Forough Amirshahi
‘Mama Drama’
Actor
Character in development
Born: Forough Shohreh Rakhshān Amirshahi, Tehran, Iran,
November 21, 1957
Born out of wedlock in Tehran, Forough Amirshahi was brought up in poverty by her maternal grandmother in a slum district of the city. While she was still an infant, she began doing impersonations of some of the famous singers and actors of the time. When her grandmother discovered this talent, she put her on stage and she had many starring roles. Forough's first husband was a film producer and music promoter named Hosain Jalali, who helped her make a name for herself. They had a son, Karim, who was already a star in the music industry under the name of Bon Ton when he died in a plane crash in the summer of 1999. In 1976 Forough was the lead actress in two plays by author Shokooh Mirzadegi, but both stagings were banned eventually. During the 1979 Revolution, Amirshahi and her husband and son left Iran for London and it would not be long before her acting career would take her to Los Angeles. The encounter with the actress Marian Xiao in 1980 is notable as that started off a very fortunate pairing between two strongwilled actresses and, moreover, Forough Amirshahi's international career.
Hosain Jalali, still Forough's husband and agent, became very abusive towards Forough and their son. As her agent he made many sleazy deals putting himself and Forough in a lot of trouble. In 1983 he was jailed and in 1984 the couple divorced. Forough Amirshahi met the technologically innovative, Guatamalan (documentary) filmmaker and political activist, Immanuel Tzul, in 1983 and the two were married in 1985. They have a son, Félipe Tzul, who lives in Los Angeles and is making a name for himself as an actor. Her marriage to Tzul ended in 1989. That same year Amirshahi married the famous actor, Michael Okada. They had one daughter in 1990. However, this was a very unsuccessful marriage and they divorced 14 months after their wedding. She has not married since. Amirshahi once said, 'Women love men superior to them, and I have never found any man better than me.' In another interview she supposedly said that men are [there] for having sex. Forough Amirshahi is still forbidden to enter Iran, but her following there is forever growing and bootleg copies of her movies are omnipresent.
Forough Amirshahi, 2018
Digital 3D art, C-print on fine art paper, Cinema 4D, 4DPublish, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Corona Render for Cinema4D, Affinity Photo, Luminar
Edition 10 + 1AP, © Elise Tak, 2018
'The Nose' (poster)
Digital 3D drawing, archival C-print, 65x90 cm, 2015
Graphic design: Liesbeth Nieuwenweg
Edition 3 (+ 1 AP)
Selected Filmography (in development)
1984: The Forgotten Lynx of Pasargad
1985: Serpentina
1986: Conundrum
1987: The Colorful Cloak
1988: State of Revolt
1989: Prisoner of the Year 2000
1991: The Stream of Sand
1992: Milano! Créteil!
1992: The Forgotten Lynx of Pasargad (remake)
1994: The Color Green
1994: A Woman Forfeited
1995: Block Amok
1997: Alien Within Me
1998: Optimal Portfolio
1999: Fall Upwards
2000: Daughters of Mother Earth (documentary)
2000: Filial Law
2002: The Players Resort
2002: Slaves of Solitaire
2005: Cooler Furnace
2006: Gloria Law
2008: Inés of my Soul
2009: Mr. Wonderboard
2010: The World of Ism
2011: The Nose