Quick Info
| Profession | Film director, screenwriter and film editor |
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| Nationality | Iranian |
| Date of Birth | 11/07/1960 |
| Age | 66 years |
| Birthplace | Mianeh, Iran |
| Zodiac Sign | Cancer |
Latest News about Jafar Panahi
28/10/2026
A Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced Jafar Panahi in absentia to five years and one month in prison, with the ruling also ordering the confiscation of his assets. His lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said the case was heard while Panahi was in Iran, and the sentence came on top of a separate one-year prison term upheld earlier in 2026. The ruling also reportedly included a travel and social media ban.
30/03/2026
Panahi returned to Iran at the end of March 2026, shortly after attending the 98th Academy Awards, where It Was Just an Accident was nominated for Best International Feature Film. His return came after he had been living abroad for promotion of the film and its festival appearances.
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Bio/Wiki
| Summary | Iranian filmmaker commonly associated with the Iranian New Wave, known for humanistic films about children, the poor and women, many of which were banned in Iran. He is also known for works that reflect on his own limits as an artist under state surveillance, such as This Is Not a Film, Closed Curtain, Taxi and No Bears. |
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| Early life | Served in the army during the Iran-Iraq War and then studied film in Tehran. |
Educational Qualification(s)
| Film training | Studied film at the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in Tehran, and later at the College of Cinema and Television in Tehran. |
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Personal Life
| Legal issues | Sentenced in 2010 to six years in prison and a 20-year ban on directing films, and was jailed again in 2022-23. In 2026 a Tehran Revolutionary Court sentenced him in absentia to five years and one month in prison. |
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| Political stance | Associated with the political opposition after the 2009 unrest in Iran. |
| Spouse | Tahere Saeedi (m. 1983) |
Relationships & More
| Mentor | Abbas Kiarostami, for whom he worked as assistant director on Through the Olive Trees (1994). |
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Family
| Children | Panah Panahi |
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Career
| Feature debut | The White Balloon (1995), which won the Caméra d'Or at Cannes. |
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| Notable films |
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| Awards |
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| Film ban | Banned from filmmaking by the Iranian government since 2010. |
Style Quotient
| Approach | Uses non-professional actors, real locations and episodic narratives, with influence from postwar Italian cinema. |
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Some Lesser Known Facts
| 1. Made his first feature The White Balloon clandestinely in his Tehran apartment and smuggled the footage out of Iran. | |
| 2. Was captured by Kurdish rebels in 1981 and held for 76 days. | |
| 3. Made This Is Not a Film (2011) as a video diary while awaiting an appeal. |
