Bahman Farmanara was born in Tehran, Iran, in 1942. The only child of five to not enter the family textile business, he instead chose to study in the United States, graduating from University of Southern California. His first role as director came with The House of Ghamar Khanum (1972) before he took on the job of writer, director and producer of Prince Ehtejab (1974). After producing Abbas Kiarostami’s first work, The Report (1977) and other films by significant Iranian directors, Farmanara moved to Canada when his film The Tall Shadows of the Wind (1977) was banned despite screening at the Cannes Film Festival. He also worked in America, helping bring Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and Stephen Frears’ The Grifters (1990) to the big screen. Returning to Iran in 1991, he endured a ten-year ban from filmmaking. Tale of the Sea, which he also directed, wrote and produced, is just his third performance in a distinguished career spanning close to 50 years.
The Asia Pacific Screen Academy expresses its respect for and acknowledgement of the South East Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We pay our respects to the Traditional Owners of country, including the custodial communities on whose land works are created and celebrated by the Asia Pacific Screen Awards. We acknowledge the continuing connection to land, waters and communities. We also pay our respects to Elders, past and present. We recognise the integral role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and First Nations peoples continue to play in storytelling and celebration spaces.
