Born in 1985, Karimi is an Iranian filmmaker of Kurdish origin. Studied at Bachelor of communication science from Tehran University, social science faculty between 2003 until 2007 His short films, such as Broken Border (2012) and The Adventures of a Married Couple (2013), were presented in numerous international film festivals. Because of his documentary Writing on the City (2015), focusing on the graffiti of Tehran walls from the 1979 Islamic Revolution to the 2009 re-election of Mohamoud Ahmadinejad, Karimi was arrested and held in isolation for two weeks in December 2013. In October 2015, he was condemned to six years in prison and 223 lashes for “offending Islamic sacredness.” In February 2016, the appeal judgment confirmed all convictions but reduced the prison sentence to one year imprisonment but kept the 223 lashes. His freedom is currently in a state of limbo: he has not yet been imprisoned, but he has not been acquitted and he can no longer appeal his final sentence. His status can be considered house arrest as he is unable to travel anywhere, for example: the Venice Film Festival for the premiere of DRUM. Karimi considers Yılmaz Guney (the Cannes Palme d’Or winner for 1982’s YOL and a Turkish director of Kurdish origin) as an inspirational example of a filmmaker who stood up for freedom of expression.
FILMOGRAPHY
2016 DRUM (TABL)
2015 WRITING ON THE CITY (documentary)
2014 RASHID (documentary)
2013 THE ADVENTURES OF A MARRIED COUPLE (short fiction)
2012 BROKEN BORDER ( short documentary)
2011 ACT (short documentary)
2011 THE COLOR OF OLIVE (short documentary)
2009 THE CHILDREN OF DEPTH (short documentary)
2008 MAN AND PUCKETT (short documentary)
2007 ANTI EARTHQUAKE CONEX (short documentary)
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