Real name: Mohammad Reza Aslani

Effective period / Period of releases: 2024

Mohammad Reza Aslani, born in Rasht in 1943, delved into the world of art from his childhood. He pursued his studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Tehran, where he aligned himself with a group of artists advocating avant-gardism and critiquing conventional, conformist, and populist works. Embracing this artistic vision, Aslani published poetry collections from the age of nineteen, becoming a protagonist of the Contemporary Poetry movement known as The Now Poem (Sher-e Aknoun). Later, he decided to enroll in the National School of Cinema. In 1966, he realized his first experimental short film, "Hassanlou Cup," showcasing a cinematic language distinctly his own. Until 1975, Mohammad Reza Aslani distinguished himself as a screenplay writer for auteur films. Concurrently, he continued to create other documentary and fiction short films, establishing a reputation as an auteur filmmaker. His cinema faced criticism for deviating from the aesthetics of commercial and social Iranian cinema. Aslani directed only one comedy in his career, "Therefore Hangs a Tale," a masterpiece infused with the spirit of American silent comedies, particularly those of Buster Keaton.