Sohrab Shaheed Salles or Sohrab Shahid-Saless (; June 28, 1944 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. ...

, Iran – July 2, 1998 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, U.S.) was an

Iranian Iranian () may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Iran ** Iranian diaspora, Iranians living outside Iran ** Iranian architecture, architecture of Iran and parts of the rest of West Asia ** Iranian cuisine, cooking traditions and practic ...

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

and one of the most celebrated figures in

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 ...

in the 20th century. After 1976 he worked in the

cinema of Germany The film industry in Germany can be traced back to the late 19th century. German cinema made major technical and artistic contributions to early film, broadcasting and television technology. Babelsberg Studio, Babelsberg became a household synon ...

and was an important component of the film

diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of birth, place of origin. The word is used in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently resi ...

working in the German industry.

Film career

After the revolution aftermaths in Iran and with restrictions faced by film makers and the difficulties of acquiring raw 35 mm film rolls, he made his first feature, the milestone film ''A Simple Event'' (1973), he describes the everyday life of a ten-year-old boy living in a small town with an ill mother and a father struggling to make a living smuggling

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

. In contrast, ''

Still Life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

'' (1974) explores the monotony in the life of an old railway

switchman A switchman (North America) also known as pointsman (British Isles) or yardman (Commonwealth) is a rail transport worker whose original job was to operate various railway switches or points on a railroad. It also refers to a person who assist ...

– a film that won many prizes, including one at the 1974 Berlinale. In 1975 Sohrab directed ''Far from Home'' (1975). In 1976 on moving to Germany Sohrab released ''Diary of a Lover'' (1976), '' Time of Maturity'' (1976), and ''

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

'' (1983). ''Utopia'' is a 186-minute film regarded by critics as a "hard ghetto film" and is the tale of a pimp and his five girls. The film was entered into the

33rd Berlin International Film Festival The 33rd annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 18 February to 1 March 1983. The festival opened with the out of competition film ''Tootsie'', by Sydney Pollack. The Golden Bear was jointly awarded to ''Ascendancy (film), Ascen ...

. Shahid Saless is known to be a pioneer of the new wave of Iranian cinema. In his own words, his cinema intends to document the "antagonism between man and society". In the course of his oeuvre, he viewed the role of cinema as "to make conscious of indignity and inhumanity of life".

Filmography as director

Short *''Dance of Bojnourd (Raghs-e Bojnourd)'' - 1969 *''Resurrection (Rastakhiz)'' - 1969 *''Siah-o sefid'' - 1972 Features & TV movies *''A Simple Event (Yek ettefāq-e sāde)'' - 1973 *''

(Ṭabiʿat-e bijān)'' - 1974 *'' Far from Home (Dar qorbat)'' - 1975 *'' Time of Maturity (Reifezeit)'' - 1976 *'' Diary of a Lover (Tagebuch eines Liebenden)'' - 1977 *''The Long Vacation of Lotte H. Eisner (Die langen Ferien der Lotte H. Eisner)'' - 1979 *''The Last Summer of Grabbe (Grabbes Letzter Sommer)'' - 1980 *'' (Ordnung)'' - 1980 *''Anton P. Chekhov: A Life'' - 1981 *''Addressee Unknown (Empfänger unbekannt)'' - 1983 *''

'' - 1983 *''The Willow Tree (Der Weidenbaum)'' - 1984 *''Hans: A Young Man in Germany (Hans – Ein Junge in Deutschland)'' - 1985 *''Changeling (Wechselbalg)'' - 1987 *''Roses for Africa (Rosen für Afrika)'' - 1992

Awards and accolades

Sohrab Shaheed Salles won 12 professional film awards and 3 nominations during his career. *1972 Ob?, Best Documentary, National Tehran Film Festival. *1972 black and white, Golden Plaque, Tehran International Children's Film Festival *1973 A simple event, Golden Ibex for Best Director at the International Film Festival in Tehran *1974 Price of the Catholic and Protestant Film Jury as part of the Young Forum at the International Film Festival Berlin *1974 Still Life, Silver Bear Award of the International Film Critics Prize of the Protestant jury, International Film Festival n 1975 the stranger, Prize of the International Film Critics, International Film Festival Berlin *1976 ripening period, Bronze Hugo, Chicago International Film Festival *1977 Diary of a lover Special Film Award of the British Film Institute, London Film Festival1977 Documenta 6 in Kassel *1980 order, Silver Hugo, Chicago International Film Festival Participation in the Cannes Film Festival Week of directors . *1981 Grabbes Last Summer, three Grimme prices with Gold: Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Male Actor. Best TV Movie of the Year the price of the North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of Culture for best director. *1984 Utopia Award of the Academy of Performing Arts : Best Film of the year. *1991 Roses for Africa, International Film Festival Hof.

References

* Pardis Minuchehr,

External links

* * http://www.saless.de - a German homepage, devoted to the life and work of Saless *http://www.nostalgiafortheelsewhere.com/- A Retrospective homepage on German works of Shahid Saless {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaheed Salles, Sohrab 1944 births 1998 deaths German-language film directors Iranian film directors Iranian screenwriters People from Qazvin Persian-language film directors Silver Bear for Best Director recipients 20th-century Iranian screenwriters Iranian emigrants to Germany

Film career

Filmography as director

Awards and accolades

See also

References

External links