MOKHTAR NAMDAR
namdarmokhtar@gmail.com
Filmmaker - Director of Photography - Film Editor - Photographer
Mokhtar Namdar, born in 1981, is an award-winning filmmaker from Iran. Born and raised in Tehran, he is dedicated to socially conscious documentary filmmaking. Mokhtar Namdar gained his first professional experience as a filmmaker during his mandatory military service working as a cameraman and editor for Iran’s Army Television. He enrolled at the Iran Broadcasting University, but soon found the film program limiting and spent the next seven years assisting directors and cinematographers.
His first documentary film – The Story of Gil and Galesh – won multiple awards across Iran. He has since directed ten more documentaries. A House in Fog was screened at international film festivals – including Hot Docs and DokFilm – and won multiple awards in Germany, Canada, Portugal, Romania, Hungary, Afghanistan, Czech Republic, Serbia, and Russia. He has recently finished three documentary films. Rupture focuses on one man’s attempt to start a new life after losing almost all family members in a devastating earthquake in Kermanshah. A little death is needed for life accompanies a family in Northern Iran that struggles with cancer and drug addiction. Shirud takes a look at a polluted river, its damaging consequences for the entire ecosystem of Northern Iran and for the local fishing industry, while revealing the network of corruption that perpetuates this situation. His current project revolves around a young woman’s struggle to establish an independent women’s theatre company in Iran.
Since 2020, Mokhtar Namdar is based in Hamburg (Germany).
Freelance Filmmaker
Social Documentary
Rupture (42min, 2021)
Shirud (75min, 2020)
Where the sun shines vertically(62min, 2020)
A Little Death is Needed for Life (27min, 2019)
The Culture Means (57min, 2018)
The Rule of the Jungle (40min, 2015)
Hemmat Days (30min, 2014)
Farhad narrated by Aeesh (30min, 2013)
A House in Fog (22min, 2013)
The Story of Gil and Galesh (30min, 2009)
Photo Exhibition
Decopho – Exhibition of Decorative PhotosMaks Gallery, Tehran, 2018
Prizes, Awards, Nominations
A House in Fog
Special Prize of Jury and Best Film at International Festival of National and Ethnic Cinema (Russia), 2016
Grand Prize at Do Pão Festival (Portugal), 2016
Grand Prize at Sarm Documentary Film Festival (Serbia), 2015
Nomination for Best Film and Best Director at Khaneh Cinema (Iran), 2014
Special Prize of Jury at Hasanat Film Festival of Isfahan, 2013
Best Cinematography and Nomination for Best Research and Best Film at the Iranian Television Films Festival, 2012
The Rule of the Jungle
Nomination for Best Film at Documentary Film Festival of Iranian Television’s Documentary Channel, 2018
The Story of Gil and Galesh
Best Documentary at the Apple Film Festival (Iran) 2011
Budget Award at Intern. Haghighat Cinema Festival, 2010
Screenings at Festivals
The Culture Means
International Haghighat Cinema Festival (Iran), 2017
Calcutta International Film Festival (India) 2019
The Rule of the Jungle
Exground Filmfest (Germany), 2016
A House in Fog
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, 2015
Fourth Iranian Film Festival (Czech Republic), 2015
Third Afghanistan International Women’s Film Festival, 2015
Sarm Film Festival (Serbia), 2015
ALTER-NATIVE Intern. Short Film Festival (Romania), 2015
Intern. Festival of National and Ethnic Cinema (Russia), 2015
Kazan International Film Fest (Russia), 2015
DOK Film Festival (Germany), 2014
Khaneh Cinema (Iran), 2014
International Haghighat Cinema Festival (Iran), 2012
he Story of Gil and Galesh
Khaneh Cinema (Iran), 2010
International Haghighat Cinema Festival (Iran), 2009
Andere Screenings
The Rule of the Jungle
Social Justice Film Series, American University in Cairo, 2019
Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, 2019, followed by Q&A
Assistant Director/ Filmmaker
(selection)
Wind and Fog (2009, dir. Mohammad Ali Talebi)
Quiet Street (2010, dir. Kamal Tabrizi)
Saturday Report (2013, dir. Ali Mohammad Ghasemi), winner of Best Film at Avini Festival, Iran
Dogs and Fools (2017, dir. Ali Mohammad Ghasemi), winner of Best Director at 11th Annual Iranian Film Festival San Francisco
Production Manager
(selection)
Saturday Report (2013), dir. Ali Mohammad Ghasemi
Rooster (2007), dir. Ida Panahandeh, winner of Best Short Film at Tehran International Short Film Festival
Director of Photography
(selection)
The Culture Means
(2018, dir. Mokhtar Namdar)
Karun Dam 3 (2015, dir. Majid Afzali)
Hemmat Days (2014, dir. Mokhtar Namdar)
The Summer Wild River (2013, dir. Marjan Kabevafa)
Dream Job (2013, dir. Ali Khosravi)
Waterdrop turns into Sea (2011, dir. Mohamad Kouroshnia)
Euphrate Riverside (2011, dir. Yousef Bachari)
Film Editor
(selection)
Girls Who Love Their Fathers (2013, dir. Farhad Soraya)
Third Office Personnel (2018, dir. Iman Goodarzi)
Beyond the Stone of Existence (2018, dir. Zahra Khatibi)
Professional Affiliations
Tehran Documentary Film Directors Association Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association