Ebrahim Golestan

Ebrahim Golestan (Taghavi Shirazi) (also spelt Ibrahim Golestan, Persian: ابراهیم گلستان), (born October 19, 1922) is an Iranian filmmaker and literary figure with a career spanning half a century. He has lived in Sussex, United Kingdom, since 1975.

Ebrahim Golestan
ابراهیم گلستان
Golestan in 1968
Born (1922-10-19) 19 October 1922
Shiraz, Iran
EducationUniversity of Tehran (unfinished)
OccupationWriter and director
Spouse(s)
Fakhri Golestan
(m. 1942; died 2012)
Partner(s)Forough Farrokhzad[1] (1960s–1966)
ChildrenLeili and Kaveh
Family
Wykehurst Place owned by Ebrahim Golestan

He was closely associated with the eminent Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad, whom he met in his studio in 1958, until her death. He is said to have inspired her to live more independently.[2] It could also be said that she inspired him in his artistic vision.

Personal life

Golestan was married to his cousin, Fakhri Golestan. He is the father of Iranian photojournalist Kaveh Golestan, and Lili Golestan,[3] translator and owner and artistic director of the Golestan Gallery in Tehran, Iran. His grandson, Mani Haghighi, is also a film director. His other grandson Mehrak, is a rapper.

Golestan was a member of Tudeh Party of Iran, but he broke away in January 1948.[4]

After Farrokhzâd's death, Golestân was protective of her privacy and memory. For example, in response to the publication of a biographical/critical study by Michael Craig Hillmann called A Lonely Woman: Forugh Farrokhzad and Her Poetry (1987), he published a lengthy attack against Hillmann in a Tehran literary magazine,[5] to which Hillmann responded to the attack at length in an article part of which was also published in the same Tehran literary magazine and which is available online at Academia.edu/Michael Hillmann under the title "Az Shâ'eri-ye Nâder Nâderpur to Fârsi'khâni dar Qalb-e Tekzâs, Javâbiyeh'i be Ebrâhim Golestân."

In February 2017, on the occasion of 50 years after Farrokhzad's death, the 94-year-old Golestan broke his silence about his relationship with Forough, speaking to the Guardian's Saeed Kamali Dehghan.[6] “I rue all the years she isn’t here, of course, that’s obvious,” he said. “We were very close, but I can’t measure how much I had feelings for her. How can I? In kilos? In metres?”

Works

Golestan started his film studio Golestan Films in 1957 and produced some documentaries for the National Iranian Oil Company. A Fire and Moj, Marjan and Khara are amongst these films. Golestan also produced the Forough Farrokhzad film The House is Black.[7]

Books

Stories

  • Âzar, mâh-e âkher-e pâ’iz (Azar, the last month of autumn), 1948
  • Shekâr-e sâyeh (Shadow-hunting), 1955
  • Juy-o divâr-o teshneh (The stream, the wall and the thirsty one), 1967
  • Madd-o meh (Tide and mist), 1969
  • Rooster, 1995

Filmography

Documentaries

  • Yek atash (A fire) (1961)
  • Moj, marjan, khara (1962)
  • The Hills of Marlik (1963)
  • The crown jewels of Iran (1965)

Drama

References

  • Hamid Dabashi, Masters & Masterpieces of Iranian Cinema, 451 p. (Mage Publishers, Washington, DC, 2007); Chapter III, pp. 71–106: Ebrahim Golestan; Mud Brick and Mirror. ISBN 0-934211-85-X
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