Granaz Moussavi

Granaz Moussavi (Persian : گراناز موسوی; born 1974) is an Iranian-Australian contemporary poet, film director, and screenwriter, based in Adelaide, South Australia. She is known for her avant-garde poetry in the 1990s. Her debut feature film My Tehran for Sale is an internationally-acclaimed Australian-Iranian co-production. Her second feature film, When Pomegranates Howl, was nominated for the 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards as the Best Youth Feature Film, and was selected as Australian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.

Early life and education Granaz Moussavi was born in Tehran in 1974. In 2002, she made her honours film, A Short Film About Colour, shot by Iranian cinematographer Firooz Malekzadeh. The short film earned Granaz the best director award from the university, and an honorary membership to the Australian Screen Directors Authorship Collecting Society (ASDAS).

After receiving an honours degree from Flinders University, Granaz was accepted into the Australian Film, Television and Radio School in Sydney. She graduated with a graduate diploma in film editing in 2006.

Much has been written about Granaz's poetry, including by some renowned Iranian writers and critics such as M. Azad, Jalil Doustkhah, Mohammad Rahim Okhovat, Shahrnoush Parsipour, and Ali Babachahi. Her poetry has been translated and published in French, English, Swedish, Spanish, Portuguese, and Kurdish.

Filmmaking Moussavi has made several short films and videos.

In 2006, being shortlisted in local, statewide, and across-the-country competitions, she won the Holding Redlich prize for her script pitch at the Screen Producers Association of Australia. Her prize was a sponsorship for her trip to Cannes Film Festival in 2007 to present her project idea in the film market.

Her first feature film My Tehran for Sale (tehran-e-man, haraj تهران من، حراج ), released in Australia in 2009, as well as screening at several other international film fesetivals. The film won the Independent Spirit Inside Film Award 2009, and the jury award for best feature Film at the TriMedia Film Festival in 2010. The film is banned in Iran.

Awards and recognition In 2004 a DEA thesis at Sorbonne University (Paris III) on Moussavi's poetry was lodged by Etienne Forget.

She was selected as a jury member for 60th International Filmfestival Mannheim-Heidelberg (Germany) 2011, as well as Independent Spirit IF Award 2010 (Australia).

Moussavi has won the following awards: Best Director Award, Flinders University, 2002 Jury Award for Best Feature Film at the TriMedia Film Festival, 2010

Filmography Feature films 2020: When Pomegranates Howl 2009: My Tehran for Sale, a feature film (as writer/director; produced by Cyan Films)

Short films and videos 2008 Into Pieces, a video art 2007 Rats Sleep at Night, a short drama 2006 1001 Nights, a documentary on Persian poetry in exile. 2005 Narrative Theatre Workshop, a 5-hour video, Producer: Relationships S.A. 2004 Just Tenants of the Earth, a 30-minute documentary on young refugees and migrants in Australia 2004 A Slice Of Tehran Girls, a 30-minute documentary on young girls in Tehran. 2002 A Short Film About Colour, a 10-minute short fiction, Honours production, Flinders University. 2002 An uncompleted documentary on Woomera Detention Centre 2000 A Letter to a Friend, an 8-minute documentary, University of South Australia 1999 The Restroom, an 8-minute doco-drama, Flinders University 1999 Smoke, a 27-second advertisement

As editor 2006 Love On Track, a 4 minutes drama, Director: Alison Heather. 2005 Karma, 3 minutes experimental short film, Director: Josh Tylor, AFTRS. 2005 Look Sharp, an 8 minutes drama, Director: Amy Gebhardt, AFTRS. Winner of Best student film at The International Melbourne Film Festival. 2005 Rock! I gave you the best years of my life, a 6 minutes documentary, Director: Mathew Walker, AFTRS 2003-2004 Turtles Can Fly, a feature film by Bahman Ghobadi, Tehran-Iran & Kurdistan-Iraq (on-set digital editing)

Selected publications

1997 Sketching On Night (Graffiti On Night) “ خط خطی روی شب ”, Tehran 2000 Barefoot Till Morning "پابرهنه تا صبح " was the winner of Karnameh’s best poetry book of the year award in 2001, Tehran

2006 Les Rescapes De La Patience, France 2011 Red Memory "حافظه قرمز", Australia 2012 Canto di Una Donna Senza Permesso, Italy