Mehdi Imani Shahmiri

Mehdi Imani Shahmiri (Persian: مهدی ایمانی شهمیری, born 3 April 1988) is an Iranian documentary filmmaker, producer, and screenwriter. He is known for directing Parizad and Born in Captivity.

In 2021, Shahmiri made the short documentary Parizad, which was nominated for the Dragon statue of the 62th Kraków Film Festival and received the Don Quixote Award of the International Federation of Film Societies (FICC).

In 2024 he directed Born in Captivity a documentary about the endangered Asiatic cheetah that followed the caesarean section and the birth of Pirouz, the famous cheetah cub among Iranians, for the first time.

Born in Captivity received a nomination for Best Documentary Feature at the Fajr International Film Festival and received the grand prize of the 17th Iran Documentary Film Festival - Cinema Verite. This film had the record number of nominations in the 17th edition of this festival.

Filmography

Documentary

Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryNominated workResult202117th Kazan International Festival of Muslim CinemaBest short documentaryParizad 202148th Festival of NationsBest documentaryParizad 202139th Asolo Art Film FestivalBest short film on artParizad 20218th Festival del cinema poveroBest documentaryParizad 202114th Cinéma VéritéBest director and editorParizad 202262nd Kraków Film FestivalDon Quixote AwardParizad 202236th Fribourg International Film FestivalSpecial mention Parizad 202219th Big Sky Documentary Film FestivalScreenParizadOfficial selection 202417th Cinéma VéritéBest directorBorn in Captivity