Dariush Arjmand

Dariush Arjmand was born in Mashhad, Iran, to a military father and a housewife mother. He grew up in Mashhad and started performing in plays at the age of 12. At the age of 26, he started working for the Ministry of Art and Culture. In the meantime, he earned his Bachelors in History and Sociology from Mashhad University in 1972 and his Masters in Theater and Cinema from the University of Paris in 1974. It is said that he studied under famed professor, Ali Shariati, while a student at Mashhad University. He was one of the founders of Mashhad's Open Cinema in the late 60s and started his film career as a writer and director of 8mm films of which "Hiss!" (Shhh!) is most notable. In 1983, he made his first 16mm film called, "Said, Come Under My Rule." After many years of performing in theater, he started his film acting career by appearing in Naser Taghvai's Captain Khorshid (1987) as the title character for which he was awarded the Crystal Simorgh for Best Actor in a Leading Role from Tehran's 5th Fajr International Film Festival. A few years later, he received nominations for the Crystal Simorgh from the 8th Fajr Film Festival for his performance as Harmas in The Searcher (1989). He has played different roles ever since, including legendary historical figures such as Amir Kabir (beloved Prime Minister of Iran from the mid 1800s) in Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Once Upon a Time, Cinema (1992) (Naser al-Din Shah, the Cinema Actor) Malek-e Ashtar (or Malik Al-Ashtar, one of the most loyal companions of Ali Ibn Abi Talib) and Abdol-Azim (a companion of Muhammad al-Taqi) in Davood Mir-Bagheri's Imam Ali (1997) and Traveller of Rey (2001) (Traveler to Rey) respectively, and Captain Soleiman (Iranian captain who created the maritime Silk Road) in The Maritime Silk Road (2011). He has also played many contemporary characters, mostly traditional Iranian men, although he made these characters of a similar social class different with his insightful performances. His performance as Esi Khan in Davood Mir-Bagheri's Snowman (1995) (Snowman) and Amir in Masud Kimiai's Protest (2000) is well praised and remembered. In 2000, he went back to his theater roots and played the main role in "Dandoon Tala" (The Golden Teeth) with his son, Amir Yal, as a father and son. The play marked his forth collaboration with director Davood Mir-Bagheri and became the highest grossing play in the history of Iranian theater. The same year, Fajr Film Festival named the festival in his honor with the slogan, "A man for all seasons" on its posters. Respectfully, he received a lifetime achievement award from the festival that year and received nomination for the Best Actor in a Lead Role for his memorable performance in Protest (2000). A year later, he won the Crystal Symorgh for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his short but powerful appearance in the role of Haji Naghdi in Bahram Beizai's Killing Mad Dogs (2001) from the 19th Fajr Film Festival. He also received awards and nomination from Iran's House of Cinema (guild for cinema professionals) and Writers and Critics Choice Award for his performance in "Protest" and "Killing Mad Dogs." He is truly one of the most accomplished and well respected Iranian actors with a glowing body of work. He has worked with some of the best Iranian directors such as Masud Kimiai, Naser Taghvai, Bahram Beizai, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Muhammad Bozorgnia, and Davood Mir-Bagheri. He has also worked as an art director and a TV host.