Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mahmoud Shoolizadeh. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Mahmoud, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I am one of eight children of an oil field worker in Iran. It was clear early in life that I wouldn’t follow my father’s path. So I became obsessed with American soap operas and movies, and dreamed of making movies of my own.
As far back as I can remember I always loved to play as an actor. I was playing on stage first when I was about 12 years old …even before I was accepted to film school. After graduating from university, I as an actor had performance in several films. I also began directing and making films. Soon I entered broadcast television and began making documentaries first because I was interested in culture and social subjects. It allowed me to travel to lots of cities inside my native country of Iran, but I also travelled to 16 countries to cover various stories, including places in Africa and Europe. In these films I tried to introduce other cultures and lifestyles to my own people. I wanted and loved to make fictional films as well and after 12 years I wrote the script for my first full-length film, Noora. I completed the film and attended dozens of festivals and earned several awards. I continued making many fictional films until I moved to London and during the eight years I lived there, I made several documentaries that were screened in international film festivals. When I moved to Florida in the United States, I wanted to continue making full-length films, though due to the economic recession, raising funds for such a picture was difficult. Because of this, I started making short movies with the help of volunteers around me. I had to do this because there’s a volcano in my heart, which is the love to making films, and it wouldn’t settle down. I felt that there was something growing inside me that pushed me towards that path and I couldn’t stop. So, although filmmaking is hard and time consuming and has never a big source of income for me, I am happy with the results. It make me very happy and also, I try to send my message to all the people. There is nothing for me in money. All my money goes in the films, that comes from my wife supporting.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am a film Director, Screen Writer, Actor, based in the USA and an active filmmaker since 1988. I received a Bachelor’s degree in Film Production (Directing) first and a Master’s degree in Cultural Affairs Management. I have been a film director for over 35 years and am involved in the production of over fifty films as a director or an actor.
My major activities include directing fiction, documentary, long and short films, and acting in some films. Besides directing, producing, and editing films, I also undertake writing the screenplays. In 2010, I immigrated to the USA. So far each year, I made fiction short or Long length films and established the “American Golden Picture International Film Festival”.
I have made my latest long Feature Narrative film SUSAN (2018) in London, United Kingdom. It has streamed on Amazon Prime like some of my other films “The Debt” and “Daddy”. I recently have played the leading roles in feature long length movies in the USA, such as “The Lost Poem” in 2021, in Boston Massachusetts “Coming Of Gold” in 2022, in Fort Worth Dallas, “The Pomegranate Tree” in 2022, in Savanah Georgia. Also I have played more films in my origin country in Iran like “Johann Wolfgang von Goethe” in 2007, “The Puppet Bride” in 1996, “The Lover of Koochak” in 1985 and more.
I also have written several long length screenplays including “Susan” (2018), “Two Friends” (2017), “The Lover” co-writer (2015), “Daddy” co-writer (2014), “Poet of Life and Love” (2009), “My Homeland”(2008), “Forgotten” (2007), “The Migration of Love” (2004), and “Noora” (2001) and… have been the recipient of several international awards, including the Best Film award for the feature film “Noora” at the “49th Taormina International Film Festival”, Italy. This feature long length 35 mm movie “Noora” has been the “Official Selection” in many film festivals and has gotten several awards. “Noora” has been sold to more than 40 countries for broadcasting on TV channels all over the world. Best Film award for my other film “The Prisoner” at the “Hollywood Cinerockom International Film Festival”, USA. Best Film award for “The Debt” at the “Moondance International Film Festival”, USA, CO, Boulder, September 2014. Best American Film award for “Daddy” at the “Toronto World International Film Festival”, Canada, Toronto, December 2015. Best Feature Film award for “Daddy” at the “Phoenix International Film Festival”, Australia, Melbourne, November 2015. Best Children’s Film award for “Daddy” at the “Los Angeles International Film Festival”, USA, CA, Los Angeles 2016. Best Feature Film for Kids award for “Daddy” at “The Kids Film Festival”, Spain, Madrid, May 2016. Also the Best Fiction Film award for “The Lover” at the “Five Continents International Film Festival”, Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela, June 2017, Best Story award at the “Red Corner International Film Festival”, Sweden, June 2017.
Also, I am the president of the “American Golden Picture International Film Festival” that we have founded in 2019 in Jacksonville Florida, USA. Filmmakers from all over the world can submit their films to this film festival through FilmFreeWay platforms. It is open all the time for submission. and. This Festival is a great platform and a wonderful opportunity for the Filmmakers to share their films with the audience.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
There were a lot of obstacles along the way. I have moved a few times and I did my best to cope each time. Being an immigrant to find the best opportunities in life is not easy, especially when you have to find your connections and paths.
When I came to the USA, it took me a while to find those professionals around me who were able to assist me. I also tried to start with making short fiction films, then later, I made the long-length features that attended different international film festivals around the world. These films were officially selected and screened in those festivals and even got several awards which was a great encouragement for all my cast and crew for what they had done in my films.
It has always been a goal for me to establish a good film festival in order to help young filmmakers, so after researching a lot, I could found the ”American Golden Picture International Film Festival” which has a yearly event structured in monthly contests. The live streaming of the “American Golden Picture International Film Festival” happens just once every year. Actually, our judges in each month will select the films, give the best one a “Golden Certificate” award, then for yearly screening they will choose the best of the best among all the monthly winners for the annual live streaming and present them a “Yearly Golden Certificate” award. Due to our special programming system, there is a chance for the filmmakers to win in one of the monthly competitions and then automatically participate in the yearly competition to win and receive the annual award.
The American Golden Picture Film Festival celebrates the best that cinema has to offer, showcasing films from talented filmmakers and emerging storytellers. The Festival welcomes films from around the world and offers an impressive selection of competitive programming. The Festival brings both domestic and international films. The “American Golden Picture International Film Festival” aims to help independent filmmakers gain the credibility and publicity they truly deserve. The movie will compete with other independent films with world-class talents.
I am very proud of every single film I made myself and every step I took so far. Even establishing a film festival was once in the corner of my mind, but when I decided seriously about it, it became a reality. The hundreds reviews I receive on the festival’s website show how appreciated the filmmakers are because of our support. At our film festival, we even write feedbacks and reviews on the films if the filmmakers would like to know more about their final product.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Creativity is so satisfying for the artist as they are building something from nothing. After years of experience, I decided to unlearn the processes that can be called cliche in order to make my films more attractive and different.
An example for this is one of my long length feature film, “Daddy”:
When I entered the US, I found out that the teen pregnancy is the highest among the developed countries, so I decided to make a film about this, but very different and I wanted to avoid the usual clichés as well as making it interesting to the audience. For instance, instead of having the 14 year- old mom who loves and wants to keep her baby, I have the 14 year-old daddy who loves and wants the baby. In the film I preferred to approach the story from a more personal and humane point of view instead of emphasizing the social and cultural aspects. In other words, it’s about the people. I was able to produce and direct the film purely with the help of volunteers and with almost zero budget. In spite of these obstacles, I am happy that this film can connect well with the audience.
Another example among my films happened in my other fiction film “The Debt”:
About 35 years ago, my home country Iran was in war with Iraq for eight years, during which hundreds of thousands of people were killed and wounded and many had mental problems related to the war. In the beginning, my family and I were living in a city under constant bombardment, so we lost everything we had and were forced to find refuge in other parts of the county. Even after the move, we were not completely safe. I also saw thousands of people with physical and mental injuries in the hospitals–even after the war had been over for many years. So, as America has been involved in the Afghan and Iraq war, I thought maybe I can show a little bit of what I saw and experienced myself in my new film. Usually in these types of films, the lead role is a male character, but again I broke the cliche. In this film the story is about a female veteran who came back from war with PTSD.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shoolizadeh.
com/ - IMdb: https://www.imdb.com/
name/nm1575860/ - Instagram: https://www.
instagram.com/shoolizadeh/ - Facebook: https://www.
facebook.com/mshoolizadeh - Linkedin: https://www.
linkedin.com/in/mahmoud- shoolizadeh-b9b2027a/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/
MahmoudShooliza - Youtube: https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=C4_yMgSgm5Q - Other: https://
americangoldenpictureiff.com/ - https://filmfreeway.com/
AmericangoldenpictureIF - https://variety.com/2003/film/
reviews/noora-the-kiss-of- life-1200541018/ - https://www.jacksonville.com/
news/20181216/send-my-message- to-all-people - http://jacksonville.com/news/
metro/2011-07-05/story/ iranian-lands-jacksonville- seeking-freedom-filmmaker - http://influxmagazine.com/an-
interview-with-director- mahmoud-shoolizadeh/ - https://www.jacksonville.com/
story/entertainment/local/ 2018/12/16/send-my-message-to- all-people/6632942007/ - https://web.archive.org/web/
20150930014557/http:// jacksonville.com/news/georgia/ 2014-04-20/story/movie- producers-are-rolling-camera- ready-camden-county-thanks- coastal - http://issuu.com/rachelgalvin/
docs/independent_streak_ magazine_–_feb_/7?e=2289886/ 11242953 - http://www.thebrunswicknews.
com/news/local_news/director- returning-to-camden-to-shoot- second-short-movie/article_ a47b3174-e890-54d0-8832- b81dc1bbeae9.html - https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=C4_yMgSgm5Q - https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=gs98cCCD27k - https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=bLekuoV5KYE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=rAm3Jo6lgvA - https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=uyhJ9f1mxEE