Ebrahim Golestan

Biography

Ebrahim Golestan was married to his cousin, Fakhri Taghavi Shirazi; their son was photojournalist Kaveh Golestan and their daughter was Lili Golestan, translator and owner and artistic director of the Golestan Gallery in Tehran, Iran. A grandson, Mani Haghighi, is also a film director. His other grandson, Mehrak, is a rapper.

Golestan was a member of the Tudeh Party of Iran, but broke away from the party in January 1948.

After Forough Farrokhzad's death, Golestân was protective of her privacy and memory. For example, in response to the publication of a biographical/critical study by Michael Craig Hillmann called A Lonely Woman: Forugh Farrokhzad and Her Poetry (1987), he published a lengthy attack against Hillmann in a Tehran literary magazine, to which Hillmann responded at length in an article, part of which was also published in the same Tehran literary magazine. In 2005, Golestan's long conversation with Parviz Jahed was published in Iran under the title Writing with a Camera (Neveshtan ba Doorbin).

In February 2017, 50 years after Farrokhzad's death, the 94-year-old Golestan broke his silence about his relationship with Forough, speaking to Saeed Kamali Dehghan of The Guardian. Golestan said: "I rue all the years she isn't here, of course, that's obvious. We were very close, but I can't measure how much I had feelings for her. How can I? In kilos? In metres?"

Golestan participated in the 2022 documentary See You Friday, Robinson. Director Mitra Farahani initiated an email exchange between Golestan and French filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard, with emailed text letters from Golestan and "videos, images, and aphorism" responses from Godard.

Golestan turned 100 in October 2022, and died in Sussex on 22 August 2023.

Works

Golestan started his film studio Golestan Films in 1957 and produced some documentaries for the National Iranian Oil Company. A Fire and Moj, Marjan and Khara are amongst these films. He also produced the Forough Farrokhzad film The House is Black.

Books

Stories

• Âzar, mâh-e âkher-e pâ’iz (Azar, the last month of autumn), 1948
• Shekâr-e sâyeh (Shadow-hunting), 1955
• Juy-o divâr-o teshneh (The stream, the wall and the thirsty one), 1967
• Madd-o meh (Tide and mist), 1969
• Rooster, 1995
• Neveshtan Ba Dourbin, 2005

Filmography

Documentaries

• Yek atash (A fire) (1961)
• Moj, marjan, khara (1962)
• The Hills of Marlik (1963)
• • The crown jewels of Iran* (1965)

Drama

• Brick and Mirror (1963)
• Asrar ganj-e dareh-ye jenni (1974, aka The Ghost Valley's Treasure Mysteries)

References

References

1. "گذري بر زندگي نامه"ابراهيم گلستان"".
2. "Farough timeline".
3. "Masoud Soheili".
4. (2000). "Rebels With A Cause: The Failure of the Left in Iran". I.B.Tauris.
5. [http://www.jarchi.com "Az Yek Maqâleh va Chand Ostâd."]
6. (12 February 2017). "Former lover of the poet known as Iran's Sylvia Plath breaks his silence".
7. Vivarelli, Nick. (5 August 2021). "Jean-Luc Godard Non-Conventional Documentary 'See You Friday Robinson' Set For Festival Circuit (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
8. (20 October 2022). "Monography: Ebrahim Golestan {{!}} Earthly Songs: Ebrahim Golestan on his 100th birthday". [[Vienna International Film Festival]].
9. "ابراهیم گلستان درگذشت". Fararu.
10. [https://mandegar.tarikhema.org/زندگانی ابراهیم گلستان زندگانی-ابراهیم-گلستان] Tarikhema (in Persian)
11. (23 August 2023). "Iranian filmmaker, literary figure Ebrahim Golestan dies at 101". [[Tehran Times]].
12. "Yek Atash (A Fire)".
13. Golestan, Ebrahim. "Moj, marjan, khara". Studio Golestan.
14. "Moj o marjan o khara".
15. "Tappe-haye Marlik (The Hills of Marlik). 1963. Directed by Ebrahim Golestan Roma. 1972. Directed by Federico Fellini {{!}} MoMA".
16. "The Crown Jewels of Iran".
17. ".: Iranian Movie DataBase عوامل فيلم ''خشت و آينه'' :.".