Mani Haghighi
Mani Haghighi was born in Tehran in 1969. He studied Philosophy in Montreal for several years before returning to his home country and making his first feature film in 2003 (Abadan). His second film Men at Work was shown at the Berlinale in the Forum of Young Cinema. With Modest Reception (available in the trigon-film collection) he won the NETPAC Award as Best Asian Film in Berlin. His comedy 50 Kilos of Sour Cherries became the third most successful movie in Iranian cinemas in 2016 but was banned due to a religious intervention. He played in several of his own movies as well as in movies by other directors, such as Asghar Farhadi (About Elly, 2009). He has also written screenplays for other Iranian directors, including Fireworks Wednesday (also Asghar Farhadi, 2006). A Dragon Arrives! was the first of his films to be selected for competition at the Berlinale. 2018 he entered the competition in Berlin again with his feature film Khook - Pig. Subtraction was presented at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2022.
Filmography
2022 SUBTRACTION
2018 KHOOK – PIG
2016 A DRAGON ARRIVES!
2015 50 Kilo Albaloo
2012 MODEST RECEPTION
2010 MEHRJUI: KARNAMEYE CHEHEL SAALEH (MEHRJUI: 40 YEAR REPORT)
2009 HAMOONBAZHA (HAMOON’S FANS)
2008 CANAAN
2006 KARGARAN MASHGHOOLE KARAND (MEN AT WORK)
2003 ABADAN
2002 MANDAN (TO STAY)
Subtraction (2022)
In downtown Tehran, Farzaneh, a young driving instructor, spots her husband, Jalal, walking into a woman’s apartment. When she confronts him, Jalal claims he was out of town for work. He decides to check out the building for himself. There, he meets a woman who is the spitting image of Farzaneh. Her name is Bita. Stunned, the two compare family photos: Bita’s husband also looks identical to Jalal. BONUS: Q&A at the Toronto Filmfestival More
Khook (2018)
Hasan is full of rage. He's been blacklisted and hasn't been allowed to make a film in years. His star, a woman he adores, is impatient and wants to work with other directors. His wife seems to have fallen out of love with him, and his mother has become old and is slowly losing her mind. Worst of all, film directors across the city are being murdered one after the other, but the serial killer is inexplicably ignoring him. More
A Dragon Arrives! (2016)
An orange Chevrolet Impala drives across a cemetery towards an abandoned shipwreck in the middle of a desert landscape. It is the 22nd of January, 1965. The day before, the Iranian prime minister was shot dead in front of the parliament building. Inside the wreck, a banished political prisoner has hung himself. The walls are covered in diary entries, literary quotes and strange symbols. More
Modest Reception - Paziraie Sadeh (2012)
Leyla and Kaveh are the instruments of a cruel and bizarre game. The well-situated couple drive through the mountains distributing plastic bags full of money to every poor and unfortunate person they meet. At first everything goes according to plan as they disdainfully “share the joy” with their shocked “neighbors” while documenting the event via cellphone. They encounter those, however, who refuse the strange gift – and others who end up offending the irresponsible strangers. More
