Babak Jalali () is an Iranian–British film director and producer, notably directing '' Radio Dreams'', for which he won the Hivos Tiger Award at the 45th

International Film Festival Rotterdam International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

Early life

Jalali was born in Gorgan, Iran, and grew up in London, where he attended the

London Film School London Film School (LFS) is a film school in London, United Kingdom, and is situated in Covent Garden, London, neighbouring Soho, a hub of the UK film industry. It is the oldest film school in the UK.

Career

Directing

In 2006, Jalali was nominated for the

BAFTA Award for Best Short Film The BAFTA Award for Best British Short Film is a film award presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) at the annual British Academy Film Awards. BAFTA is a British organisation that hosts annual awards shows for film, ...

for his short "Heydar, an Afghan in Tehran." Jalali's first feature film, the 2010 ''Frontier Blues'', was developed with support from the

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

Cinéfondation. ''Frontier Blues'' premiered in

Locarno Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

Competition and also screened in the 2010 "New Directors" series at the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

and

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

. In 2016, Jalali's film ''Radio Dreams'' premiered at the 45th

, winning for the Hivos Tiger Award, the festival's top honor. Jalali's third feature ''

Land Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land sur ...

'' is an Italian-French-Dutch co-production, supported by CNC, TorinoFilmLab, Eurimages, Mibac and Doha Film Institute among others. It premiered in

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

. Jalali co-wrote, edited, and directed his fourth feature '' Fremont'', which premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

in January 2023. With his film Fremont, Jalali was nominated as a director for Best International Feature Film at the

British Independent Film Awards The British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) is an organisation that celebrates, supports, and promotes British independent cinema and film-making talent in the United Kingdom. Nominations for the annual awards ceremony are announced in early Nov ...

in 2024, and he won the John Cassavetes Awards at the

Independent Spirit Awards The Independent Spirit Awards, originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Film Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually in Santa Monica, California, to independent filmmakers. Founded in ...

2024.

Producing

Jalali has also produced films, including Italian director Duccio Chiarini’s ''Short Skin'', which won support from the Venice Biennale College and premiered at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

in 2014; Israel-born, Berlin-based director Noaz Deshe's feature '' White Shadow''; and Iranian director Ali Jaberansari's feature ''The Ladder'', for which Jalali, Jaberansari and Chiarini (also producing) won production support at the

Sofia International Film Festival Sofia International Film Festival (SIFF) (Bulgarian language, Bulgarian: ''Международен София Филм Фест, София Филм Фест''), also known as Sofia Film Fest, is an annual film festival in Sofia, capital city of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jalali, Babak Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Iranian film directors Iranian diaspora film people Alumni of the London Film School People from Gorgan