Author: Bijan Tehrani

Darryl Macdonald is Executive Director of the Palm Springs International Film Society, which produces both the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films. He is the co-founder of and has been the Executive and Artistic Director of The Seattle International Film Festival since its inception in 1975, where he served in that capacity until assuming the position of Executive Director of the Palm Springs International Film Society in October of 2003. Simultaneously, he served as the Artistic Director of the Palm Springs Film Festival (1989 -1993), the Hamptons Film Festival (1993 -1996) and…

Marjane Satrapi was born in 1969. She grew up in Tehran where she attended the Lycée Français (French high school). She then studied in Vienna before she relocated to France in 1994. In Paris, through fellow comic book artists, she was introduced into the Atelier des Vosges, an artist studio which gathered major, contemporary comic book artists. In her first graphic novel, Persepolis 1, published by L’Association in November 2000, Marjane told the story of the first ten years of her life until the overthrow of the Shah regime and the outbreak of the Iraq-Iran war. In Persepolis, published in…

Vladek Juszkiewicz was born in Glogow, Poland. He graduated from the Szczecin Technical University with a degree in Engineering. While attending the University he became a member of The Szczecin Technical University Choir, serving as a President and manager of the group. His travels with the choir took him to Cuba, Canada, India, France, England, Ireland, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Thailand, Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, The Philippines and United States where he visited the White House.When he moved to Warsaw he became the manager of the Polish international star singer Maryla Rodowicz. After immigrating to the United States he…

Diarah N’Daw-Spech was born and educated in France where she studied Spanish in high school and English at the university. Mrs. Spech has developed a 15-year long career as an educational administrator in the USA and is currently the Financial Director for the Center for Educational Outreach and Innovations at Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds a BA in economics from SUNY Albany and a MBA from Columbia University in Management and Marketing. In 1993, Mrs. Spech created with her husband the African Diaspora Film Festival (ADFF – www.NYADFF.org). The mission of ADFF is to expand the traditional views and…

Guy Moshe is an up and coming writer-director who has established himself as a fresh new face in Hollywood, Moshe has written for Bergman Lustig Productions, Millennium Films and others. His short films were featured at several international film festivals. HOLLY marks his feature directorial debut. He is currently working on a samurai action film titled BUNRAKU.Shot on location in Cambodia, including many scenes in actual brothels in the notorious red light district of Phnom Penh, HOLLY is a captivating, touching and emotional experience.Patrick (Ron Livingston), an American card shark and dealer of stolen artifacts, has been ‘comfortably numb’ in…

Two interlaced stories about hero worship and fatherhood echo one another in Nigerian/UK filmmaker Kevin Aduaka’s striking debut ELVIS PELVIS. Elvis Pelvis is a story told in two parts; “THE SUIT” tells of a family living in London in the early 80s and the effects of the legacy of Elvis Presley on them. Ten-year-old Elvis lives under the tyranny of his father Tony—a stern policeman who is obsessed with the legacy of Elvis Presley. Elvis’s walls, in contrast, are covered with a shrine to Jimi Hendrix. “THE MESSIAH” takes place 17 years later and tells of Derek, a disturbed recluse…

Born in 1972 in Chihuahua, Mexico. Between 1991 and 1996 Aaron Fernandez studied in Paris, France where he obtained a Master’s degree in cinematographic and audiovisual studies, specializing in directing and screen writing.Partes usadas (Used Parts) (2007)Corrido callejero (Rambling Ballad) (2005) – ShortCircuito interior (Inner Circuit) (2000) – ShortArgent liquide (Easy Money) (1997) – ShortLe partage des eaux (The Sharing of the Waters ) (1995) – ShortUsed parts is the story of the life of Ivan, a 14-year old boy, that lives with his uncle Jaime, a mediocre dealer of used car parts. Both of them dream with a better…

Born and raised in the United States, Ramin Bahrani studied film at Columbia University in New York City before moving to his parents’ homeland of Iran, where he lived for three years. After spending time in Paris, he eventually returned to the United States to begin work on his first feature film, MAN PUSH CART (2005). The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival (2005) and was selected for the Sundance Film Festival (2006) before being released theatrically to critical acclaim. His second feature film, CHOP SHOP (2007) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and screened next at The Toronto…

The sight of a dark-suited municipal employee doling out parking violations stirs a primal hate in all but the most enlightened souls. And the heroine of EXPIRED, the meter maid Claire, knows it. The film revolves around Claire, a kind soul who resents having to enforce the law at all times, and Jay, an angry Traffic Officer who loves his job, it being the perfect outlet for his anger and frustrations. Coming both from a place of despair and loneliness, Claire and Jay meet and engage in a tumultuous and twisted relationship, which will eventually teach them that love can…

Christian Gaines was born in Brussels, Belgium to American parents and educated in British boarding schools until he came to the United States in 1984 to attend Vassar College, where he earned a B.A. in English.In 1988, Christian helped to start The American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival, a communication and hospitality center for the American film community attending the Cannes Film Festival. In 1990, he went to work for the Hawaii International Film Festival as Administrator, and then served as Film Coordinator and Film Programmer in Hawaii from 1992 until 1994, dividing his time between Honolulu, Los Angeles…