Summary of Bahman Farmanara

            Bahman Farmanara was born on Jan.23, 1942 in Tehran. The family business was textile and Bahman Farmanara was the only son who did not join the business and was interested in arts and cinema. At age sixteen, he went to England and later to US to study acting and directing. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a BA in Cinema in 1966. After returning to Iran and doing military service, he joined the Iranian National Television. He made two short documentaries in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1969, he directed his first film, and 1974 he produced his second film Prince Ehtjab. His second film also won the Grand Prix for the Best Film from Iran Film Festival among Beiza’i’s The Stranger and the Fog, Kimiaya’i’s The Deer. This film has shown several occasions. It was shown at Cannes Directors Fortnight and was at London Film Festival. This film was a success for him. The film had some weight cut off before it could be released. They cut about nine minute from the film because it was confrontational, religiously and politically. Bahman Farmanara accepted to be the Head of Film Development Company of Iran own by Dr. Bushehri the husband of Princess Ashraf. During his time working for this company, he produced Abbas Kiarostami first feature film The repot. He also produced The Crow, by Beyzaii,  The Divine One, by Haritash, and Wind and Chess By Mohamad Reza Aslani and Desert of Tartars, by Valrio Zurlini. After Bahman Farmanara called it quits at the Film Development Company of Iran, he was punished. However, he didn’t stop producing films. After, quitting he released The Night Never Ends. It was an all time money maker in Iranian film history, and Tall Shadows of the Wind which he also directed. The film was seized and banned before its completion. Nonetheless, a year and half after the revolution the film got a permit and five stars rated. But not too long after, the film was banned by the Committee for the Prevention of Sin. After the second confrontation, enough is enough and Bahman Farmanara decided to leave Iran with his wife and three kids for Canada. After two years, he also created a film distribution company. He bought Andrej Wajda’s “Man Of  Iron” for one hundred thousand dollars,   which won the Grand Prix at Canned Film Festival four days after the purchase. Due to its success, led to find investors in Toronto to start another company called Spectra Film; it had two offices located in Toronto and New York. Furthermore, it was the first Canadian film company to have offices in New York. In 1985, Bahman Farmanara sued the company after he went back to Iran to help his sick mother undo some changes that were being mad behind his back. Because of his success in the film business, Bahman Farmanara was requested to join Cineplex Odeon Cinema Chain; moreover, he went to Los Angeles to set up a production and distribution division for the chain. They produced The Glass Menagerie with Paul Newman, Talk Radio with Oliver Stone, Madame Sousatzka with John Schlesinger, The Last Temptation of Christ with Martin Scorsese, Mr. and Mrs. Bridge by James Ivory, The Grifters by Stephen Frears, and Prancer by John Hancock. Bahman Farmanara was one of the four Senior Executive Vice President of the company. Moreover, he was able to start his own production company called Open City Entertainment. Unfortunately, he had to go back to Iran to help his brother who had had a heart-attack to run the family textile company and became CEO of the company. 

Written by student: Donald