Pouria Montazeri

Resigned as Director of Operations at the Nashville Film Festival in order to focus more on teaching at the Governor's School for the Arts. [2009]

Ever since Pouria was a child he envisioned every piece of music he heard, every story he read; even down to the very thoughts that crossed his mind. And with this flair for transforming the intangible into the visual, he breathed new life into everything he encountered. This gift, blessed upon him from above, has been burning in his soul for years; begging to break through. What better medium to express his capacity for imagery than film?At fourteen, he was introduced to the M. T. O. Shahmaghsoudi School of Sufism. This was the turning point in his life. Little did he realize what a dramatic effect it would have on not only his spiritual being and perception, but also on his sense of creativity. Spiritually, its teachings found a home in his heart and opened his eyes to the beauty of life-filling every day with joy, peace and tranquility. But in terms of expanding his imagination, he spent countless hours on creating images out of stories and lessons he heard at the Sufi classes. Once exposed to the art of filmmaking, he learned not only how to interpret his thoughts into reality, but also that he was not the only one with a vision. Though his family was instrumental, there were many other dear individuals who helped shape his creative drive: The picturesque poetry of Akira Kurosawa, Andrei Tarkovsky, Sergei Paradjanov, and Theo Angelopoulos; the wit and genius of Woody Allen; the boldness of Martin Scorsese and Spike Lee; the simplicity of Abbas Kiarostami, Ingmar Bergman, Wim Wenders, and Dariush Mehrjui; and finally, the beautiful and inspirational writings of Rumi, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Hafiz, Oscar Wild, Maurice Maeterlinck and Kahlil Gibran; but these are merely a glimpse of the multitude of artists which have inspired him. After enrolling into film school, he dived into the world of filmmaking and ever since he has worked on numerous film sets one after another, for he knew that it would be the only true way of learning. He loves and lives for composition. Even when it comes to his own films, he cannot separate the director from the cinematographer. He directs with the camera. Pouria shot his first film entitled "Majnun's Way Found", a surreal look into the life of a young man filled with longing, in Spring 2003, shot The Tulip Grower (2005) in 2004 and Shams & Rumi: The Fragrance of Axis Mundi (2006) in Fall 2005.