst her latest films are Bahman Ghobadi's Half Moon (2006) (winner of the Golden Seashell at the San Sebastián film festival 2006), Dariush Mehrjui's controversial The Music Man (2007), still banned in Iran, and the late Rasool Mollagholi Poor's M like Mother (2006), which after a huge success in Iran was chosen to represent Iran for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards in 2008. After playing in Body of Lies (2008) by Ridley Scott, Golshifteh became the first Iranian star to act in a major Hollywood production. Subsequently she was banned from her country. Her last film in Iran About Elly (2009) won a Silver Bear in Berlin and the Best Narrative Feature at Tribeca (2009). Golshifteh graduated from music school, she sings and plays the piano amongst other instruments. She is also fluent in French and English and lives in Paris now.- Actress
- Writer
- Producer
Nasim Pedrad (born November 18, 1981) is an American actress and comedian best known for her five seasons as a cast member on Saturday Night Live (1975) from 2009 to 2014. She has since gone on to co-star in sitcoms such as Mulaney (2014), Scream Queens (2015), People of Earth (2016), and New Girl (2011).
Pedrad was born in Tehran, Iran, to a Muslim family. Her parents are Arasteh Amani and Parviz Pedrad. Pedrad's family emigrated to the United States in 1984 when she was three years old. Her younger sister is comedy writer Nina Pedrad. Both sisters are fluent in Persian. The sisters were raised in Irvine, California, and graduated from University High School. Nasim graduated from UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in 2003. She was a member of the UCLA Spring Sing Company.
Pedrad was a performer with the Sunday Company at The Groundlings. She frequently performed her one-woman show Me, Myself & Iran at the Los Angeles divisions of ImprovOlympic and the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. The show was selected for the 2007 HBO Comedy Festival in Las Vegas. She received an LA Weekly Best Comedic Performance of the Year Award as the lead in the comedic spoof After School Special.
Pedrad made her first television appearance on an episode of Gilmore Girls (2000). In 2007, she made a guest appearance on The Winner (2007). She had a recurring role on ER (1994) as Nurse Suri. In 2009, she had a guest appearance on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005).
Pedrad joined the cast of Saturday Night Live in 2009 as part of the 35th (2009-2010) season. Pedrad is one of a handful of cast members born outside North America (joining Italian-born Tony Rosato, New Zealand-born Pamela Stephenson, English-born Morwenna Banks, and Chilean-born Horatio Sanz). Pedrad became a repertory player in the 2011-12 season after two years of being a featured player. Pedrad left SNL in 2014 to work on Mulaney.
In 2011, she was a recurring voice on the Fox animated series Allen Gregory (2011). She appeared with a small role in the 2011 film No Strings Attached (2011). In 2012, she had a supporting voice role in the animated feature film The Lorax (2012) and a small appearance in The Dictator (2012). In 2013, Pedrad had another supporting voice role in Despicable Me 2 (2013). In the autumn of 2014, she left Saturday Night Live to star in a new Fox sitcom, Mulaney. On October 18, 2014, Fox shut down production of the series by reducing the 16-episode order by three episodes. Filming for the thirteenth episode had just been completed prior to the order reduction, and the fourteenth episode was about to enter production.
Beginning in 2015, Pedrad has a recurring guest role as LAPD officer Aly Nelson on the Fox sitcom New Girl. She portrayed Gigi Caldwell in season one of Fox horror-comedy Scream Queens.
In 2016, she appeared in a commercial for Old Navy alongside comedian Kumail Nanjiani and other SNL cast members Cecily Strong and Jay Pharoah.
In 2017, she joined the cast of season two of the TBS comedy series People of Earth. Later that same year, she also made guest appearances on Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (2013).- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Arian Moayed is an Iranian-American actor, writer, and director. Moayed received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and also starred in the Tony Award-winning The Humans. Moayed gained prominence for his role as Stewy Hosseini in HBO's Succession, and later as Todd Spodek in Netflix's Inventing Anna.- Actress
- Producer
- Writer
Paniz Zade was born in Tehran, Iran. She is known for Tracker (2024), The Handmaid's Tale (2017) and Blood & Treasure (2019). She is married to Ryan Bruce.- Actress
- Producer
She is half-Scottish (father) and half-Israeli (mother). Her father, Professor David Stronach, was a notable expert on Persian antiquities. The family had to flee Persia/Iran during the Revolution. They went to Israel, then to America where Tami is still based. She was studying acting in California when she was chosen for her role as the child-like Empress. She has been a dancer throughout her life and has opted for this as her main career though she has recently returned to acting. She has been heavily involved in the Neta Dance Troop. She speaks several languages including English and Hebrew.- Director
- Writer
- Producer
Ali Abbasi was born in 1981 in Tehran, Iran. He is a director and writer, known for Border (2018), Holy Spider (2022) and The Last of Us (2023).- Sam Asghari is an American actor that is up-and-coming in the TV/Film industry. Sam was born in the country of Iran, he then migrated to the United States in the year of 2006 with his father. In high school Sam played American football at Westlake High School in Southern California. He was also involved with acting on stage in the school's drama program. After graduating high school, Sam continued with football and drama programs in college--after college, Sam decided to get involved in the fitness industry and help people achieve their goals. Sam lost about 100 pounds and became an inspiration for the people around him. After having a big following on social media, mostly fitness-driven people Sam began his career in both TV and film just a few years ago.
- Actress
- Producer
Pegah Ghafoori was born on 18 April 1999 in Tehran, Iran. She is an actress and producer, known for From (2022), One Must Wash Eyes and Hello Au Revoir (2021).- Actor
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Dominic Rains was born in Tehran, Iran. He is an actor and producer, known for A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014), Burn Country (2016) and The Taqwacores (2010).- Actor
- Producer
- Stunts
Born in Mashhad, Iran, Navid Negahban's passion for acting led him to Germany where he spent eight years before embarking on Hollywood. Dubbed as "the man of a thousand faces," he garnered critical acclaim for his role "Abu Nazir" on the Emmy® Award-winning series Homeland. His quiet and composed depiction of the al-Qaeda leader won Negahban worldwide recognition, but it was his portrayal of the Sultan, in Disney's remake of Aladdin, which made him a household name.
Negahban's film credits include Twelve Strong, American Assassin, Damascus Cover, Baba Joon, and American Sniper. His extensive and diverse television portfolio consists of the portrayal of "Amahl Farouk/The Shadow King" on FX's Legion, making him the first Farsi speaking character in the Marvel Universe. He has also guest starred in classics such as Curb Your Enthusiasm, Law & Order: SVU, Veep, CSI:NY, The Closer, The West Wing, and more.
Negahban received a historic BAFTA nomination for his performance as "Hajj Agha" in the video game 1979 Revolution: Black Friday, marking the first time a Middle Eastern and Muslim actor has been nominated in this category.
In 2019 he started Romany Road Artist Foundation, a safe haven celebrating artistry, built by artists for artists.- Melika Foroutan was born in 1976 in Teheran, Iran. She is an actress, known for The Empress (2022), Tribes of Europa (2021) and Pari (2020).
- Actor
- Casting Department
Omid Abtahi was born on 12 July 1979 in Tehran, Iran. He is an actor, known for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2 (2015), Brothers (2009) and My Own Worst Enemy (2008).- Writer
- Director
- Editor
Abbas Kiarostami was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1940. He graduated from university with a degree in fine arts before starting work as a graphic designer. He then joined the Center for Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, where he started a film section, and this started his career as a filmmaker at the age of 30. Since then he has made many movies and has become one of the most important figures in contemporary Iranian film. He is also a major figure in the arts world, and has had numerous gallery exhibitions of his photography, short films and poetry. He is an iconic figure for what he has done, and he has achieved it all by believing in the arts and the creativity of his mind.- Actor
- Producer
Shaun Toub was born in Tehran, Iran. He was raised in Manchester, England. At 14 he moved to Switzerland and then to New Hampshire. After two years of college in Massachusetts, Shaun transferred to USC where he graduated.
Toub has received accolades for several of his appearances in over 100 television episodes including his newer work playing Terence in Snowpiercer for 2 seasons. He also played Majid Javadi in two seasons of Homeland. His work includes Little America on AppleTv, Scandal, Grimm, Seinfeld, The Sopranos, Castle, NCIS, Chuck, Lost, Charmed, ER, Just Shoot Me!, JAG, Married... with Children and various movies made for television.
His latest series Tehran just won an International Emmy playing Faraz Kamali, the intelligent officer. The second season will be streaming on May 6 on AppleTVPlus.
His filmography includes his memorable performance in Bad Boys, Broken Arrow, The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, Iron Man, The Last Airbender, and the Oscar-winning film Crash. Including Papa Hemingway in Cuba, the life story of Ernest Hemingway, in the role of Evan Shipman the poet.
Shaun resides in Los Angeles. Loves the outdoors, sports, and music.- Writer
- Director
- Producer
Asghar Farhadi is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is considered one of the most prominent filmmakers of Iranian cinema as well as world cinema in the 21st century. His films have gained recognition for their focus on the human condition, and portrayals of intimate and challenging stories of internal family conflicts. In 2012, he was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. That same year, he also received the Legion of Honour from France.
Farhadi was born in Isfahan, Iran. At the age of 15, in 1987, he joined the Isfahan branch office of the Iranian Youth Cinema Society, which had been established for 4 years earlier and he made several short films. He is also a graduate of theatre, with a BA in dramatic arts and MA in stage direction from University of Tehran and Tarbiat Modares University, respectively.
While completing his studies, he wrote a number of radio plays for Iran's national broadcasting service and directed several television programs. In 2001 Farhadi co-wrote the screenplay for the political satire Ertefa-e past (Low Heights, 2002), with famed war film director, Ebrahim Hatamikia.
Farhadi's first feature film, Dancing in the Dust (2003), tells the story of a young man who is forced to divorce his wife and go hunting snakes in the desert in order to repay his debts to his in-laws. His next film, The Beautiful City (2004), is about a young man who is sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.
Farhadi's breakthrough came with his third film, About Elly (2009), which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The film tells the story of a group of friends who go on a weekend trip to the Caspian Sea, and the secrets that are revealed over the course of the weekend.
Farhadi's next film, A Separation (2011), won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. The film tells the story of a middle-class Iranian couple who are going through a divorce, and the moral dilemmas they face as they try to decide what is best for their young daughter.
Farhadi's subsequent films, The Past (2013) and The Salesman (2016), were also critically acclaimed. The Salesman won a second Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Farhadi's latest film, A Hero (2021), was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. The film tells the story of a man who is released from prison and tries to win back his wife's trust.
Farhadi's films are known for their their complex and suspenseful plots, their realistic characters, and their exploration of moral dilemmas. His films often deal with themes of family, relationships, and social class.
Farhadi is a master of creating suspense, and his films are often compared to those of Alfred Hitchcock. He is also a skilled director of actors, and his films have featured some of the most celebrated Iranian actors, including Shahab Hosseini, Leila Hatami, and Taraneh Alidoosti.
In 2022, Farhadi was accused of plagiarism by a former student, who claimed that he had stolen the idea for his film A Hero from a documentary she had made. Farhadi denied the allegations, and a court in Iran eventually ruled in his favor. However, the allegations have tarnished Farhadi's reputation and raised questions about his creative process.
Asghar Farhadi is one of the most important filmmakers of our time. His films are both entertaining and thought-provoking, and they offer a unique insight into Iranian society and culture. He is a true auteur, and his work is sure to be studied and admired for many years to come.- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Bobby Naderi was born in Tehran, Iran during the Iran/Iraq war. His youth consisted of a nomadic upbringing due to the political unrest in the region. Brushing shoulders with all walks of life as a child, Bobby developed a natural gravitational pull toward the world of cinema.
Bobby starred in the BAFTA and BIFA winner UNDER THE SHADOW written and directed by Babak Anvari, he recently wrapped Adam Saunders's Feature Film, DOTTY & SOUL, and can currently be seen in Netflix's drama series BLACK SUMMER created by John Hyams. He is well known for starring in the Sundance hit THE TAQWACORES and also starred opposite Will Smith and Joel Edgerton in David Ayer's Netflix feature BRIGHT. On the TV side, he recurred on the AMC hit, FEAR THE WALKING DEAD, as well as on DEPUTY, and Fox's reboot of PRISON BREAK.
In 2023, Bobby wrapped a lead role on David Ayer's Miramax/MGM feature THE BEEKEEPER, opposite Jason Statham and Jeremy Irons.- Actor
- Director
- Writer
Phoenix Raei is a Persian-born Australian actor, writer and director born in Shiraz who immigrated to Perth, Australia as a child.
In 2019, he was the recipient of the Casting Guild of Australia, Rising Star Award and was cast as a lead in the Netflix series Clickbait (2021) (NBCUniversal International Studios, Matchbox Pictures).
Phoenix will also appear as Javad, a charismatic detainee and leader, in the highly anticipated drama Stateless (2020) with Cate Blanchett, Yvonne Strahovski and Jai Courtney. He can also be seen in the critically acclaimed ABC series The Heights (2019) (Matchbox Pictures and NBC) in which he plays series regular Ash.
His breakthrough role came in Kriv Stenders' Australia Day (2017) starring next to Bryan Brown, Daniel Webber and Sean Keenan. Phoenix was praised by audiences for his performance as Yaghoub Ghaznavi, a small-time drug dealer who feels the pressure from his family to take action when his brother is violently assaulted.
He also starred in the feature film, Below (2019) which premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival alongside Anthony LaPaglia and Ryan Corr. Critics praised Phoenix's performance for carrying the heart of the film.
Phoenix has worked as a recurring guest star on multiple award-winning series such as Romper Stomper (2018) (2018) with writer/director of the original Geoffrey Wright, the hit prison drama Wentworth (2013) (2017/18) and Mustangs FC (2017) (2017).
He is a co-founder of Little Fish Films alongside his partner Kate Lister.- Tala Ashe stars as Zari Adrianna Tomaz in The CW series "DC's Legends of Tomorrow." Ashe is an Iranian-American actress who speaks fluent Farsi and received a BFA in Acting from Boston University, with training from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and UCB theater. She was recently seen in the off-Broadway production of "The Profane" at Playwrights Horizons, a New York Times Critic's Pick exploring what it means to be Muslim in America. Her additional theatre credits include "Troilus and Cressida" at The Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park, "Head Over Heels" at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and the off-Broadway productions of "The Who & The What" at Lincoln Center Theatre and "Urge for Going" at The Public Theater. Ashe's television credits include a recurring role on "American Odyssey," opposite Anna Friel and Peter Facinelli, and an arc on "Smash," opposite Debra Messing, as well as guest spots on "30 Rock," "Law & Order" and "Covert Affairs."
- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Narges Rashidi was born in Iran, settled in 1987 with her family at first in Turkey and a year later to Germany. After graduation she moved to Berlin and studied acting. In 2005 she attended in Los Angeles the Master Class with MK Lewis. In 2007 she received the award for Best Young Actress at the New York International Independent Film Video Festival for her role as Lolita in A2Z. The German public knows her, among other things through her roles in Schwarze Schafe, Schimanski: Schicht im Schacht, Breathful, Dating Lancelot and KDD. In 2012 Narges Rashidi will be one of the main cast of a new Sat.1 series.- Elnaaz Norouzi is an Iranian born actress/model who lives in India and stars as one of the leads in India's first and massively popular Netflix series, SACRED GAMES, which was nominated for an International Emmy Award. She can be seen recurring in season 2 of the Apple TV+ series TEHRAN and the major motion picture KANDAHAR with Gerard Butler and Travis Fimmel. She will soon be seen playing the lead role in the Amazon international hit anthology series MADE IN HEAVEN. Her film HELLO CHARLIE was released on Amazon Prime Video and she can also be seen as one of the leads in the Sony series CHUTZPAH. Elnaaz grew up in Germany mastering Farsi, German, English, French and now she speaks fluent Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi too. Before she started acting, she had been working for more than 10 Years as a very successful international model for brands like Dior, Lacoste and Le Coq Sportive, to name a few.
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Marshall Manesh was born in Iran. He lost his father at an early age and was raised by his beloved mother, whom he feels he got his strength from to make it in show biz. He came to the United States in the mid '70s and joined the Persian Theater Group and traveled extensively through out the US, Canada and Europe for 8 years. His debut film was "True Lies" as Jamal Khaled, directed by James Cameron. Marshall has done more than 100 feature films, television projects and more than 40 commercials. He had a recurring roles on Will & Grace as Mr. Zamir, How I Met Your Mother as Ranjit, Scrubs as Dr. Akbar, and was also a series regular on Andy Barker P.I.- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Zar Amir Ebrahimi was born on 9 July 1981 in Tehran, Iran. She is an actress and producer, known for Holy Spider (2022), White Paradise (2022) and Tatami (2023).- Bahar Soomekh was born on March 30, 1975 in Tehran, Iran, to a Persian Jewish family. She is the daughter of Manijeh and Hamid Soomekh, who owned a women's high fashion company. She has a sister, Saba Soomekh. The family moved to Los Angeles in 1979, to escape the Iranian revolution. She attended a yeshiva, Sinai Akiba Academy, and Beverly Hills High School, where she played the violin in the school orchestra. She majored in environmental studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Soomekh began working at a corporate job, and took acting classes at night, before quitting her job to pursue a full-time acting career.
Bahar began acting at age 27, guest starring in television shows like Without a Trace (2002), 24 (2001), JAG (1995), among others. She got her big break portraying an Iranian-American woman named Dorri, speaking fluent English and Farsi, in the Academy Award winner for Best Picture, Crash (2004). The whole cast won the Screen Actor's Guild Award for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture. Bahar also appeared in the director's cut version of another Academy Award winning movie, Syriana (2005), playing Yassi. Bahar got some more attention playing Davian's translator in Mission: Impossible III (2006). She had a leading role in the horror film Saw III (2006), playing a victim, Dr. Lynn Denlon. She had also portrayed Margo on the television series Day Break (2006). Recently, Soomekh got one of the lead roles as Hollis on the television series The Oaks (2008), which will come out in the fall of 2008.