Mohammad Reza Aslani () (born December 9, 1943, in Rasht, Iran) is an Iranian

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, art theorist,

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

known mostly for his

experimental film Experimental film or avant-garde cinema is a mode of filmmaking that does not apply standard cinematic conventions, instead adopting Non-narrative film, non-narrative forms or alternatives to traditional narratives or methods of working. Many e ...

s and

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

. He is also the co-writer of Espacementalism manifesto—although he never signed the manifesto—and one of the main poets of the New Wave Poetry of Iran alongside Yadollah Royaee, Fereydoun Rahnema and

Ahmadreza Ahmadi Ahmadreza Ahmadi (20 May 1940 – 11 July 2023; Persian: احمدرضا احمدی) was a eminent Iranian modern poet and screenwriter, renowned as a significant figure in Iran's "New Wave poetry movement." Ahmadi was born on May 20, 1940, in K ...

Personal life

Mohammad Reza Aslani studied

Painting Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

at the

University of Art Iran University of Art (, ''Daneshgah-e Honar-e Iran'') (former "Tehran University of Art and formally Art Academic Complex (1979-1991)), is the largest art university in Iran, consisting of seven faculties and an international campus in Tehran ...

. He graduated with a graduate diploma in Filmmaking with specialization in Production Design through the first cohort of the Technical School of Television and Cinema under Mostafa Farzaneh. He is married to

Soudabeh Fazaeli Soudabeh Fazaeli () (born in 1947) is a prominent Iranian author, researcher and translator, specially known for her works in the field of mythology and semiotics. Over four decades of prolific career, she has published more than 40 books among wh ...

, a novelist and researcher. They have a son Amin who is also a filmmaker and two daughters Gita and Narges.

Career

Poetry

Mohammad Reza Aslani started off his career as a poet before becoming a renowned as a filmmaker. He and his wife, Soudabeh Fazaeli mostly recognize themselves as participants of a particular literary movement called Alternative Poem (She'er-e-Digar) and Alternative Prose (Nathr-e-Digar). Some of the important figures of this movement includes

Bijan Elahi Bijan Elahi (; ; 7 July 1945 – 1 December 2010) was an Iranian modernist poet and translator. He was for most of his life known as a leading figure of a modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual ar ...

, Yadollah Royaee, Bahram Ardabili, and

Hushang Irani Hushang Irani (; 1925 in Hamedan – 4 September 1973 in Paris) was an Iranian poet, translator, critic, journalist and painter. He is one of the pioneers of "The New Poetry" and surrealism in Iran. The Fighting Cock days Founded in 1950, '' Kho ...

. Some researchers including Esmaeel NooriAla believe his poetry is influential through the New Wave Poetry of Iran. In 1962, Mohammad Reza Aslani and some of his classmates in school of decorative arts such as published a book of poetry named ''Shabhâye Nimkati, Roozhây-e-Bâd'' (Bench-y Nights, Wind Days) which went viral through Iranian literary salons at the time and was considered as avant-garde future of the new wave poetry and also graphic design. He mentions that in school of decorative arts, instead of learning any classical form of painting, he directly started to learn modern architecture and art and their worldview towards the environment became his questions as well. His questions beside the questions of the

Imagist Imagism was a movement in early-20th-century poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. It is considered to be the first organized literary modernism, modernist literary movement in the English language. Imagism has bee ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

was also what he called the

plasticity Plasticity may refer to: Science * Plasticity (physics), in engineering and physics, the propensity of a solid material to undergo permanent deformation under load * Behavioral plasticity, change in an organism's behavior in response to exposur ...

of the image in poetry.فرارو: دیدن جهان مرا منقلب میکند. - مصاحبه با محمدرضا اصلانی
/ref> Although his style is sometimes similar to some of his contemporaries like Ahmadi or Farrokhzad, he believed that style of the artist forms around the essential needs and emotions of his soul. For the same reason his poetry does not have the musicality of Nima's poetry and also does not have the emotional variation and sentimentalism of the Ahmadi's poems as well. He brought everyday language to poetry, not like any other, and with a painting-like composition. Aslani later abandoned the New Wave Poetry into the New Wave Cinema. With his second book, ''Bar Tafâzol-e-Do Maghreb'' (''On Differential of Two Occidents''), he disappointed New Wave movement by revising his style and aesthetics and also in his third book, ''Soognâme-ye-Sâlha-ye-Mamnooe'' (''Requiem of the Abandoned Years''), he completely opposed his own style in his first book. As he mentions: In 2019, his new historical-epic poem book called Hezâr Bâde-ye Hezâr Bâd dar Hezâreh-hâye Shab-e-Too-bar-Too (Thousand Wines of Thousand Wind in Millenary of Labyrinth-ed Night) got published after 49 years, since the

SAVAK The Bureau for Intelligence and Security of the State (), shortened to as SAVAK () or S.A.V.A.K. () was the secret police of the Imperial State of Iran. It was established in Tehran in 1957 by national security law. and continued to operate un ...

had taken it all away. According to an interview he had to rewrite the whole book of 200 pages based on 30 pages of draft he found in his archive. Many historical and mythological characters of Iranian culture like

Rostam use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = Kabulistan , death_cause = With the conspiracy of his half-brother Shaghad, he fell into a we ...

Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani Ayn-al-Qużāt Hamadānī, also spelled Ain-al Quzat Hamedani or ʿAyn-al Qudat Hamadhani (1098–1131) (), was a Persian jurist, mystic, philosopher, poet and mathematician who was executed at the age of 33. Title ''Ayn-al-Qużat'' in Arab ...

Al-Hallaj Mansour al-Hallaj () or Mansour Hallaj () ( 26 March 922) (Islamic calendar, Hijri 309 AH) was a Persian people, Persian Hanbali school, HanbaliChristopher Melchert, "The Ḥanābila and the Early Sufis," ''Arabica'', T. 48, Fasc. 3 (2001), ...

, Bidel Dehlavi and

Ya'qub ibn al-Layth al-Saffar Ya'qub ibn al-Layth Saffar (; 25 October 840 – 5 June 879), was a coppersmith and the founder of the Saffarid dynasty of Sistan, with its capital at Zaranj (a city now in south-western Afghanistan). Under his military leadership, he conquered ...

are among the characters of this epopee. He wrote this book under the influence of

Shahname The ''Shahnameh'' (, ), also transliterated ''Shahnama'', is a long epic poem written by the Persian literature, Persian poet Ferdowsi between and 1010 CE and is the national epic of Greater Iran. Consisting of some 50,000 distichs or couple ...

Cinema

Source: As student in school of decorative arts, he used to watch artistic films in

Cinematheque A cinematheque is an archive of films and film-related objects with an exhibition venue. Similarly to a book library (bibliothèque in French), a cinematheque is responsible for preserving and making available to the public film heritage. Typically ...

of Tehran also known as Film Club (Kanoon-e-Film) with two of his friends and classmates Iraj Anvari and Edward Arshamian. After seeing an announcement poster for production designer recruitment course by Ministry of Arts and Culture, he decided to take the entrance exam for the course which was on the same day. He ended up getting accepted for the filmmaking course which took 9 months. Later he got into the newly founded

National Iranian Radio and Television National Iranian Radio and Television (NIRT; , ''Râdyo Televizyon-e Melli-ye 'Irân'') was the first Pahlavi Iran, Iranian state broadcaster, which was established on June 19, 1971, following the merger of the country's radio and television serv ...

as an art director and senior production designer. He also designed the logo for the Institution. Later he got introduced to Fereydoun Rahnema who was Television's content and research advisor at the time. After Rahnema proposed a program to

Reza Ghotbi Reza Ghotbi (; full name Abdorreza Ghotbi Gilani, Iranian; 5 April 1938 – 26 August 2024). He was a mathematician and a telecommunications engineer who headed the National Iranian Radio and Television during the Pahlavi dynasty. Early life and ...

, the NIRT's head at the time about making experimental documentaries about different parts of Iran, Aslani alongside Basir Nasibi, Parviz Kimiavi, Hassanali Kowsar, Houshang Azadivar, Naser Taghvai and others started making films. Rahnema himself produced his first film Jaam-e-Hasanlou about the

golden bowl of Hasanlu The Golden bowl of Hasanlu () is an ancient artefact, a cup or bowl in gold, decorated in relief, and now in the National Museum of Iran. It was discovered by Robert H. Dyson in 1958 while excavating the site of Teppeh Hasanlu, near the city of Na ...

. The film consists of scenes from bowl's motifs while the narrator reads from Passion of Al-Hallaj of the

Tazkirat al-Awliyā ''Tazkirat al-Awliyā'' ( or , lit. "Biographies of the Saints")variant transliterations: Tadhkirat al-Awliya, Tazkerat-ol-Owliya , Tezkereh-i-Evliā etc. is a hagiographic List of biographical dictionaries, collection of ninety-six Sufi saints (' ...

Attar of Nishapur Faridoddin Abu Hamed Mohammad Attar Nishapuri ( – c. 1221; ), better known by his pen-names Faridoddin () and ʿAttar of Nishapur (, Attar means apothecary), was a poet, theoretician of Sufism, and hagiographer from Nishapur who had an immense ...

while the soundtrack consisted of

Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo ''Rappresentatione di anima et di corpo'' (Italian for ''Portrayal of the Soul and the Body'') is a musical work by Emilio de' Cavalieri to a libretto by Agostino Manni (1548–1618). With it, Cavalieri regarded himself as the composer of the fi ...

Emilio de' Cavalieri Emilio de' Cavalieri (c. 155011 March 1602), or Emilio dei Cavalieri (the spellings "del" and "Cavaliere" are contemporary typographical errors), was an Italian composer, producer, organist, diplomat, choreographer and dancer at the end of t ...

. In the world of feature films, he made ''The Chess Game of the Wind'' in 1976 with the production of

Bahman Farmanara Bahman Farmanara (; born 23 January 1942) is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He is best known for his films '' Smell of Camphor, Scent of Jasmine'' (2000), '' A House Built on Water'' (2001), and '' A Little Kiss'' (20 ...

. It took him 6 years to finance and finally make the movie. It was met with critical acclaim and audience apathy when it opened in Tehran in 1976 and also some controversies while screening the movie and after 1979 revolution towards archiving it made it tough for the movie to come out. The stunning period drama was prohibited by the Islamic Republic and thought to be lost until 2014. In 2020, Scorsese Foundation restored the movie for Cannes 2020 to be shown in classics section of the festival. He also made The Green Fire in 2008 after years of not working. The film supposed to be shot in the Bam Citadel but after

2003 Bam earthquake An earthquake struck the Kerman province of southeastern Iran at 01:56 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC (5:26 am Iran Standard Time) on December 26, 2003. The shock had a moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 6.6 and a maximum Mer ...

and complete destruction of the citadel, the project got delayed. Later he made the movie in a citadel near

Kerman Kerman (; ) is a city in the Central District (Kerman County), Central District of Kerman County, Kerman province, Kerman province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, the county, and the district. History Kerman was founded as a def ...

. The movie consists of different narratives in different timelines narrating an old Iranian tale called Sang-e-Sabour.

Publications

During 1983-93 he and his wife founded a publication called Nashr-e-Noghreh. It introduced different style of book design and publishing for its time. Nashr-e-Noghre got closed after its office caught in fire because they have published Women without Men by Shahrnoush Parsipur. In 2020, the publication received necessary permissions to republish once again, and re-opened its new generation of publication.

Books

Poem

* Shabhâye Nimkati, Roozhây-e-Bâd (Bench-y Nights, Wind Days), 1962, Re-published 2022 * Bar Tafâzol-e-Do Maghreb (On Differential of Two Occidents), 1972 * Soognâme-ye-Sâlha-ye-Mamnoo'e (Requiem of the Abandoned Years), 1979 * Hezâr Bâde-ye Hezâr Bâd dar Hezâreh-hâye Shab-e-Too-bar-Too (Thousand Wines of Thousand Wind in Millenary of Labyrinth-ed Night), 2019

Theoretical and interview

* Degarkhâni-e Cinema-ye Mostanad (Alternative Reading on Documentary Cinema), 1999–2010, Publication: 2010 * Hasti-ye Ayineh (The Being of the Mirror), 2018, Interviews with Arash Sanjabi * Binesh-e-Tasviri dar Iran (Vision of the Image in Iran), Not yet published.

Filmography

Documentaries

* ''Mash Esmaeil'' (1972) * ''Koodak-e-Emrooz'' (Nowadays Child) (1978) * ''Ghali va Estethmar'' (Carpet and Exploitation of Labour) (1979) * ''Koodak va Estethmar'' (Child and Exploitation of Labour) (1982)

Experimental and experimental documentaries

* ''Jaam-e-Hasanlou'' (Golden bowl of Hasanlu) (1964) * ''Ghorbat-ol-Gharbia'' (Occidental Exile) (1967) * ''Jaame-e-Fahraj'' (Congregation of Fahraj) (1968) * ''Tarikhaneh'' (1968) * ''Abu Rayhan'' (1973) * ''Chigh'' (1996) * ''Khaterat-e-Yek Haftad-o-Panj Sale'' (Memoirs of a 75 Years Old) (2007) * ''Dast-hay-e-Hegmataaneh'' (The Hands of the Ecbatana) (2010) * ''Che Aftaab-e-Khoshi Darun-e-Oo Mitaft'' (Such a Pleasant Sunshine was Glowing in Him) (2012) * ''Tehran, Honar-e-Mafhoumi'' (Tehran, Conceptual Art) (2012) * ''Jaam-e-Hasanlou: 50 Saal Ba'ad'' (Golden bowl of Hasanlu: 50 Years Later) (2016) * ''Khaaneh-yi bar vosa'at-e Aagaahi'' (A House as Wide as Consciousness) (2018)

Feature films

* '' Shatranj-e-Baad'' (The Chess Game of The Wind) (1976) * ''Atash-e-Sabz'' (The Green Fire) (2008)

Short films

* ''Bad Badeh'' (1970) * ''Chenin Konand Hekayat'' (Thus they say...) (1977)

TV series

* ''Samak-e-Ayyar'' (Samak the Knight Errant) (1974–75) * ''Ghobaar-e-Nour'' (Dust of the Light) (1997–98) * ''Mantegh-ot-Tayr'' (The Conference of the Birds) (1999)

As screenwriter

* ''Soozanbaan'' (Switchman) (1968) Dir. Manouchehr Tayyab * ''Soo-ye Shahr-e Khamoush'' (Onto Silent City) (1969) Dir. Manouchehr Tayyab * ''Sobh-e Rooz-e Chaharom'' (Fourth Day's Morning) (1972) Dir.

Kamran Shirdel Kamran Shirdel (; born 21 June 1939) is an Iranian filmmaker and documentarist. Biography Kamran Shirdel was born on 21 June 1939 in Tehran. He studied architecture and urbanism at the University of Rome (now Sapienza University of Rome) and ...

* ''Mogholha'' (Mongols) (1973) Dir. Parviz Kimiavi * '' Tangna'' (Strait) (1973) Dir.

Amir Naderi Amir Naderi (, , born 15 August 1946, in Abadan) is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for '' The Runner'' and '' Vegas: Based on a True Story''. Career Amir Naderi grew up in Abadan, a working-class port ...

* ''Marsieh'' (Requiem) (1975) Dir.

* ''Bagh-e Sangui'' (The Stone Garden) (1976) Dir. Parviz Kimiavi * ''Ganj-e Ravaan'' (Flowing Treasure) (2012) Dir. Amin Aslani * ''Baad bar Bagh-e Nazar'' (Wind on the Watching Garden) (2014) Dir. Pouyan Kazemi * ''Derakht-e Banafsh'' (The Purple Tree) (2019) Dir. Amin Aslani

Awards and recognition

* In 2015, Aslani received a certificate of First Order Artistic Badge of Ph.D. equivalent from the

Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance The Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (, ''Vezârat-e Farhang va Ershâd-e Eslâmi'') ("Ministry of CIG") is a ministry responsible for managing access to media that, in the view of the Iranian government or the ministry, violates Iranian ...

and

Iranian Academy of the Arts Iranian Academy of Arts (IAA) (; formally Academy of Arts of the Islamic Republic of Iran) was established in March 2000. It is one of the four academies of the Islamic Republic of Iran; the other three academies are the Iranian Academy of Medical ...

Notes

External links

* *
Chess of the Wind movie review

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aslani, Mohammad Reza 1943 births Iranian film directors Iranian literary critics Iranian writers Living people People from Rasht