Elnaz Shakerdoost

Elnaz Shakerdoost (Persian: الناز شاکردوست; born July 7, 1984) is an Iranian former actress. She studied at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Tehran while pursuing acting in theater. She received a nomination for the Crystal Simorgh for Best Actress at the Fajr Film Festival for her role in When the Wind Blows Through the Meadow in 2007 and won the Best Actress award at the Hafez Awards for her performance in Mubarak in 2016. Shakerdoost also won the Crystal Simorgh for Best Actress for her role in When the Moon Was Full in 2018 and was nominated for the same award for Pinto, both directed by Narges Abyar.

Early life Elnaz Shakerdoost was born on July 7, 1984, in Tehran, Iran. She is the second child in her family, with an older brother and a younger sister. From a young age, Shakerdoost showed an interest in acting, performing in school and university theater productions. In 1997, she won the Best Actress award at a student edition of the Fajr Festival. She ranked 11th in the national university entrance exam for the arts and enrolled in the Theater program at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Tehran.

Controversies Film Scandal

ElNaz Shakerdoost, in an open letter addressed to the media, wrote about her role as Afsaneh in the film Scandal: "I truly lived the role of Afsaneh, and my soul will forever remain tied to this character. My only solace is the hope that the conscience of my homeland, Iran, awakens in time. The reason I took on this role was to echo the sigh of a girl who, after the price of bread rose, turned away from God in anger, left the breadline, and was forced into a life of vice. No one asked what would become of a home left without bread."

Support for the LGBT Community

Following the reported killing of Ali Fazeli Monfared on 4 May 2021, Shakerdoost expressed support for the LGBT community on her Instagram account. She posted a photo of herself with rainbow-colored bangs, a symbol associated with the LGBT movement, accompanied by the following statement:

A few days later, following a warning from the Tehran Prosecutor's Office, Shakerdoost was compelled to delete the Instagram post. During this period, media outlets such as Fars News Agency and Mashregh News, which are affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, played a significant role in orchestrating campaigns aimed at discrediting Shakerdoost. These outlets referred to her with derogatory labels, such as a "celebrity promoting corruption."

Protest at the 2023 Fajr Film Festival

In February 2023, while attending a screening of the film Without Body at the Kourosh Cinema Complex during the Fajr Film Festival, Elnaz Shakerdoost took the stage minutes before the film's conclusion to voice criticism of the festival's organizers.

2025–2026 Iranian protests

On 2 February 2026, Shakerdoost announced her retirement from acting in protest of the government's response to the 2025–2026 Iranian protests. In 2026, Shakerdoost withdrew from the 44th Fajr Film Festival after her film Single Mum (Aram Bakhsh) was selected for the competition section. She declined to accept the Crystal Simorgh award and stated that her decision was made in protest against the killing of people by agents of the Islamic Republic. The film's writer and director Saeed Zamanian and composer Sohrab Pournazeri had previously announced their withdrawal from the festival.

Withdrawal from Acting In the aftermath of the killing of protesters during Iran’s 2025–2026 Iranian protests, she wrote on her Instagram: To live like this is harder than dying a thousand times. Referring to the Fajr Film Festival, she added: I will not take part in any celebration, nor will I ever again act on a land that smells of blood.

Filmography

Film

Short films

Web

Theatre

Awards and nominations