Rafi Pitts (, born 1967) is an Iranian film director.

Life and career

Pitts was born in

Mashad Mashhad ( ; ), historically also known as Mashad, Meshhed, or Meshed in English, is the second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. In the Central District of Mashhad ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. Rafi spent his childhood in

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, where he lived in a basement flat underneath a post-production studio. He came to England (his father is English) in 1981 during the Iran Iraq war. He graduated in 1991 from the Polytechnic of Central London with a BA (Hons) degree in Film and Photography. His first short film, ''In Exile'' (1991) was presented the same year at the London International Film Festival. In the 90's Pitts moved to Paris and worked on films by

Leos Carax Alex Christophe Dupont (born 1960), best known as Leos Carax (), is a French film director, critic and writer. Carax is noted for his poetic style and his tortured depictions of love. His first major work was ''Boy Meets Girl (1984 film), Boy Me ...

Jacques Doillon Jacques Doillon (; born 15 March 1944) is a French film director and screenwriter. Some actresses to break through are Fanny Bastien, Sandrine Bonnaire, Judith Godrèche, Marianne Denicourt, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Juliette Binoche. Earl ...

and

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

. Educated in

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 ...

and

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 ...

, Rafi Pitts belongs to the ''new wave'' of

Iranian cinema The cinema of Iran (), or of Name of Iran, Persia, refers to the film industry in Iran. In particular, Iranian art films have garnered international recognition. Iranian films are usually written and spoken in the Persian language. Iran has bee ...

, which received numerous prestigious prizes in the international festival circuit. In 1996 he had the opportunity to film in Iran and he was the first film director (in exile) to do so since the Revolution in 1979. His first feature Season Five (1997) was the first Franco-Iranian coproduction since the Revolution. In 2006, he was nominated for ''Golden Bear'' award of

Berlin 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 ...

for his film, ''It's Winter''. His 2010 film '' The Hunter'' was nominated for the

Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and is, along with the Palme d'Or and the Golden Lion, the most important international film festival award. The bear is the heraldic an ...

at the

60th Berlin International Film Festival The 60th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 11 to 21 February 2010, with Werner Herzog as president of the jury. The opening film of the festival was Chinese director Wang Quan'an's romantic drama '' Apart Together'', in com ...

. His 2016 Film Soy Nero won the best film award at the 12th Bucharest International Film festival, in April 2016

Representative awards and honors

* Golden Bear, ''nominated'', Berlin Film Festival, 2006. * Grand Prix, Paris Film Festival, 2001. * Golden Moon of Valencia, Cinema Jove - Valencia International Film Festival, 2001. * Golden Wheel, Vesoul Asian Film Festival- France, 2001. * OCIC Grand Prix, Amiens International Film Festival, 1997. * Special Jury Prize, Mannheim-Heidelberg International Filmfestival, 1997 & 2000.

Filmography

* 2016 '' Soy Nero'' * 2011 ''

60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero ''60 Seconds of Solitude in Year Zero'' is a 2011 anthology film, shown for a one-time-only event that took place in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia on 22 December 2011. The film is a collection of roughly one-minute-long short films created by 51 fil ...

'' * 2010 '' The Hunter (Shekarchi)'' * 2006 It's Winter (Zemestan) * 2003 Abel Ferrara: Not Guilty (documentary from the series "Cinema de Notre Temps) * 2000 Sanam * 1997 '' Season Five'' (Fasl-e-Panjom) * 2023 '' Eureka''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitts, Rafi 1967 births Iranian film directors Living people People from Mashhad Persian-language film directors Iranian people of English descent Alumni of the Polytechnic of Central London