Jafar Panahi Biography

Jafar Panahi is a famous Iranian Film director, Screenwriter, and editor, who was born on Jul 11, 1960 in East Azerbaijan, Iran. Find Jafar Panahi age, wife, net worth, height, weight, education, career, family, images, biography & more updates. Get information about Jafar Panahi’s all key achievements or accomplishments, including professional and personal life detail.

Personal Profile About Jafar Panahi

Jafar Panahi is an Iranian film director, screenwriter, and editor who is known worldwide for his films. The Jafar Panahi biography shows that he has won many important awards, including the Palme d'Or at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival for It Was Just an Accident, the Golden Bear at Berlin for Taxi (2015), and the Golden Lion at Venice for The Circle (2000). He also received the Telluride Film Festival Silver Medallion in 2025.

Panahi started his career making short films and helping the famous director Abbas Kiarostami. His first full movie, The White Balloon (1995), won the Caméra d'Or at Cannes, the first big award for an Iranian film there. Other important films he made include The Mirror (1997), Offside (2006), Closed Curtain (2013), 3 Faces (2018), and No Bears (2022).

Jafar Panahi Age

Jafar Panahi age is 65 Years old. He was born on 11 July 1960 in Mianeh, Iran. He grew up in a working-class family and started using a small 8 mm film camera when he was ten years old. He acted in one film and helped run a program teaching children to use cameras. From age twelve, he worked after school to save money to watch films. These early experiences shaped the human-focused stories he tells in his movies.

Jafar Panahi Sentenced 1 Year

In December 2025, Jafar Panahi sentenced 1 year in absentia by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court. The sentence was related to his activities that the court disapproved of. He also received a two-year travel ban and was forbidden from joining political or social groups.

His lawyer, Mostafa Nili, said they would appeal the decision while Panahi was in the U.S. to receive awards for his film It Was Just an Accident at the Gotham Awards on December 1, 2025.

Jafar Panahi Son

Jafar Panahi son is Panah Panahi, born in 1984, who is also a filmmaker. Panah made his first film, Hit the Road (2021), which premiered at the Directors’ Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and won Best Film at the 2021 BFI London Film Festival.

He studied at the University of Tehran and worked as an assistant to Abbas Kiarostami before directing his own films. Panah’s movies often explore family life and social issues in Iran, inspired by his father’s work.

Jafar Panahi Wife

Jafar Panahi wife is Tahereh Saeedi (also spelled Tahere Saidi). They met while studying at Tehran College of Cinema and Television, where she worked as a nurse. They married in 1983 and have two children: Panah Panahi, a filmmaker, and Solmaz, who studied theater in Tehran.

Jafar Panahi Religion

Jafar Panahi religion is Shia Islam, the main religion in Iran. His background as an Iranian Azerbaijani is connected to Islamic culture. His films often show issues in society that involve religion and traditional norms.