Majidi (Teheran, 1959) is a director, screenwriter, actor and producer. He started acting as a fourteen-year old boy in amateur theatre troupes and later studied at the Institute for Drama Arts in Teheran. After the Iranian revolution in 1979, he started to act in different films such as Boycott (Baykot, 1985) by Mohsen Makhmalbaf. He began directing in 1981, when he made his short documentary Enfejar (1981). After many short films in 1992, he wrote the screenplay for and directed his first feature film Baduk. After two medium-length films he made the feature drama Father (Pedar, 1996). He was the first Iranian director ever to be nominated for an Oscar in the category Best Foreign Film for Children Of Heaven (Bacheha-Ye aseman, 1997) in 1999. He also made Color of Paradise (Rang-e khoda, 1999) and Baran (2001), Weeping Willow (Beed-e majnoon, 2005) and The Song of Sparrows (Avaze gonjeshk-ha, 2008). He made a documentary Pa berahneh ta Herat (Barefoot to Hera) about refugee camps in Afghanistan in 2001.