Soran Mardookhi is an independent filmmaker from Iran. He was born on September 21, 1979 in the City of Sanandaj, Kurdistan. Throughout high school, his deep love and passion for the colourful world of cinema drove him to take full advantage of the limited resources available to him in his hometown at the time. In his early twenties, he became active in a number of local theatre groups as well as in the Sanandaj Chapter of the Iranian Young Cinema Society where he pursued photography and filmmaking. During this period, he wrote, produced and directed a number of short films using the family camera.

During his undergraduate career at Soureh Institute of Higher Education, he made three short films and devoted much time and energy to cinematography and editing in many student film projects. Moreover, he opened the Isfahan Chapter of the Iranian Young Cinema Society. As Chapter president, he directed the Isfahan Baran Film Festival and numerous discussion groups and film critique seminars. In 2004, he embarked on making his first feature film about the Kurdish minority in Iran in an attempt to help raise public consciousness about his people’s beliefs, issues and concerns. He graduated with a BFA in film directing in January 2006. 2007 proved a fruitful year for this filmmaker. His feature film And Thus I Was Born (2007) was selected to be screened at the 5th London Kurdish Film Festival as well as in the Gulf Film Fesetival of Dubai, UAE. He also took part in Abbas Kiarostami’s Filmmaking Workshop Series where he directed his latest short film Tehran 318 (2007) which has made it to two domestic and three international film festivals to date. As a professional film director and cinemotagrapher, he continues to play an active role in the world of cinema.

Filmography



Past Projects:

2007 – Tehran 318, Independent Short (5’). Credits: Director, Producer, Screenwriter, Director of Photography, Editor.
• Selected to be screened at the 4th Shoot Me Film Festival 2008, Holland.
• Screened at the Short Film Section of the 5th London Kurdish Film Festival, UK.
• Screened at the 8th Annual Celebration of Iranian Cinema at UCLA, USA.
• Screened at the 24th National and 12th International Tehran Short Film Festival, Iran.
• Screened at the 4th Tasvir Honarmand Festival, Tehran, Iran.

2007 – And thus I Was Born, Independent Feature (74’). Credits: Director, Co-producer, Screenwriter, Director of Photography, Editor.
• Screened at the Gulf Film Festival, Dubai, UAE.
• Limited screening in the Iraqi Kurdistan (2007).
• Screened at the 5th London Kurdish Film Festival, UK.

2003 – Water, Independent Short (10’). Credits: Co-director, Director of Photography, Editor

2002 – The Second Soccer Goal-Post, Independent Short (10’). Credits: Co-Director, Director of Photography, Editor.

2001 – My Closed Frame, Independent Short (15’). Credits: Director, Screenwriter, Director of Photography.
• Screened at the 2nd film festival of Soureh Institute of Higher Education, Isfahan, Iran
• Screened at the 1st Berlin Kurdish Film Festival, Berlin, Germany