Biography
Soheil Beiraghi ( born October 16, 1986, in Shahreza, Iran) is an Iranian independent film director, screenwriter and producer. He has directed the award-winning films I (Me), Cold Sweat and Unpopular. He started out on his filmmaking career in 2005 as an assistant director in a number of cinematic productions. His ten-years experience of working as an assistant director and planner, paved the way for the making of his first feature film I (Me). Beiraghi also has a background in playwriting and theater directing.
Biography
Soheil Beiraghi was born on October 16, 1986, in shahreza. He got involved in cultural and artistic activities at the age of 12, writing short stories and texts on different subjects for magazines and newspapers. Three years later, one of his short stories was published for the first time in the monthly art and culture magazine Haft (seven) which received special attention. When he was 16, he made his feature debut as a screenwriter, a script that satisfied some of the professional and acclaimed filmmakers of the time. However, as he yearned to be an independent creator, he left the screenplay unfinished and set about making films based on his own writings and short stories. At the age of 18, inspired by one of his fictions, Beiraghi made his first short film.
His interest in cinema grew deeper to such an extent that in 2005 he gave up his studies in industrial engineering and dedicated himself to filmmaking, working as an assistant director and planner for the following 10 years. During the course of the decade he had the opportunity to collaborate with prominent filmmakers such as Varuzh Karim-Masihi, Rasool Sadr Ameli, Hassan Fathi, Abdolreza Kahani and Bahram Tavakoli.
In 2012 his career took a new turn as he opted for the theater. He wrote and directed Pit (Persian: Chaleh) acted by Andishe Fouladvand, Ammaar Tafti and Atefe Nouri. The play had been on stage for 45 days in the Time Museum’s performance hall in Tehran and was performed in the theaters of different cities both in Iran and abroad.
Opinions
Soheil Beiraghi is among the few Iranian filmmakers who work independently of any institutions. His main characters are lonely women who fight for their goals and undeniable human rights without the support of any organization or social entity.
To follow the path to success, the protagonists of the film come face to face with other people and the dominant system. The female protagonists’ daring encounters with unfavorable circumstances constitute a recurrent theme in Beiraghi’s works.
There is, in addition, another noteworthy theme in Beiraghi’s films; he addresses the question of power as well. His characters’ free will play an essential role in their decision-making. Nevertheless, they tend to use this unbridled power to the detriment of one another. Moreover, they don’t take a passive role in dealing with difficulties and people; on the contrary, they make every effort to reclaim their rights, no matter what the consequences would be.
Beiraghi has been labelled as a feminist film director by the followers of the antifeminist ideology, given that the protagonists of his films are mainly women and the plots include different aspects of women’s lives. Curiously enough, the adherents of the feminist movement regard his films as misogynistic, since another recurrent theme highlighted in his narratives is women taking action against each other. He has said about this:
Beiraghi has said in this regard, “I have no intention of making films in favour of women, nor am I adherent to any particular movement or school of thought. I have never made films for or against women. I don’t mean to praise one social class and damage the image of another. The ideas come to my mind from the present time circumstances. If a viewer gets the impression that this film has destroyed the picture of a given class of the society, it’s up to him or her to judge. I only meant to be an honest storyteller”
The combination of common elements such as similar themes, minimal style of directing, sub-plot based screenplays as well as breaking with classic rules has made a trilogy of his three drama films which are described as feminine film noirs.
However, Beiraghi has stated that the trilogy took form all by itself, without any previous planning. The three films happened to be related to each other all spontaneously.
The same as the protagonists, the events of the three narratives move on against the current of the prevalent filmmaking principles, in the opposite direction of the existing cinematic and storytelling techniques. The films have been able to attract a huge audience, but at the same time have aroused the interest of a select few, being largely discussed by them. They inject new ideas into the main framework of today’s Iranian cinema.
Jury Membership
In 2018, Beiraghi sat on a jury in the competition section at the 29th Stockholm International Film Festival.
Film Production
Having already a successful career in directing and screenwriting, Beiraghi made his professional debut as a producer in 2020 with Unpopular. This was a strong incentive for him to start up the Alef Pictures film company with the aim of producing independent films.