Babak Jalali


Babak Jalali is an Iranian film director and producer, notably directing Radio Dreams, for which he won the Hivos Tiger Award at the 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Early life

Jalali was born in Iran and grew up in London, and attended the London Film School.

Career

Directing

In 2006, Jalali was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film for his short "Heydar, an Afghan in Tehran."
Jalali's first feature film, the 2010 Frontier Blues, was developed with support from the Cannes Cinéfondation. Frontier Blues premiered in Locarno Festival Competition and also screened in the 2010 "New Directors" series at the Museum of Modern Art and Lincoln Center.
In 2016, Jalali's film Radio Dreams premiered at the 45th International Film Festival Rotterdam, winning for the Hivos Tiger Award, the festival's top honor.
Jalali's last feature Land is an Italian-French-Dutch co-production, supported by CNC, TorinoFilmLab, Eurimages, Mibac and Doha Film Institute among others. It premiered in Berlin International Film Festival.

Producing

Jalali has also produced films, including Italian director Duccio Chiarini’s Short Skin, which won support from the Venice Biennale College and premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2014; Israel-born, Berlin-based director Noaz Deshe's feature White Shadow; and Iranian director Ali Jaberansari's feature The Ladder, for which Jalali, Jaberansari and Chiarini won production support at the Sofia International Film Festival.