Amir Naderi is a highly influential figure in 20th century Persian cinema, whose journey into the world of filmmaking began with a passion for cinema, developed through a combination of watching films at the theater where he worked as a young boy, reading film criticism, and forming relationships with prominent film critics.
As a young man, Amir Naderi started his career in the film industry by working as a still photographer for several notable Iranian feature films. However, it was in the 1970s that he made the transition to directing, and went on to create some of the most important and influential films of the New Iranian Cinema.
Amir Naderi's directorial debut, GOODBYE, FRIEND, was released in Iran in 1971, and marked the beginning of a long and successful career that would take him to the international spotlight. His films, including THE RUNNER (1985) and WATER, WIND, DUST (1989),are now considered classics of world cinema, with THE RUNNER being hailed by many critics as one of the most influential films of the past quarter century.
After relocating to New York in the early 1990s, Amir Naderi continued to produce new work, and was named a Rockefeller Film and Video Fellow in 1997. He has also served as an artist in residence and instructor at several prestigious institutions, including Columbia University, the University of Las Vegas, and New York's School of Visual Arts.
Amir Naderi's US films have premiered at several major film festivals, including the Film Society of Lincoln Center/ MoMA's New Directors/ New Films series, the Venice, Cannes, Tribeca, and Sundance Film Festivals. His film SOUND BARRIER (2005) won the prestigious Roberto Rossellini Prize at the Rome Film Festival, while his last feature film VEGAS: BASED ON A TRUE STORY (2008) was in competition at the Venice Film Festival, where it won the CinemAvvenire Best Film in Competition Prize and the SIGNIS Award.
VEGAS: BASED ON A TRUE STORY was also shown at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York, the Pusan International Film Festival, and CineVegas in Las Vegas, and was part of the FILMeX Film Festival in Tokyo, which also featured his other two films, MARATHON and SOUND BARRIER.
