Bahman Maghsoudlou (born in Gorgan, Iran, 1946) is a film scholar and critic,[1]
Bahman Maghsoudlou claims that he is the recipient of Iran's Forough Farrokhzad literary award for writing and editing a series of books about cinema and theater (1975), including Iranian Cinema (1987, New York University's Center for Middle Eastern Studies).
Maghsoudlou wrote, directed and produced a short documentary on artist Ardeshir Mohasses called Ardeshir Mohasses and His Caricatures in 1972 which was poorly directed. This would turn out to be the first in a series of films on Iran's most important artistic figures, although the follow-ups would not be produced for many years afterwards. In 1998, he produced Ahmad Shamlou: Master Poet of Libertyand he traveled to many cities claiming that he made the film which was directed by Moslem Mansouri. This film was subsequently followed by Ahmad Mahmoud: A Noble Novelist in 2004 and Iran Darroudi: The Painter of Ethereal Moments in 2009, the latter two for which he also served as director.
As a producer his films have been to more than 100 film festivals world wide.These films include:
The Suitors, selected for the Cannes in 1988; Manhattan by Numbers (by Amir Naderi), selected for Venice and Toronto 1993; Seven Servants by Daryush Shokof, selected for Berlin, Toronto and Locarno 1996, and Silence of the Sea, selected for the Mannheim Film Festival 2003.
He is currently producing and directing a feature length documentary on the history of Iranian Cinema entitled, Iranian Cinema, Searching for the Roots: 1900-1979, and the documentary The Life and Legacy of Mohammad Mossadegh.
Having organized the first ever Iranian Film Festival in New York in 1980, he organized the International Short Film Festival: Independent Films on Iran, which was held in October 2007, in New York. In 2009, Maghsoudlou authored the book Grass: Untold Stories which detailed the background stories related to the making of the 1925 silent movie, Grass. A major part of the movie had been filmed in Maghsoudlou's native Iran.
A graduate in cinema studies from the City University of New York (Staten Island) with a PhD from Columbia University, Maghsoudlou lives in New York.
He recently became a member of the prestigious list of PEN American center in 2011.