Nahid Persson
Encyclopedia
Nahid Persson Sarvestani (born 1960 in Shiraz
, Iran
) is an award-winning Iranian-Swedish filmmaker and director.
Her most famous documentary films are Prostitution Behind the Veil, My Mother - A Persian Princess, The End of Exile, and The Last Days of Life. In 2007, after having been arrested and briefly imprisoned by the authorities in Iran for allegedly having shamed her native country with her documentary on two prostitutes in Tehran, she completed the documentary Four Wives - One Man under difficult and dangerous conditions. The film which portrays a polygamous family south of Shiraz, was smuggled out of Iran and finally edited in Sweden. As of November 2008, Persson Sarvestani recently finished the production of The Queen and I, a 90-minute documentary in which the director's year-long, complex relationship with the Iranian former Empress Farah Pahlavi
is examined. The film had its North American premiere at Sundance Film Festival
in 2009 and is under worldwide release in conjunction with the 30-year anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in 2009.
Persson Sarvestani has received several awards for her films. The Last Days of Life received the Swedish Cancer Foundation's (Cancerfondens) Journalist Prize in 2002. The film Prostitution Behind The Veil, a controversial and painfully revealing account of the lives of two prostitutes in Tehran
, received an International Emmy nomination, as well as the Golden Dragon at the Krakow Film Festival, Best International News Documentary at the TV-festival 2005 in Monte Carlo, as well as The Crystal Award (Kristallen) by SVT (Swedish State Television) and the Golden Scarab (Guldbaggen) by the Swedish Film Institute in 2005.
Persson Sarvestani also shares TCO's (Tjänstemännens Centralorganisation) 2005 Cultural Prize with the author Marjaneh Bakhtiari.
for her consistent choice of themes critical of Islam in nearly all her documentaries dealing with Iranian themes. Golbarg Bashi has also criticized Persson for portraying vulnerable people in her films, especially women and children, for commercial gains.
Shiraz
Shiraz may refer to:* Shiraz, Iran, a city in Iran* Shiraz County, an administrative subdivision of Iran* Vosketap, Armenia, formerly called ShirazPeople:* Hovhannes Shiraz, Armenian poet* Ara Shiraz, Armenian sculptor...
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
) is an award-winning Iranian-Swedish filmmaker and director.
Her most famous documentary films are Prostitution Behind the Veil, My Mother - A Persian Princess, The End of Exile, and The Last Days of Life. In 2007, after having been arrested and briefly imprisoned by the authorities in Iran for allegedly having shamed her native country with her documentary on two prostitutes in Tehran, she completed the documentary Four Wives - One Man under difficult and dangerous conditions. The film which portrays a polygamous family south of Shiraz, was smuggled out of Iran and finally edited in Sweden. As of November 2008, Persson Sarvestani recently finished the production of The Queen and I, a 90-minute documentary in which the director's year-long, complex relationship with the Iranian former Empress Farah Pahlavi
Farah Pahlavi
Farah Pahlavi is the former Queen and Empress of Iran. She is the widow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran, and only Empress of modern Iran...
is examined. The film had its North American premiere at Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in 2009 and is under worldwide release in conjunction with the 30-year anniversary of the Islamic Revolution in 2009.
Persson Sarvestani has received several awards for her films. The Last Days of Life received the Swedish Cancer Foundation's (Cancerfondens) Journalist Prize in 2002. The film Prostitution Behind The Veil, a controversial and painfully revealing account of the lives of two prostitutes in Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
, received an International Emmy nomination, as well as the Golden Dragon at the Krakow Film Festival, Best International News Documentary at the TV-festival 2005 in Monte Carlo, as well as The Crystal Award (Kristallen) by SVT (Swedish State Television) and the Golden Scarab (Guldbaggen) by the Swedish Film Institute in 2005.
Persson Sarvestani also shares TCO's (Tjänstemännens Centralorganisation) 2005 Cultural Prize with the author Marjaneh Bakhtiari.
Criticism
Persson Sarvestani has been criticized by Iranian-Swedish feminist scholar Golbarg BashiGolbarg Bashi
Golbarg Bashi , born in Ahvaz, Iran, is an Iranian-Swedish feminist professor of Iranian Studies at Rutgers University in the US. Among other topics, Bashi has published works and given talks about human rights in the Middle East and the situation of women in Iran.-Biography:Golbarg Bashi was born...
for her consistent choice of themes critical of Islam in nearly all her documentaries dealing with Iranian themes. Golbarg Bashi has also criticized Persson for portraying vulnerable people in her films, especially women and children, for commercial gains.