Jump to content

Tina Gharavi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tina Gharavi
تینا غروی
Gharavi on the set of The Tunnel
Born (1972-07-01) 1 July 1972 (age 52)
Tehran, Imperial State of Iran
Occupation(s)Artist, director, screenwriter, professor
Years active1998–present
WebsiteOfficial website

Tina Gharavi (Persian: تینا غروی born 1 July 1972) is an Iranian-born British artist, director and screenwriter. She was nominated for BAFTA and Sundance awards.[1] Her work has been broadcast on platforms such as Channel 4, the British Film Institute (BFI), and Film4. Her projects explore themes of equality and diversity.[2]

Early life and education

[edit]

Gharavi was born in Tehran. She attended high school in New Jersey. She initially trained as a painter in the United States before entering the film industry.[3]

Career

[edit]

Her debut film, I Am Nasrine, was nominated for a BAFTA for outstanding debut.[4] Sir Ben Kingsley, a patron of the film,[5][6] called it "an important and much-needed film".[7] Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film four stars, writing that it was "a valuable debut, shot with a fluent kind of poetry".[4]

In addition to film, Gharavi directed two episodes of The Tunnel, the UK equivalent of The Bridge for Sky and Ackley Bridge for Channel 4. She is a showrunner for an Icelandic/British Detective series, Refurinn (The Fox), an adaptation of an Icelandic best-selling detective series by Sólveig Pálsdóttir.[8]

She was awarded a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, received a UK Arts Council Decibel Spotlight Award and served as a diversity champion for a variety of organizations (UK Refugee Council, Arts Council North-East, Tyneside Cinema and BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Arts). Gharavi is an associate professor in Film & Digital Media at the University of Newcastle.[9] She was invited to join the BAFTA Academy in 2017 and received a Fellowship from the MIT Documentary Lab in Boston.[10]

In April 2023, Gharavi addressed criticism regarding the casting of Black actress Adele James as Cleopatra in the Netflix docuseries Queen Cleopatra. Gharavi defended the decision by stating that historical evidence suggests Cleopatra's appearance was more likely similar to Adele James than to previous portrayals, such as Elizabeth Taylor's in 1963.[11]

In 2024, Gharavi was announced as the director of The Shah, the Spy and the Madman, a documentary series examining the 1953 coup d'état in Iran.[12]

In December 2024, Gharavi was announced as the showrunner for The Fox, an international crime thriller series based on the best-selling Icelandic detective novels by Sólveig Pálsdóttir.[13]

Production

[edit]

In 1998, Gharavi established the film company Bridge +Tunnel, a multidisciplinary media production company. The company uses media to highlight underrepresented stories from minority and marginalized communities. It also offers students hands-on experience in media production, supporting the university’s goals for engagement and impact.[8][14]

Selected filmography

[edit]

Film

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2001 Closer Director/Producer
2002 Mother/Country Director/Producer
2002 A Town Like Lackawanna Director/Producer/Camera
2004 Featherhead Director/Producer Short film
2006 Bread: Nearest Neighbor: Israel & Palestine Director/Producer Documentary installation
2007 Asylum Carwash Director/Producer Documentary installation
2007 Two Lighthouses Director/Producer
2007 Perfect to Begin Producer Short film
2007–2013 Last of the Dictionary Men Artist Documentary installation
2008 The King of South Shields Director/Producer
2013 I Am Nasrine Director/Producer/Screenwriter
2015 People Like Us Director/Producer/Screenwriter Documentary short
2020 Tribalism Is Killing Us Director/Producer
2023 A Beirut Love Story Director/Screenwriter
TBA Night and Day Director
TBA The Good Iranian Director/Producer/Screenwriter

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
2017 The Tunnel: Vengeance Second unit director
2018 Ackley Bridge Director Episodes 5, 6
2023 African Queens: Queen Cleopatra Director
TBA Refurinn/The Fox Director

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Bafta nomination for Tina Gharavi's smuggled film". BBC News. 10 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Tina Gharavi". Women Make Movies.
  3. ^ "Tina Gharavi: Q&A". Guru.bafta.org. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  4. ^ a b Bradshaw, Peter. "I Am Nasrine – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
  5. ^ "I AM NASRINE". Brooklyn Film Festival. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
  6. ^ "Tina Gharavi". Primetime. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
  7. ^ "BEV chats to I Am Nasrine dir. Tina Gharavi | Birds Eye View". birds-eye-view.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015.
  8. ^ a b Clarke, Stewart. "'African Queens: Cleopatra' Director Tina Gharavi Options Icelandic Bestseller & Tees Up International Crime Thriller Series 'The Fox'". Deadline. Retrieved 25 January 2025.
  9. ^ "Tina Gharavi · BIFA · British Independent Film Awards". BIFA · British Independent Film Awards. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
  10. ^ "Staff Profile | English Literature, Language and Linguistics | Newcastle University". Newcastle University.
  11. ^ Kasraoui, Safaa (24 April 2023). "Filmmaker Tina Gharavi Responds to Egyptians' Criticism Against 'Black Cleopatra'". Morocco World News.
  12. ^ "Tina Gharavi to Direct Iranian Coup Doc Series 'The Shah, the Spy and the Madman'". Variety. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
  13. ^ Clarke, Stewart (9 December 2024). "'African Queens: Cleopatra' Director Tina Gharavi Options Icelandic Bestseller & Tees Up International Crime Thriller Series 'The Fox'". Deadline (magazine).
  14. ^ sidreddy (4 April 2022). "Meet Tina Gharavi | Film director & screenwriter, occasional professor". SHOUTOUT LA. Retrieved 26 March 2025.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tina_Gharavi&oldid=1285131848"