Mehrdad Oskouei

Oskoeui was the subject of a retrospective at New York's Anthology Film Archives, 2018. It included Starless Dreams, his medium-length films Nose, Iranian Style, The Other Side of Burka, The Last Days of Winter and It's Always Late for Freedom, and four shorts. This is the most complete series devoted to his work in the United States so far.

26 February – 5 March 2017. ‘Teen Dox’ competition

Iranian Film Screening dates: Januvary 29 & 30, 2017.

In 2016, Oskouei was awarded the Amnesty International Prize at the Berlinale (an award he shared with the festival's Golden Bear winner, Fire at Sea). He also had been honoring as the recipient of the festival's True Vision Award at True/False Film Fest in Missouri as the best documentary film maker of the year 2016.

Terre des Femmes, Tuebingen, Germany. 23–30 November 2016 (Starless dreams)

1- The Haj as depicted by historic post cards，A project conceived by Mehrdad Oskouie，Director of Research; Akram Karimzadeh Tehran, Iran A joint publication of Gamon Publishers and the Publications Center of Tabatabai University, 2016

Mehrdad Oskouei performance art directorial debut at Shirin Gallery in Tehran, Nov. 2015 along with Sarvnaz Alambeigi as well as Atieh Atarzadeh and Loghman Khaledi.

2- The province of Gilan as depicted in historic post cards; A project conceived by Mehrdad Oskouie; Director of Research-Masoumeh Almasi Mashak; Ilia Publications; 2014

3- There must be another photograph: Notes for post cards by Iranian writers for 66 famous world authors; a project conceived by Mehrdad Oskouie; Director of Research- Soheila Shams; Herfe Honarmand Publications; 2013

Oskouei has attended various international film festival studies programs including The Berlinale Talent Campus, The German Academy of Fine Arts, The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Academy (IDFAcademy) as well as film workshop in France, England, Poland, Switzerland, the UAE and (Germany) under such esteemed filmmakers as:Albert Maysles, Richard Leacock, Abbas Kiarostami, Frederick Wiseman, Ross McElwee, Werner Hersog, Wim Wenders, Anthony Minghella, Michel Chion, Amir Naderi, and Walter Murch. The Visual Heritage Center of Iran was founded in 2011 by Oskouei along with the cooperation of researchers in various fields. The heritage's activities are centered on historical photographs and post cards of Iran.

The Visual Heritage Center of Iran is a specialized organization dedicated to the collection and study of Iranian historical photographs and post cards. It was founded in 2011 and has been continuously active in the field of historical photographs and post cards. Since its inception this center has had three main sections; research, archives and administration and has been under the directorship of its founder, Mehrdad Oskouie. Working together with his group of specialists the center focuses its attention on; history, photography, literature, cinema, the preservation and documentation of historical artifacts, folk art, architecture and handicrafts. They publish their valuable findings from their research onto visual documents of Iran and the world of Islam. Oskouei said: "Professor Iraj Afshar who invited me for a meeting. He told me I had chosen a difficult task, adding that old post cards and historic photographs were very expensive. He told me that if I wanted to and was able to, I should do it, but I should do it right. Collecting by itself is useless, and my goal wasn’t just to be a collector, but to do something of cultural importance. He asked that if I succeeded to put my collection into a book and publish it. I was motivated by the things he told me and I made such a book my goal. Soon after I was contacted by the Prince Claus Cultural Center in Holland and informed that I had been chosen as the recipient for the 2010 cultural person of the year monetary award to be used for developing a project concerning Iranian culture. With the monetary prize I received I was able to purchase a large number of historic Iranian post cards and photographs. It also gave me the opportunity to travel and visit libraries around the world to research about historic post cards". Together we began our research. We formed the hub of the new research group into historic Iranian photographs and post cards. Gradually our research group has grown in numbers and the following leading experts in their field have joined us. Ms. Zaynab Alizadeh; archeologist Ms. Mahdokht Abolfathi; documentarian Ms. Akram Karimzadeh; Iranian History Ms. Soheila Shams; photographer Ms. Somayeh Amiri; anthropologist Ms. Mandana Karimi; Cinema history Ms. Mona Darani; anthropologist Ms. Mahkameh Abolfathi; archeologist Ms. parisa oskouei; executive management Dr. Babak Ruholamini; Iranian Islamic history Mr. Mohammad Ghafouri; doctoral candidate Iranian history Mr. Ashkan Aminian; historian and genealogist Ms. Rozita Anvari; Anthropologist Mr. Siamak Haji Mohammad; doctoral candidate art history Mr. Abass Basiri; doctoral candidate history Dr. Shahram Aminian; physician and historical research\ Mrs. Masoumeh Almasi Mashak; Anthropologist Eng. Mohammad Rashed Marandi was with us until his recent passing and is now represented by his daughter Dr. Farinaz Rashed Marandi and her husband Dr. Kazem Taraghi who have all supported our group, both spiritually and financially.

1- Memories and Views: Portraits of Contemporary Iranian Figures in Art and Culture by Mehrdad Oskouie; Tehran; Yesaveli Publishers; 2011

Iranian filmmaker, photographer, film producer and researcher. MFA in film directing from the Department of Film and Theater of Tehran University of Fine Arts. Most of his films have been shown at respected festivals both at home and abroad with many receiving critical acclaim. His films being shown at over 500 national and international film festivals in over 60 countries and having won over 120 awards makes him one of the most outstanding Iranian documentary makers. In 2010, Oskouei received the Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands for his achievements.

In 2010, Oskouei received the lifetime achievement in documentary making from the Iranian Documentary Filmmakers Association at the House of Cinema awards ceremony. In January 2015, The Gilan province Islamic Cultural Center awarded him for his archival research and pictorial history of their province. Oskouei directed the Iranian Cultural Special Documentary Committee from 2004 until 2008. His film The Last Days of Winter was screened in France in 2013 and his latest film "starless dreams" was screened in France, England, Switzerland, United States and Japan in 2017 and 2018. He was a founding member of the Institute of Anthropology and Culture, where he interviewed many prominent Iranian and foreign filmmakers and artists.

2- The Seven Climates of Iran; Tehran; Yesaveli Publications; 2009

3- Iran: The land of Compassion, Tehran; Yesaveli Publications; 2007

With Mohammad Tehrani, Koroush Shabgard and Babak Forutani, Green Gallery, Tehran, 2001

With Mohammad Tehrani, Koroush Shabgard and Babak ForoutaniPhoto House of Iran, Tehran, 2001

Mehrdad Oskouei (Persian: مهرداد اسکویی ‎; born in Tehran, Iran in 1969) is an Iranian independent producer, director and screenwriter of documentary films and film educator.

Starless dreams is ranked above many films of prominent directors. American news and culture paper The Village Voice ranked the documentary 7th Among Village Voice Top 25 Films. Meanwhile, the movie gained 85 scores out of 100 on the metacritic movie website