Sudabeh Mortezai (born 1968), is an

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

–

Iranian Iranian may refer to: * Iran, a sovereign state * Iranian peoples, the speakers of the Iranian languages. The term Iranic peoples is also used for this term to distinguish the pan ethnic term from Iranian, used for the people of Iran * Iranian lan ...

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

and producer. She is best known as the director of critically acclaimed films ''Macondo'' and ''

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'' which won several international awards at film festivals.

Personal life

She was born on 1968 in

Ludwigsburg Ludwigsburg (; Swabian: ''Ludisburg'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg district with about 88,000 inhabitants. It is s ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

to Iranian parents. She spent her childhood and youth in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

Career

She moved to Vienna and studied theater, film and media. Then she studied film at

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

(UCLA) in Los Angeles. During this period, she made various short and documentary films including 2006 documentary ''Children of the Prophet''. It focuses on Iranian mourning rituals for Imam Hossein, the Prophet Mohammad’s grandson. In 2009, she made ''Im Bazar der Gender'' which describes the widespread practice of temporary marriage in

Shiite Islam Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...

. Later in 2014, she made her maiden feature film ''Macondo''. The film is the portrait of a Chechen refugee boy. It was invited to the 64th

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

(Berlinale competition), and competed for

Golden Bear Award Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall * Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome in Gloucestershi ...

. After the success of the film, she made her second feature film ''

'' in 2018. It revolves around the story of a Nigerian woman on a voyage to find freedom. The film received critical acclaim and won several awards at different international film festivals. The film was invited to the 75th Venice Film Festival in the section Giornate degli Autori. Then she won the Europa Cinemas Label as Best European Film in the Giornate degli Autori section of the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

. In the meantime, he co-founded the film production company 'FreibeuterFilm'. The film also won the first Hearst Film Award for Best Female Director. In October 2018, the film won the award for the Best Film at BFI London Film Festival. At 54th

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 ...

, the film won Silver Hugo Special Jury Award. Then in December 2018, the film received the Golden Star for best film at the

Marrakech International Film Festival The Marrakech International Film Festival (FIFM) ( ar, المهرجان الدولي للفيلم بمراكش, Amazigh ⴰⵏⵎⵓⴳⴳⴰⵔ ⴰⴳⵔⴰⵖⵍⴰⵏ ⵏ ⵍⴼⵉⵍⵎ ⴳ ⵎⵕⵕⴰⴽⵛ ) is an international film festi ...

Filmography

References

External links

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Sudabeh Mortezai tags

Interview with Sudabeh Mortezai: "Very close to reality"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mortezai, Sudabeh Living people Austrian film directors 1968 births