Majid Majidi (; born 17 April 1959) is an Iranian filmmaker and producer. His films often feature child or adolescent protagonists; explore themes such as childhood innocence, family bonds, poverty, social issues, and solidarity; and are characterized by a humanistic sensibility. His important films include Children of Heaven (1997), The Color of Paradise (1999), Baran (2001) and The Song of Sparrows (2008). Children of Heaven was nominated for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film. More recently, Majidi directed Muhammad: The Messenger of God (2015), an epic film dealing with the childhood of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, whose face is obscured and never shown onscreen.
Biography Born in a Persian middle-class family, he grew up in Tehran and at the age of 14 he started acting in amateur theater groups. He then studied at the Institute of Dramatic Arts in Tehran.
After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, his interest in cinema brought him to act in various films, most notably Mohsen Makhmalbaf's Boycott in 1985.
In 1997, Majidi directed Children of Heaven, which was nominated to receive the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Though it lost to the Italian film Life Is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni, Children of Heaven is the first Iranian film to have been nominated by the academy.
Majidi has directed several other feature films since Children of Heaven: The Color of Paradise in 2000, Baran in 2001, and The Willow Tree in 2005 (alternative English title One Life More). He also directed a feature-length documentary titled Barefoot to Herat which chronicles life in refugee camps and the city of Herat during and after the anti-Taliban offensive of 2001.
In 2008, Majidi's acclaimed film The Song of Sparrows was the opening film of the Visakhapatnam International Film Festival in India.
Majidi was one of five international film directors invited by the Beijing government to create a documentary short film to introduce the city of Beijing, in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics which was held in the Chinese capital; the project was titled "Vision Beijing".Vision Beijing website
Majidi pulled out of a Danish film festival in protest against the publication in Denmark of cartoons satirizing the Islamic prophet, Muhammad. He stated that he was withdrawing "to protest against insulting any religious belief or icon".
Majidi condemned the 2026 Israeli-American war of aggression against Iran and described it as "a battle between Good and Evil", where Israel "kills children" and Iran stands and resists "on behalf of all the oppressed and suffering people of the world", insisting that this war necessitates "the awakening and rising of free consciences around the world".
Filmography Feature Film Year English TitleOriginal Title Notes 1992 Baduk بدوکDebut feature 1996 The Father پدر 1997Children of Heavenبچههای آسمان1999The Color of Paradiseرنگ خدا2001Baranباران2005The Willow Treeبید مجنون2008The Song of Sparrowsآواز گنجشکها2015Muhammad: The Messenger of Godمحمد رسولالله2017Beyond the CloudsHindi language debut2020Sun Childrenخورشید2026Midday Mealغذای نیمروزPost-production
Shorts/documentaries Explosion (Enfejar) (1981) - documentary short Hoodaj (1984) - short Examination Day (Rooz-e Emtehan) (1988) - short A Day with POWs (Yek Rooz Ba Asiran) (1989) - documentary short The Last Village (Akhareen Abadi) (1993) - short God Will Come (Khoda Miayad) (1996) - short Barefoot to Herat (Pa berahneh ta Herat) (2002) - documentary Olympics in the Camp (Olympik Tu Urdugah) (2003) - documentary short Peace, Love, and Friendship (2007) - documentary short Vision of Beijing (2008) - short Rezae Rezvan (2007) - documentary Najva ashorai (2008) - documentary
Awards
Grand Prix Des Amériques, 21st Montreal Film Festival, 1997 Ecumenical Jury award, 21st Montreal Film Festival, 1997 Nominated for Academy Awards for Best Foreign Film, 1998 Grand Prix Des Amériques, 23rd Montreal Film Festival, 1999 Grand Prix Des Amériques, 25th Montreal Film Festival, 2001
References
Additional Sources:
Pak-Shiraz, N. (2024). Representing Muhammad: The Prophet on Screen. Material Religion, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/17432200.2024.2415155
External links