Director & Writer
Vahid Jalilvand was born in Tehran in 1976. He holds a degree in Theater Directing from Tehran University. Jalilvand started his career as a theater actor and made his stage debut when he was only 15. In 1996, he started working for Iranian State TV channels as an editor and then as a TV director. He later directed several home video series and more than 30 documentaries in the social and industrial fields.
“Wednesday, May 9”, his first feature, was awarded the FIPRESCI Prize and the INTERFILM Award for Promoting Interreligious Dialogue in the Orizzonti Competition of the 2015 Venice Film Festival.
“No Date, No Signature” was his second feature film which was awarded the Best Director and the Best Actor awards in the Orizzonti Competition of the 2017 Venice Film Festival. “No Date, No Signature” was selected as Iran’s representative to the 91st Academy Awards for the Best Foreign Language Film in 2019.
“Beyond the Wall” is Vahid’s third feature and it was screened as part of the Main Competition of the 2022 Venice Film Festival, ultimately being nominated for the festival’s Golden Lion award. The Match Factory is responsible for the film’s international distribution, with global screenings to begin in the middle of the current year. “Beyond the Wall” has so far been selected for 21 international film festivals, including Toronto, Busan, Hamburg, Geneva, Sao Paulo, Sydney, and Asia Pacific, among many others.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY
- Feature
- Beyond The Wall (126 min) 2022
- No date, No signature (104 min) 2017
- Wednesday, May/9 (102 min) 2015
- TV & Home-Video Series
- A Frozen Heart (6 episodes) 2011
- A Different Type Though (11 episodes) 2008
- 40 Minutes Without Judgment (26 episodes) 2008
- The Star is Out… Say Hello (26 episodes) 2007
- Rain In A Different Version (26 episodes) 2007
- The Footprint of Rain (44 episodes) 2006
- An Eye Made of Love (8 episodes) 2005
- Documentaries
- I Grow Green (1 episode) 2013
- Naïve Like a Father (1 episode) 2009
- Looking at Dawn (1 episode) 2007
- The Coquetry of the Sun (1 episode) 2006
- Amirabad Port (1 episode) 2005
- Shahid Rajaee Port (1 episode) 2004
- Nostrak: North-South Corridor (1 episode) 2004
- The City of the Well-Known (13 episode) 2001
- The Statue (26 episode) 2000
- The Hands of the Crafts Creators (13 episode) 1998
AWARDS
- “No Date, No Signature”
- Best Director Award, Orizzonti Competition of 74th Venice Int’l Film Festival (2017/Italy)
- Gold Hugo Award, New Director’s Competition, 53rd Chicago Int’l FF (2017/USA)
- Silver Alexander Award, 58th Thessaloniki Int’l FF (2017/Greece)
- FIPRESCI Award, 58th Thessaloniki Int’l FF (2017/Greece)
- Best Film by FIPRESCI Jury, Bratislava Int’l FF (2017/Slovakia)
- Special Jury Prize, Cine Iran Film Festival (2017/Canada)
- Jury Prize, Belgrade Int’l FF (2018/Serbia)
- Best Screenplay Award, 19th Stockholm Int’l FF (2017/Sweden)
- Best Director Award, Sheed Film Festival (2017/USA)
- Best Audience Award, Las Palmas International Film Festival (2018/Spain)
- Best Director, Zerkalo Int’l FF (2018/Russia)
- Grand Prize Award, Brussels Int’l FF (2018/Belgium)
- Best Fiction Feature Award, Bangkok Thai Int’l FF (2018/Thailand)
- Jury’s Special Award, Kinenova Skopje Film Festival (2018/Macedonia)
- Crystal Simorgh for Best Director, 35th Fajr FF (2017/Iran)
- Best Director Award, 20th House of Cinema Festival (2018/Iran)
- Best Screenplay Award, 20th House of Cinema Festival (2018/Iran)
- Best Screenplay Award, 1st Cinema Cinema Academy (2018/Iran)
- Best Film Special Award, 1st Cinema Cinema Academy (2018/Iran)
- “Wednesday, May 9”
- FIPRESCI Best Film Award, Orizzonti Competition of 72nd Venice Int’l Film Festival (2015/Italy)
- INTERFILM Award, Orizzonti Competition of 72nd Venice Int’l Film Festival (2015/Italy)
- Golden Puffin Award for Best Film, Reykjavik Int’l FF (2015/Iceland)
- Best First Film Director Award, Bratislava Int’l Film Festival (2015/Slovakia)
- FIPRESCI Best Film Award, Bratislava International Film Festival (2015/Slovakia)
- Jury’s Award, Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema (2016/France)
- NETPACK Award, Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema (2016/France)
- Best Fiction Film Award, Berkshire International Film Festival (2016/England)
- Crystal Simorgh for Best First Film Director, 33rd Fajr Film Festival (2015/Iran)
- Best Director Award, City Film Festival (2015/Iran)
- Best First Film Director Award, Festival of Iran’s Cinema Critics and Writers Association
(2015/Iran)