Reza Allamehzadeh ( fa, رضا علامه‌زاده) is an

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian-born

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

filmmaker, film critic and writer who lives in

the Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He is primarily known for his films about refugees, such as ''The Guests of Hotel Astoria'' (1988), and the documentary ''Holy Crime'' (1994), about the murder of opposition figures in Europe by the Islamic regime in

. Allamehzadeh was born in 1943 in

Sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std= ...

, Mazandaran province, Iran. He studied film directing at “Tehran Academy of Film and Television” in 1966–1969. Along with filmmaking, he writes and publishes children's books, novels and short stories. He teaches film and TV courses in various universities including Hollins University in Virginia (US), Leeds Metropolitan University (UK) and International R/TV Training Center in the Netherlands, where he has been living since 1983. Allamehzadeh has been one of the advocates of Kurdish cinema. He is native in Persian and fluent in English and to some extent Dutch and Spanish. After fleeing to Europe where he still resides, Allamehzadeh has been making a number of films. Reza Allamehzadeh was banned from entering Iran at the time of writing ''

Iranian Taboo ''Iranian Taboo'' ( fa, تابوی ایرانی) is a 2011 documentary film by Iranian filmmaker Reza Allamehzadeh about the persecution of Baháʼís in Iran. It was selected for the 2012 Dawn Breakers International Film Festival as well as the N ...

''; recruited the help of friends who secretly shot inside Iran to investigate the centuries-old ban on the Baha'i Faith. All of the sequences in Iran were shot undercover by the filmmaker's local connections. In the film, he focuses his attention on the history of persecution faced by Iran's Bahá’í minority, puzzling over the fact that even those Iranians who believe Bahá’ís should be granted their rights often choose to remain silent about the matter — hence the film's title. "Despite being barred from entering my hometown, I was able to film deep within Iran with the help of dedicated friends who risked their lives to capture the material I needed," Mr. Allamehzadeh stated.

Works

Films

* 1972 - ''The devotee'' * 1972 - ''Ghadir'' * 1973 - ''The Witness'' (short) * 1973 - ''Daar'' (short) * 1973 - ''The Trap'', awarded Grand Prix at 12th International film festival for Children and Youth in Gijon, Spain. * 1979 - ''Speak Up, Turkmen'' (Documentary short) * 1980 - ''The Wise Little Black Fish'' (Documentary) * 1981 - ''Shat o sharji'' (Documentary short) * 1981 - ''Agha-ye bimei'' (Short) * 1982 - ''Naghsh'' (Short) * 1986 - ''A Few Simple Sentences'', awarded best short, Stockholm 1986, International Immigrant Film Festival; best children's film, Tomar 1987, International Festival of Cinema for Children and Youth; best children's film, International Centre of Films for Children and Youth (CIFEJ), International Moscow Film Festival, 1987. * 1988 - ''The Guests of Hotel Astoria'', feature length, selected for the Venice, Moscow, Montreal and Chicago Film Festivals. * 1989 - ''The Night After the Revolution'' (Documentary) * 1990 - ''A Nation on Two Wheels'' (Documentary short) * 1991 - ''We Are Gypsies'' (Documentary) * 1994 - ''Holy Crime'', a controversial documentary on state terrorism of Islamic government of Iran in European countries. * 1997 - ''The Wave Is at Rest'' (Documentary) * 1997 - ''Manuscripts don't burn'' (Documentary) * 2011 - ''

'', a documentary on the Baha'i community in and outside Iran. * 2014 - ''Tell Me of the Seas'' (Documentary) * 2020 - ''Tales of the corona days'' (Short)

Other Works/Publications

* * *

Awards/Recognition

* 1973, Winner in the Short Film Awards for ''Daar''

Gijón International Film Festival The Gijón International Film Festival ( ast, Festival Internacional de Cine de Xixón or ''FICXixón'') is an annual film festival held in Gijón, a city in northwest Spain. History The festival's origins date back to 1963. In the beginning i ...

* 1989, Nominee: Best Feature Award for ''Guests of Hotel Astoria'' at the

Chicago International Film Festival The Chicago International Film Festival is an annual film festival held every fall. Founded in 1964 by Michael Kutza, it is the longest-running competitive film festival in North America. Its logo is a stark, black and white close up of the comp ...

* 1989
Night After the Revolution

Melbourne International Film Festival The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Fest ...

References

External links