Academy Award? nominee Ramin Bahrani is the Iranian-American writer, director, and producer of?The White Tiger, for which he has earned Oscar?, BAFTA?, and WGA Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay. Based on the Man Booker Prize-winning novel by Aravind Adiga, the critically acclaimed Netflix feature film stars BAFTA nominee Adarsh Gourav, Rajkummar Rao, and Priyanka Chopra-Jonas, and is executive produced by Chopra and Ava DuVernay.
Bahrani is the internationally renowned, award-winning writer/director/producer of critically lauded films such as?Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo, At Any Price,?and?99 Homes.?Early in his career, legendary film critic Roger Ebert proclaimed Bahrani as “the director of the decade” in 2010. All of his previous feature and short films have made their world premieres at the Venice International Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival, garnering wins such as Venice’s FIPRESCI Prize for?Goodbye Solo,?the London Film Festival’s FIPRESCI Prize for?Man Push Cart,?the Grand Special Prize at the Deauville Film Festival for?99 Homes, and Film Independent’s “Someone to Watch” Spirit Award for?Chop Shop; as well as a Golden Globe nomination for Michael Shannon (99 Homes). Bahrani is a Guggenheim Fellowship winner, has been the subject of retrospectives around the world, and his cinematic oeuvre is housed in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
For television, Bahrani’s HBO film,?Fahrenheit 451,?staring Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon, was nominated for five Emmys, including Best TV Movie, and earned a PGA award for best television film. ?For short films, Bahrani’s?Plastic Bag?(2009) (featuring the voice of Werner Herzog as a plastic bag), was the opening night film of the shorts section at Venice, and later screened at the New York Film Festival. It repeatedly has been called one of the greatest short films of all time. His most recent short documentary,?Blood Kin, premiered at the 2018 Venice Film Festival where he also served as President of the Debut Film Jury. His first short documentary,?Lift You Up, was made with the Mandela Foundation and premiered at the Venice, Telluride and Toronto film festivals in 2014.
Most recently, Bahrani produced Alex Camilleri’s debut feature?Luzzu, the first locally produced film from Malta, which premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for actor Jesmark Scicluna. He also produced Alexandre Moratto’s Brazilian debut feature,?Socrates, which won a dozen international prizes and garnered three Spirit Award nominations in 2019, as well as Moratto’s new film, 7 Prisoners for Netflix which premiered in The Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals in 2021.
Bahrani also directing the pilot and executive produced the limited series?The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey,?based on the novel by best-selling author Walter Mosley, and starring Samuel L. Jackson and Dominique Fishback for Apple TV+. He is in post-production on his first feature documentary titled 2nd?Chance, is producing Moratto and Camilleri’s new untitled films, and will direct, write and produce the feature adaptation of Adiga’s latest novel,?Amnesty,?for Netflix.
Film
Columbia Filmmakers Screen at South by Southwest 2022
The 2022 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival, which ran from March 11-20, featured several projects from Columbia filmmakers.
Film
Associate Professor Ramin Bahrani to Direct Anticipated New Hulu Series
?
Associate Professor?Ramin Bahrani?(CC ’96) is the director and executive producer of Hulu’s upcoming and widely-anticipated new series,?Immigrant. The show, which will dive into the surreal origin story of the famous stripper troupe, Chippendales, comes from Robert Siegel, the acclaimed creator of?Pam & Tommy.
Film
‘The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey’ By Professors Ramin Bahrani and Diane Houslin Premiered on AppleTV+
The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, a new mini series directed and executive produced by alumnus and Head of Directing Concentration?Ramin Bahrani?'96 (CC) and executive produced by Adjunct Professor?Diane Houslin, premiered on?Apple TV+?on March 11. The show, which was adapted for the screen by Walter Mosley from his own novel by the same name, will have a total of six episodes with new episodes being released weekly on Fridays.?
Film
Several Alumni and Faculty Films Screened at 2021 Venice Film Festival, Maggie Gyllenhaal (CC ’99) Wins
The Venice International Film Festival has awarded alumna?Maggie Gyllenhaal?(CC '99) the honor of Best Screenplay for her film?The Lost Daughter.
Film
Four Columbia Films Nominated for 2021 Oscars
The 93rd Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on April 25, 2021, more than two months later than the time of the ceremony last year.
Film
On A Global Scale: Ramin Bahrani and ‘The White Tiger’
On A Global Scale?is a bi-weekly series about international co-productions by Columbia filmmakers.
Film
Associate Professor Ramin Bahrani Directs ‘Amnesty’ for Netflix
Associate Professor Ramin Bahrani (CC '96) is set to write, direct and produce the feature film Amnesty based on the novel by Aravind Adiga (CC '97) for Netflix.?
Film
Five Columbia Films to Premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2021
The Sundance Film Festival has announced the line-up for its 2021 festival with four films by Columbia filmmakers participating in the official selection.?
Film
'The White Tiger,' by Professor Ramin Bahrani Released by Netflix in January
The White Tiger, written, directed and produced by Associate Professor Ramin Bahrani, will be released by Netflix in January. The film is adapted from Aravind Adiga’s debut novel, The White Tiger, published in 2008. Winner of the 2008 Man Booker Prize, The White Tiger was a New York Times Bestseller. The film trailer can be viewed here.?
?
Associate Professor of Professional Practice, Film
Reduced Teaching Load