Soheil Beiraghi: Difference between revisions

Soheil Beiraghi
Beiraghi at the 38th Fajr Film Festival (2020)
Born	(1986-10-16) 16 October 1986 (age 37) Shahreza, Iran
Occupations	Film Director Screenwriter Producer
Years active	1998–present

Soheil Beiraghi (Persian: سهیل بیرقی; born October 16, 1986, in Shahreza, Iran) is an Iranian film director, screenwriter and producer.^[1] The recipient of domestic and international awards, he has directed the award-winning films I (Me), Cold Sweat and Unpopular.^[2][3][4][5] He started out on his filmmaking career in 2003 as an assistant director in a number of cinematic productions. His ten-year experience of working as an assistant director and planner paved the way for the making of his first feature film I (Me). Beiraghi has also a record on play writing and theater directing.^[1]

Biography

Soheil Beiraghi was born on October 15, 1986, in Shahreza. He got involved in cultural and artistic activities at the age of 12, writing short stories and texts on different subjects for magazines and newspapers. Three years later, one of his short stories was published for the first time in the monthly art and culture magazine Haft (seven) which received special attention. When he was 16, he made his feature debut as a screenwriter, a script that satisfied some of the professional and acclaimed filmmakers of the time. However, as he yearned to be an independent creator,^[6] he left the screenplay unfinished and set about making films based on his own writings and short stories. At the age of 18, inspired by one of his fictions, Beiraghi made his first short film.^[7]

His love of cinema grew deeper to such an extent that in 2005 he gave up his studies in industrial engineering and dedicated himself to filmmaking, working as an assistant director and planner for the following 10 years.  During the course of the decade he had the opportunity to collaborate with prominent filmmakers such as Varuzh Karim-Masihi, Rasool Sadr Ameli, Hassan Fathi, Abdolreza Kahani and Bahram Tavakoli.^[8]

In 2012 his career took a new turn as he opted for the theater. He soon wrote and directed Pit (Persian: Chaleh) acted by Andishe Fouladvand, Ammaar Tafti and Atefe Nouri. The play had been on stage for 45 days in the Time Museum’s performance hall in Tehran and was performed in the theaters of different cities both in Iran and abroad.^[9]

Directing Works

I (Me) (2016)

Beiraghi made his first feature film I (also known as Me) in 2016, when he was 28 years old. The film was a great success as the young director's first professional experience, both on cinema screens and at film festivals. The distinctive appearance of the actress Leila Hatami won praise from a large number of audiences and critics alike. She played the role of an astute fixer who solved problems for other people by breaking the law in a subtle way. The novelty of the script and the narrative structure which was made up of subplots were the features particularly acclaimed by the critics who applauded as well the director's fresh look at a social problem and his ability to guide the actors, especially the female character.^[10][11]

Amir Jadidi, Mani Haghighi and Behnoush Bakhtiari were the film's supporting actors.

Cold Sweat (Permission) (2018)

Beiraghi made his second feature film, Cold Sweat in 2018. The film narrates the story of a young woman by the name of Afrooz Ardestani, the Iran women's national football team captain whose husband doesn't allow her to play in international football games and forbids her from going abroad.

The film's central theme is this woman's struggle for her fundamental rights, a lead role played by Baran Kosari which attracted a lot of public and media attention.^{[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]} The striking similarity between the plot and the reality about Iranian female athletes, prevented from taking part in international competitions by their husbands, provoked fierce debate. Amir Jadidi, Leili Rashidi, Hoda Zeinolabedin and Sahar Dowlatshahi were also cast in Cold Sweat.^[19]

Cold Sweat choosed for best actress and best actor in Fajr International Film Festival.^[20]

Unpopular (2020)

Two years later, in 2020, Beiraghi began shooting his third feature film Unpopular, a threequel to his two previous works I (Me) and Cold Sweat, all dealing with women's issues. Preceded by Leila Hatami and Baran Kosari featuring as two Iranian women in the 1970s and 1980s, the actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya appeared in Unpopular as the representative of the women born in the 1960s in Iran. It's about a middle-aged woman frustrated by long hours of idleness and boredom who decides to start a new life in a small town after going through a divorce.

Gaining social acceptance and following traditions despite oneself are the dominant themes of the film. It has a simple and minimal language and takes the audience on a journey through the details of a realistic narrative. Motamed-Arya's acting in the leading role and the way Beiraghi brings her as the lead character face to face with her lengthy loneliness and everyday problems attracted considerable interest from the critics after the screening of the film at the Fajr Film Festival. Baran Kosari and Hootan Shakiba played the supporting roles in Unpopular.^[21]

The movie's public screening has been postponed indefinitely due to COVID-19 restrictions.

See also

• Cinema of Iran
• Fajr International Film Festival

References

External links

• Soheil Beiraghi at IMDb