Mahmoud Ghaffari
Mahmoud Ghaffari makes feature films and documentaries and was born in Tehran in 1976. Initially, he worked for Iranian television and produced series, including one about love and one about gambling. He then worked with various directors such as Bahman Ghobadi and Asghar Fahradi before making his first feature film, It's a Dream, in 2012. The feature film, which won an award at the Fribourg Film Festival, tells the story of a young woman who tries to get rid of a large monetary debt but faces considerable difficulties in a society where social and gender inequalities are inextricably intertwined.
In 2016, Mahmoud Ghaffari was again awarded at the FIFF, this time for Hair, a feature film based on true events that follows three mute Iranian teenage athletes who qualify for the World Karate Championships. Subsequently, the filmmaker shot No. 17 Soheila (2017), the story of a 40-year-old woman desperate to find a husband in a patriarchal and religious world that prevents her from doing so. In parallel to The Apple Day, which was selected for the Berlinale 2022 among others, he made Doggy Love, a documentary about the fate of the many stray dogs in Iran and how a couple tries to help them.
Filmography
2022 THE APPLE DAY
2017 NO. 17 SOHEILA
2016 HAIR
2012 IT'S A DREAM
The Apple Day (2022)
A first-grade primary school teacher in a poor suburb of Tehran assigns a letter to each student and asks them to bring items starting with an assigned letter, related to their fathers' jobs. Mehdi's father is a fruit seller and he must bring 30 apples («Seeb» in Farsi) to class on the «S» Day. However, an unfortunate event immerses the family in a crisis. Saeed, Mehdi's older brother, should find a way to overcome this challenge and help Mehdi for «the apple day». More
