Siamak Ghahremani (born January 7, 1974) is an
Iranian American
Iranian Americans are United States citizens or nationals who are of Iranian ancestry or who hold Iranian citizenship.
Iranian Americans are among the most highly educated people in the United States. They have historically excelled in busin ...
cultural event producer and radio host. He is a founder of the annual
Noor Iranian Film Festival The Noor Iranian Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California, founded by cultural producer Siamak Ghahremani and co-founder Anthony Azizi in 2007. The festival's namesake comes from the word Nur, also spelled Noor, mea ...
in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
and co-host of the talk show ''Popcorn'' on
Radio Javan
Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitt ...
. He has also co-hosted the Sunday Morning Show on
670 AM KIRN. After the establishment of NIFF, Ghahremani started managing Iranian artists’ performance tours in the US. In 2017, Ghahremani managed TM Bax US tour.
Early life and career
Ghahremani was born on January 7, 1974, in Iran, to parents who were of Baha’I religion. His family suffered religious persecution because the Baha’I religion was accorded no recognition in Iran. On a number of occasions Iranian prisons officials went to their house from
Evin Prison but would not find them at home.
Ghahremani was denied enrollment in schools in his district and had to travel about an hour to a school where the authorities there were considerate and tolerated Baha’i religion students. Ghahremani’s mother was denied access to proper medical attention when she had a miscarriage because of her religion.
After this incident Ghahremani’s family tried to flee the country to
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
to seek asylum but were intercepted by the border and detained for weeks before being released due to the worsening health condition of his mother. They tried and succeeded in their second attempt to flee the country. Shortly after their arrival, his mother died at the age of 31 when Ghahremani was only twelve years old.
Ghahremani developed interest in movies when he was a kid as his mother took him to movies and began to like artists such as
John Wayne
Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...
and
Anthony Quinn
Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...
who were his mother’s favourite artists. During the
Iranian revolution
The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...
VCRs and movies were banned, they started renting boxes which contained a VHS player and a couple dozen movies inside. After the death of his mother he increased the frequency of his visit to movies to suppress the pains of his mother’s death. That exposure to film and cinema was the seed in developing and launching Noor Iranian Film Festival, the first Iranian Film Festival outside of Iran which worked closely with Hollywood stars such as
Francis Fisher
Francis Marion Bates Fisher (22 December 1877 – 24 July 1960) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament from Wellington. He was known as Rainbow Fisher for his frequent changes of political allegiance. He was a veteran of the Boer War and an in ...
,
Harry Lennix
Harry Joseph Lennix III (born November 16, 1964) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Terrence "Dresser" Williams in the Robert Townsend film ''The Five Heartbeats'' (1991) and as Boyd Langton in the science-fiction series ''Dollh ...
,
Rain Wilson,
Shohreh Aghdashloo
Shohreh Aghdashloo ( fa, شهره آغداشلو, ; née Vaziri-Tabar (); 11 May 1952) is an Iranian and American actress. Following numerous starring roles on the stage, she made her film debut in '' Chess of the Wind'' (1976). Her next two fi ...
,
Behrouz Vossoughi
Khalil Vossoughi ( fa, خلیل وثوقی; born 11 March 1938) known professionally as Behrouz Vossoighi (بهروز وثوقی), is an Iranian actor. He has also worked in television, radio and theater. His work has earned him recognition at ...
, and
Reza Badiyi.
Noor Iranian Film Festival
In 2007, Ghahremani and actor Anthony Azizi founded the
Noor Iranian Film Festival The Noor Iranian Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Los Angeles, California, founded by cultural producer Siamak Ghahremani and co-founder Anthony Azizi in 2007. The festival's namesake comes from the word Nur, also spelled Noor, mea ...
, with the determination to showcase the culture and heritage of Iranians around the world, through cultivation and promotion of Iranian-American talent in Hollywood. The festival has been held annual every year since 2007, with the exception of a postponement in 2010. It was the first Iranian Film Festival to occur outside of Iran.
References
External links
*
*Siamak Ghahremani On Religious Persecution And The Power Of Iranian Film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghahremani, Siamak
Living people
American people of Iranian descent
American talk radio hosts
Radio personalities from Los Angeles
1974 births