Mohammad Farokhmanesh is an Iranian film director, screenwriter and producer born in 1971 in Shiraz, Iran, and based in Germany. He began making short films while studying at the Iranian Young Cinema Society, an experience that introduced him to filmmaking at an early stage. Between 1995 and 2001 he studied filmmaking at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, where he completed a university degree in film. After graduating, he worked for two years as a film production consultant.
In 2000 he co founded the production company brave new work film productions GmbH together with Frank Geiger and Armin Hofmann. The company is based in Hamburg and also operates a branch in Munich. As a director and producer, Farokhmanesh has worked on more than twenty documentary, feature and short films.
His debut feature documentary Empire of Evil received the Gerd Ruge Award in 2004. The film was also nominated for the First Appearance Award at IDFA and for the Golden Key at the Kassel Documentary Film and Video Festival. It later won Best Documentary at the DaKINO International Film Festival in Bucharest.
Alongside his filmmaking work, Farokhmanesh has been active in the German documentary community and has served as a panel member for the Human Rights Film Award. He is also a member of the German Documentary Association AG DOK. Because of his background and his collaborations with Iranian artists, he is often invited to participate in television, radio and print media discussions related to Iranian culture and politics.
