Mehrdad Zonnour
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Producer
- Additional Crew
Mehrdad, born on 29 September 1973 was raised in an Intellectual family in Tehran. "A simple coincidence" attracted him to Cinema when he was about 8 years old. In 1992 he got accepted in the University of art & Architecture central Tehran Branch, in 1998 he graduated with a Master's degree and since then he has been working as a Visual Artist and graphic designer and art Director.
His mentors and close friends such as Seifollah Samadian and Reza Abedini had a great influence on his character, and later getting married to Samira makhmalbaf * and being part of her family has helped him to experience Cinema alongside graphic design and photography like he never thought he would. His photographs has been published in some of the best known magazines and newspapers all over the world such as New York times, Guardian, Elle El País, independent and many well-known cinema magazines, later with producing the " two-legged horse" directed by Samira he got to experience the harsh attractive ,mesmerizing and enchanting world of cinema and Red carpets of many international Festivals around the world.(Mehrdad went to more than 30 countries with director and Film as a producer.)
Alongside all these experiences and learning from his loved ones, he has visited Afghanistan several times and had the chance of seeing the great Buddha Sculptures in the city of Bamian from inside and outside (a place where it's almost impossible for anyone to go to because of the UNESCO world heritage protection of these great sculptures) , he finds this experience much more beautiful and greater than interviewing and seeing characters such as Brian De Palma, woody Allen , Jim Jarmusch, Quentin Tarantino and many more pioneers of cinema history . Needless to say that these encounters and talks has had a great deep influence on him.
He recalls precisely that one night in Spain in 2008 Jonathan Demme ( He became best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 ) and he won the( Oscar Academy Award for Best Director) asked mehrdad; which part of the world has touched you more than any other? When he answered Bamian in Afghanistan and the Buddha sculpture, Demme with a pause puts his hand on his shoulders and says: let me put it this way, you have heard of " Alice in Wonderland " story for sure, My God you have made me jealous boy! you were actually in an Alice in Wonderland Story ...
mehrdad have great experiences about graphic design, Still Photography, and Cinema and also journalism... Meanwhile after that till in 2012 he met Stefan Sagmeister, and considers this meeting an important experience of the last few years of his life. Between 2012 to 2015 he has worked closely with the Iranian Graphic Design Association IGDS as Director of Public relations and spokesman. and Know he think he have a time for experiences and learn more and more and being Play full yet actually...
Samira Makhmalbadf* was Born in Teheran in 1980, at the age of 8 she had a part in The Cyclist, directed by her father, the famous Iranian movie maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. At the age of 17 she directed her first feature "The Apple", becoming the youngest director in the world to participate in the Official Selection at the Cannes Festival. Jean-Luc Godard himself praised the girl on several occasions for her film. Over a period of two years, The Apple was invited to participate in over 100 international film festivals and was screened in more than 30 countries. In 1999, Samira made her second feature film," The Blackboard", set in Iranian Kurdistan. film accepted in the Official Selection at Cannes in 2000, and receiving the Special Jury Prize. and others , including UNESCO's Federico Fellini Medal and the François Truffaut Award. She directed one of the eleven episodes of the movie 11'09"01-September 11 alongside directors like Ken Loach, Shohei Imamura, Youssef Chahine and Sean Penn, among others, premiered at the Venice Festival in 2002. Her third film, "At Five in the Afternoon", was the first to be shot in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime. It competed at the Cannes Festival in 2003, where she landed the Special Jury Prize for the second time.In 2004, The Guardian newspaper listed Samira Makhmalbaf among the 40 best directors in the world. Samira decided to make her next movie, Two-legged Horse, in Afghanistan in 2007. also it won Special Jury Prize at San Sebastian film festival 2008 again . She has been a jury member at top-line festivals like Cannes, Venice, Berlin, San Sebastian, Locarno, Moscow and Montreal, among others...
His mentors and close friends such as Seifollah Samadian and Reza Abedini had a great influence on his character, and later getting married to Samira makhmalbaf * and being part of her family has helped him to experience Cinema alongside graphic design and photography like he never thought he would. His photographs has been published in some of the best known magazines and newspapers all over the world such as New York times, Guardian, Elle El País, independent and many well-known cinema magazines, later with producing the " two-legged horse" directed by Samira he got to experience the harsh attractive ,mesmerizing and enchanting world of cinema and Red carpets of many international Festivals around the world.(Mehrdad went to more than 30 countries with director and Film as a producer.)
Alongside all these experiences and learning from his loved ones, he has visited Afghanistan several times and had the chance of seeing the great Buddha Sculptures in the city of Bamian from inside and outside (a place where it's almost impossible for anyone to go to because of the UNESCO world heritage protection of these great sculptures) , he finds this experience much more beautiful and greater than interviewing and seeing characters such as Brian De Palma, woody Allen , Jim Jarmusch, Quentin Tarantino and many more pioneers of cinema history . Needless to say that these encounters and talks has had a great deep influence on him.
He recalls precisely that one night in Spain in 2008 Jonathan Demme ( He became best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs in 1991 ) and he won the( Oscar Academy Award for Best Director) asked mehrdad; which part of the world has touched you more than any other? When he answered Bamian in Afghanistan and the Buddha sculpture, Demme with a pause puts his hand on his shoulders and says: let me put it this way, you have heard of " Alice in Wonderland " story for sure, My God you have made me jealous boy! you were actually in an Alice in Wonderland Story ...
mehrdad have great experiences about graphic design, Still Photography, and Cinema and also journalism... Meanwhile after that till in 2012 he met Stefan Sagmeister, and considers this meeting an important experience of the last few years of his life. Between 2012 to 2015 he has worked closely with the Iranian Graphic Design Association IGDS as Director of Public relations and spokesman. and Know he think he have a time for experiences and learn more and more and being Play full yet actually...
Samira Makhmalbadf* was Born in Teheran in 1980, at the age of 8 she had a part in The Cyclist, directed by her father, the famous Iranian movie maker Mohsen Makhmalbaf. At the age of 17 she directed her first feature "The Apple", becoming the youngest director in the world to participate in the Official Selection at the Cannes Festival. Jean-Luc Godard himself praised the girl on several occasions for her film. Over a period of two years, The Apple was invited to participate in over 100 international film festivals and was screened in more than 30 countries. In 1999, Samira made her second feature film," The Blackboard", set in Iranian Kurdistan. film accepted in the Official Selection at Cannes in 2000, and receiving the Special Jury Prize. and others , including UNESCO's Federico Fellini Medal and the François Truffaut Award. She directed one of the eleven episodes of the movie 11'09"01-September 11 alongside directors like Ken Loach, Shohei Imamura, Youssef Chahine and Sean Penn, among others, premiered at the Venice Festival in 2002. Her third film, "At Five in the Afternoon", was the first to be shot in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime. It competed at the Cannes Festival in 2003, where she landed the Special Jury Prize for the second time.In 2004, The Guardian newspaper listed Samira Makhmalbaf among the 40 best directors in the world. Samira decided to make her next movie, Two-legged Horse, in Afghanistan in 2007. also it won Special Jury Prize at San Sebastian film festival 2008 again . She has been a jury member at top-line festivals like Cannes, Venice, Berlin, San Sebastian, Locarno, Moscow and Montreal, among others...