Bijan Daneshmand

Bijan Daneshmand
بیژن دانشمند
Daneshmand in 2025
Born (1958-08-16) 16 August 1958
Tehran, Imperial State of Iran
Education
OccupationsActor, artist
Websitebijandaneshmand.com

Bijan Daneshmand (Persian: بیژن دانشمند, born 16 August 1958) is an Iranian actor and artist based in London, England. He is known for producing and starring in 20 Fingers (2004), which won the Best Digital Film award at the 61st Venice International Film Festival; for his roles in Shirin Neshat's Women Without Men (2009) and Babak Anvari's Under the Shadow (2016); as the character Kouyami in The Night Manager (2016), directed by Susanne Bier; and for portraying Ali Reza Jamshidpour in Maryam Keshavarz's The Persian Version (2023) and Rasoul Shahin in the Netflix series The Diplomat.

Early life and education

Bijan Daneshmand was born on 16 August 1958 in Tehran, Iran.[1] At the age of 10, he moved to England to receive his early education.[2]

After graduating from King's College London, he attended the London Centre for Theatre Studies and the Philippe Gaulier School in Paris to develop his acting skills. Later, he obtained an MA from Chelsea College of Arts.[3][2]

Career

Early career

In 1996, Daneshmand founded The Leonard, a boutique hotel near Marble Arch in central London, which became a favoured base for musicians and film professionals.[4] William Orbit made recordings there for projects associated with Madonna, U2 and Pink.[5][6] In 2003, Daneshmand sold his family interest in the business, to focus entirely on his art and acting.[7]

Film and television

In 2004, Daneshmand produced and acted in 20 Fingers, a feature film, directed by and co-starring Mania Akbari.[8] Filmed by Touraj Aslani with a digital video camera, the film consists of seven long takes in which Daneshmand and Akbari portray a couple, who discuss and argue about their relationship.[8] It addresses subjects such as abortion, infidelity, and divorce.[8] The film premiered at the 61st Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Best Digital Film, Venezia Digitale.[9]

In 2006, Daneshmand wrote and directed the avant-garde film, A Snake's Tail. It was named Best International Feature at the Bare Bones International Film Festival in Oklahoma and was screened at the Festival Do Rio and the Frankfurt International Film Festival.[10]

In 2009, Daneshmand appeared in Women Without Men, which was directed by Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari. It is based on the 1990 novel by Shahrnush Parsipur.[11][12] The film addresses gender and political issues in Iran and received the Silver Lion for Best Director at the 2009 Venice Film Festival.[13]

In 2011, Daneshmand portrayed a teacher in Two & Two, which was directed by Babak Anvari, co-produced by Kit Fraser, and written by Babak Anvari and Gavin Cullen.[14] The eight-minute film follows a teacher who instructs his pupils that two plus two equals five. It was nominated for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Best Short Film in 2012.[15][16]

In 2016, Daneshmand played the role of university director in Under the Shadow, a Persian-language psychological horror film directed by Babak Anvari. Set in Tehran during the Iran–Iraq War, the film follows a mother and daughter experiencing supernatural events.[17] It premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer in 2017.[18]

In 2021, Daneshmand wrote and directed the Persian-language web series, The Bahramis.[19]

In 2022, Daneshmand was cast as a AliReza Jamshidpour, one of the principal characters in Maryam Keshavarz's film The Persian Version.[20] The film premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in January 2023, where it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award and the Audience Award.[21][22][23]

In 2025, Daneshmand portrayed Baba, the father of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, in the four-part BBC One factual drama Prisoner 951.[24] The series received awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and the Royal Television Society.[25][26]

Radio

Daneshmand has appeared regularly in BBC Radio productions, including Baghdad Burning (2010), the Radio 4 drama The Boy from Aleppo Who Painted the War (2014)[27], The Price of Oil: The Weapon (2015)[28], B7 Media's Dan Dare audio drama (2017)[29], the BBC World Service documentary drama Fall of the Shah (2019)[30], and Central Intelligence (2024).[31]

Art

Alongside his acting career, Daneshmand works as a painter of geometric abstraction, with a focus on repetition, non-periodic tiling and patterns derived from Persian architecture. His work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in London, Tehran, Los Angeles, and Beijing, including Kids of Dada (2014), Unreadable at the Pangea Sculptors' Centre (2015), Blue Gold at Etemad Gallery in Tehran (2016) and the solo exhibition Infinite Truths at Janet Rady Fine Art in London (2017). In 2020, he began Damavand, a series of more than 150 paintings inspired by Mount Damavand and its associations with childhood memory and Iranian identity.[2][32]

Voice acting

In 2024, Daneshmand performed as the voice character of King Darius, in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown video game by Ubisoft.[33]

Theatre

In 2026, Daneshmand made his major London stage debut at the Almeida Theatre in the world premiere of Carmen Nasr's adaptation of Under the Shadow, directed by Nadia Latif. He played Mr Bijari and the university director, reimagining the film role he had originated a decade earlier.[34]

Selected filmography

Film

List of film appearances, with year, title, and role shown
Year Title Role Reference(s)
2004 20 Fingers The Husband, The Man [35]
2005 Munich Kamal Nasser [36][37]
2006 A Snake's Tail Bijan, Kami, and Agha [38][39]
2008 Body of Lies Amman Clinic Doctor [40][41]
2009 Women Without Men Abbas [42][37]
2010 Green Zone Zubaidi's Aide [43][44]
2012 From Tehran to London Ashkan [45][46]
2016 Under the Shadow Director [47]
2020 Pari Director- Ahmadi [48]
2020 Infidel Dr. Hossein Tehrani [49][50]
2021 Mister Mayfair Ali [51]
2023 The Persian Version Ali Reza [52][53]
2025 100 Nights of Hero Jerome's Father

Television

List of television appearances, with year, title, and role shown
Year Title Role Reference(s)
2005 Casualty Dr. Hamid Guyrat
2005 Spooks (US title: MI5) Bashir Shalhoob [54]
2007 Saddam's Tribe Journalist [55]
2008 Special Forces Heroes Salim
2009 The Omid Djalili Show Appearance [56]
2011 Page Eight Cambridge Don [57]
2015 Suspects Jamal Khan [58][37]
2016 The Night Manager Kouyami [37]
2017 Modus Mahmoud Muntasir
2018 The Looming Tower Farouq Osman
2018 Deep State Ali Ardavan [59][60]
2019 Follow the Money Abbas
2019 Traitors Abu Selim [61]
2020 EastEnders Dr Jamil
2022 Suspicion Masoud Ghorbani
2022 Tehran Dr. Kourosh Zamestani [62]
2022 House of the Dragon The Priest [63]
2023 The Diplomat Rasoul Shahin [64]
2024 Brassic Mr. Calvo [65]
2024 Coronation Street Mr Akram [65]
2025 Prisoner 951 Baba [24]

Radio

List of radio appearances, with year and radio station shown
Title Year Radio station
Westway 2004-6 BBC World Service
April's Fool 2009 BBC World Service
The Fence 2009 BBC World Service
Spit 2009 BBC World Service
The Interview 2009 BBC Radio 4
Baghdad Burning[66] 2009 BBC Radio 4
Amazing Grace[67] 2010 BBC Radio 4
The Boy from Aleppo that Painted the War[27] 2015 BBC Radio 4
The Weapon[28] 2015 BBC Radio 4
Dan Dare[29] 2017 B7 Media
Fall of the Shah[30][68] 2019 BBC World Service drama
Central Intelligence[31] 2024 BBC Radio 4

Theatre

List of theatre appearances, with year, title, role, and venue shown
Year Title Role Venue Notes Reference(s)
2026 Under the Shadow Mr Bijari - Director Almeida Theatre World-premiere stage adaptation of Babak Anvari's feature film Under the Shadow [69]

Awards and recognition

  • 2004: Best Film Venezia Cinema Digitale at the Venice Film Festival, for 20 Fingers, produced by Daneshmand[9]
  • 2006: Winner, Best International Feature at the Bare Bones International Film Festival, for A Snake's Tail, written and directed by Daneshmand[10]
  • 2021: Award of Merit in the Web Series category and Award of Excellence in the Actor: Leading category at the IndieFEST Film Awards, for The Bahramis.[70][71]
  • 2021: Best Actor at the Buenos Aires International Film Festival for The Bahramis.

References

  1. ↑ Life, Kayhan (15 September 2020). "My Damavand, 100 Paintings by Bijan Daneshmand".
  2. 1 2 3 "Infinite Truths". Meer. 30 November 2017.
  3. ↑ "Bijan Daneshmand". Bijan Daneshmand.
  4. ↑ Ltd, Jacobs Media Group. "Prepare to enter the comfort zone". Travel Weekly.
  5. ↑ Hutchinson, Kate (19 November 2021). "Madonna, drugs and helicopter-trained dogs: the dark, starry life of William Orbit". The Guardian.
  6. ↑ Mossman, Kate (15 November 2022). "William Orbit: "If you confound Madonna, a red mist comes down"".
  7. ↑ "Sehgals buy the Leonard". The Caterer. 8 December 2003.
  8. 1 2 3 Young, Deborah (10 September 2004). "20 Fingers".
  9. 1 2 ""Twenty Fingers" competing in Spanish film festival". Mehr News Agency. 29 October 2004.
  10. 1 2 "iranian.com: Setareh Sabety, A review of Bijan Daneshmand's "A Snake's Tail"". iranian.com.
  11. ↑ Bradshaw, Peter (10 June 2010). "Women Without Men". The Guardian.
  12. ↑ Khaleeli, Homa (13 June 2010). "Shirin Neshat: A long way from home". The Guardian.
  13. ↑ "Women without Men | Wexner Center for the Arts". wexarts.org.
  14. ↑ "Two & Two (2011)". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 March 2023.
  15. ↑ "Film in 2012".
  16. ↑ Grater, Tom (5 February 2017). "Baftas 2017: How 'Under The Shadow' became a contender". Screen Daily.
  17. ↑ Rooney, David (25 January 2016). "'Under the Shadow': Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  18. ↑ McNary, Dave (21 September 2016). "Iranian Horror Movie 'Under the Shadow' Selected as U.K. Foreign-Language Oscar Entry (EXCLUSIVE)".
  19. ↑ Baker, Taryll (20 May 2021). "The Bahramis - Web Series Review". UK Film Review.
  20. ↑ Felperin, Leslie (22 January 2023). "'The Persian Version' Review: An Effervescent Mother-Daughter Dramedy Spanning Decades, Continents and Cultures". The Hollywood Reporter.
  21. ↑ Vlessing, Etan (3 February 2023). "Sundance Winner 'The Persian Version' Lands at Sony Pictures Classics". The Hollywood Reporter.
  22. ↑ McPherson, Christopher (27 January 2023). "'A Thousand and One,' 'The Persian Version' & More Win Sundance Film Festival Awards". Collider.
  23. ↑ "Sundance awards come with a lot of emotion, excitement". KPCW | Listen Like a Local. 27 January 2023.
  24. 1 2 Hibbs, James. "Prisoner 951 cast | Narges Rashidi and Joseph Fiennes star". Radio Times.
  25. ↑ "Editing: Fiction". BAFTA.
  26. ↑ Watts, Halina (3 June 2026). "Prisoner 951 wins big in Bristol at the 2026 RTS West of England Awards". Royal Television Society.
  27. 1 2 "BBC Radio 4 - Saturday Drama, The Boy from Aleppo Who Painted the War". BBC.
  28. 1 2 "BBC Radio 4 - The Price of Oil, The Weapon". BBC.
  29. 1 2 "Dan Dare Cast Revealed!". 10 May 2016.
  30. 1 2 "Fall Of The Shah". www.bbc.co.uk.
  31. 1 2 "Central Intelligence".
  32. ↑ "ORGAN THING: Unreadable, a triumph of a show that connects ten artists and a space…". 7 July 2015.
  33. ↑ "Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown characters". RadioTimes.
  34. ↑ "Under the Shadow | Almeida Theatre". Almeida Theatre. June 2026.
  35. ↑ "20 Fingers". TVGuide.com.
  36. ↑ Kolker, Robert (2011). A Cinema of Loneliness. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-973888-5.
  37. 1 2 3 4 "Bijan Daneshmand". BFI. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  38. ↑ "iranian.com: Setareh Sabety, A review of Bijan Daneshmand's "A Snake's Tail"". iranian.com.
  39. ↑ "A Snake's Tail". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema.
  40. ↑ "Body of Lies". TVGuide.com.
  41. ↑ "Bijan Daneshmand". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018.
  42. ↑ Press, Stephen Farber, The Associated; Farber, Stephen; Press, The Associated (14 October 2010). "Women Without Men — Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  43. ↑ "Green Zone". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 19 November 2018.
  44. ↑ "Green Zone". TVGuide.com.
  45. ↑ "From Tehran To London (Az Tehran Be London) | Film | The Guardian". www.theguardian.com.
  46. ↑ "From Tehran to London | Film Review | The Skinny". www.theskinny.co.uk.
  47. ↑ Chang, Justin (23 January 2016). "Sundance Film Review: 'Under the Shadow'".
  48. ↑ "Review: Pari". Cineuropa - the best of european cinema. 26 February 2020.
  49. ↑ Debruge, Peter (20 September 2020). "'Infidel' Review: Jim Caviezel, Who Once Played Jesus, Risks Martyrdom Again in Faith-Centric Thriller".
  50. ↑ "Movie Review: 'Infidel'". 24 September 2020.
  51. ↑ "Mister Mayfair (2021)". The A.V. Club.
  52. ↑ Felperin, Leslie (22 January 2023). "'The Persian Version' Review: An Effervescent Mother-Daughter Dramedy Spanning Decades, Continents and Cultures". The Hollywood Reporter.
  53. ↑ Hunter, Allan (30 January 2023). "'The Persian Version': Sundance Review". Screen.
  54. ↑ "BBC - Press Office - Spooks series four press pack credits". www.bbc.co.uk.
  55. ↑ "Saddam's Tribe: Bound by Blood (2007)". Radio Times.
  56. ↑ Guide, British Comedy. "The Omid Djalili Show Series 2, Episode 3". British Comedy Guide.
  57. ↑ "BBC Two - Page Eight". BBC.
  58. ↑ "Suspects Season 3". Radio Times.
  59. ↑ "Deep State". La Repubblica. 19 August 2019.
  60. ↑ "Deep State Season 1". Radio Times.
  61. ↑ "Traitors Season 1". Radio Times.
  62. ↑ "Tehran". La Repubblica. 27 September 2020.
  63. ↑ "House of the Dragon: start date, what it's about and cast | Edinburgh News". 19 August 2022.
  64. ↑ "Netflix upcoming Deborah Cahn series 'The Diplomat': Release date, cast & plot". The News International.
  65. 1 2 "Bijan Daneshmand".
  66. ↑ Hunt, Wayne (2 February 2009). "Baghdad Burning: The blogosphere, literature and the art of war". Arab Media & Society.
  67. ↑ "BBC - Press Office - Network Radio Programme Information BBC Week 26 Monday 28 June 2010". www.bbc.co.uk.
  68. ↑ Sawyer, Miranda (3 February 2019). "The week in radio and podcasts: Fall of the Shah; How to Burn a Million Quid". The Observer – via The Guardian.
  69. ↑ Sarah Hemming (10 June 2026). "Under the Shadow theatre review — a vivid, unnerving vision of the Iran-Iraq war". Financial Times.
  70. ↑ "Award of Merit May 2021".
  71. ↑ "Winners May 2021".
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