Directing
Jul 15, 1969
Tehran, Iran
Mani Haghighi
Directing
Biography
Mani Haghighi (b.1969, Tehran) studied philosophy at McGill University, Montreal before returning to Iran to make films. His first feature, Abadan (2003) premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. His screenplay for Asghar Farhadi’s Fireworks Wednesday (2006, co-written with the director) won the Special Jury Prize at the Three Continents Festival, Nantes. His second feature film, Men at Work (Berlinale, Forum 2006) won the Best Screenplay Prize at the 2007 Asian Film Awards (Hong Kong) and the Best Screenplay Prize in the international section of the Fajr Film Festival (Tehran). Canaan (2008), based on a short story by Alice Munro, was followed by two documentary films on the works of the acclaimed Iranian director, Dariush Mehrjui: Hamoon’s Fans (2007), about the curious lives of six Iranians who are devoted fans of Mehrjui’s 1989 film, “Hamoon”, and Dariush Mehrjui: The Forty Year Report (2012), a feature length documentary about Mehrjui’s life and works. His fourth feature film, Modest Reception (Berlinale, Forum 2012), received the NETPAC Award at the Berlin Film Festival, the Free Spirit Award at the Warsaw Film Festival, the Best Actor and Best Actress prizes at the OSIAN’s Cinefan Festival in New Delhi as well as a few other international prizes. Haghighi has also acted in several films, including Asghar Farhadi’s About Elly (Berlinale, competition 2009) and Nima Javidi’s Melbourne (2014), as well as his own film, Modest Reception.
Feature Films (19)
Amir and Sara are a young couple on their way to Melbourne to continue their studies. However, just a few hours before the departure of their flight, they are unintentionally involved in a tragic event.
Melbourne
A man loses the ability to cry after the death of his younger brother. As he deals with grief and the separation from his wife, he tries to reconcile his job at a football website with depression and a lack of meaning in life.
Won't You Cry?
An Iranian couple from the city drive around a remote mountainous region. They hand out bags of money to poor villagers in return for them carrying out unusual requests the couple make of them.
Modest Reception
In order to prepare her best and brightest for the upcoming chemistry Olympiad, strict, conservative headmistress Ms. Darabi is forced to break her lifelong rule of not allowing male teachers in the school and reluctantly hires the bumbling Mr. Jebeli. Little does she know though that several of her students, led by the self-assured Paria, have a plan to get her to fall in love with him. 'No Men Allowed' is a hilarious, rollicking romcom, chock-full of witty dialogue and zany antics that will have you coming back time and time again!
No Men Allowed
The mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.
About Elly
On Jan. 22, 1965, the day before the Iranian prime minister is assassinated, a car drives up to a shipwreck. Inside the wreck, a banished political prisoner has hung himself and the walls are covered in diary entries, literary quotes, and strange symbols. Fifty years later, the evidence, including intelligence tape recordings, is found in a box. The contents attest to the fact that the inspector and his colleagues were arrested, but why?
