Born in Tehran, Iran in 1981, Ali moved to Vancouver, Canada in his teens. In 2008, after spending a year attending Abbas Kiarostami’s filmmaking workshop back in Tehran, he decided to follow his real passion for making films by studying at the London Film School.

His graduation short film, AMAN (2011), was awarded the Cine+ prize at the Premiers Plans Film Festival in Angers, France and the MEO Best Student Film prize at Lisbon & Estoril Film Festival.

His feature film debut, FALLING LEAVES (2013), premiered at Montreal World Film Festival in 2013 and won the Federico Fellini Award for best international newcomer at Tiburon International Film Festival in California USA.

His latest feature film TEHRAN: CITY OF LOVE (2018), premiered at BFI London Film Festival and Rotterdam International Film Festival. It has screened at over 20 film festivals worldwide and has won the Youth Jury Prize at Sofia International Film Festival, Best Actress Prize at Beijing International Film Festival, and Ecumenical Jury Prize at Miskolc International Film Festival in Hungary. It was released in the UK by New Wave Films in October 2019.

Ali is currently developing a couple of new feature projects in the UK.

Filmography:

“Tehran: City of Love” – Feature Film (2018, 100 mins, UK/Netherlands/Iran)

“Falling Leaves” – Feature Film (2013, 85 mins, UK/Iran)

“AMAN” – 35mm short film (2011, 27 mins, UK/Iran)