Atila Pesyani was born in Tehran to a family of artists and actors.

He is the son of the actress Jamileh Sheikhi. Later, he married actress Fatemeh Naghavi. His two children, Khosrow and Setareh, followed their parents’ career and both are actors now.

A graduate of theater directing and acting from Tehran University, he began his acting career in theatrical plays in 1977 and four years later, he had his first appearance in a movie. In the meantime, he played in TV series as well. During his over 45 years of professional career, he played in more than 40 plays, 75 movies, and 50 series.

Besides acting, he also directed several plays, and served as an assistant director and casting director in a number of movies. He was also a veteran in production and script supervising.

Pesyani was one the most prolific actors in Iranian cinema. He is well-known for his acting in “Devil’s Day”, “Two Women”, “Afflicted Generation” and “Water and Fire”.

Aside from acting, Pesyani has experience in directing, assistant directing, production management, script supervising and casting.

Pesyani received several nominations at different national events including the Best Supporting Actor Golden Statue at the House of Cinema Celebration for the movies “Two Women” (1998), “Afflicted Generation” (1999), “The Last Supper” (2001), and “Who Killed Amir?” (2005) as well as a nomination for the Crystal Simorgh's Best Leading Actor for “In Cold Blood” (1994) from the Fajr International Film Festival. He won the Best Supporting Actor Golden Statue at the 5th House of Cinema Celebration for “Water and Fire” (2001).

Some other well-known films in which he performed are “The Hidden Half” (2001), the 1st and 2nd part of “Ceasefire” (2005, 2014), “Throughout the Night” (2010), “The President's Cell Phone” (2011) and “The Wooden Bridge” (2011).

“The First Night of Peace” (2006), “Goodbye Child” (2012), and “Madineh” (2014) are some of his successful series among others.

His last work was the play “Qajari Coffee,” which he had written and directed, and staged at the main hall of the City Theater in Tehran in 2018.

Pesyani died of cancer on 6 October 2023, at the age of 66. (Tehran Times)

Filmography

As an actor

    1983 : La mort blanche
    1986 : Telesm
    1988  : Le Bateau Angelica
    1989 : Le vol du 5 juin
    1990 : Raz-e Khanjar
    1990 : Deux films avec un billet
    1992 : Mosaferan (Les Voyageurs)
    1993 : La cendre verte
    1994 : Rooz-e Sheytan (Le jour du diable)
    1994 : Dar Kamal Khoonsardi
    1995 : Sheikh Mofid
    1995 : Diplomate
    1996 : Scorpion
    1997 : Haft Sang
    1997 : La règle du jeu
    1998 : Hyowa
    1998 : Do Zan (Deux femmes)
    1999 : Nasl-e Soukhteh
    2000 : L’ombre et le soleil
    2000 : Le chant d’oie
    2000 : L’eau et le feu
    2001 : Nimeh Penhan
    2001 : Shame Akhar
    2001 : Safar Be Farda
    2002 : Gav khooni
    2002 : Gahi Be Aseman Negah Kon
    2003 : Coma
    2003 : Barg-e Barandeh
    2004 : Les célibataires
    2004 : Un endroit pour vivre
    2004 : Spaghetti en 8 minutes
    2005 : Kārgarān mashghul-e kārand
    2005 : Aroosak Farangi
    2005 : Shabaneh
    2005 : Qui a tué Amir?
    2005 : Cessez-le-feu
    2006 : Farzand Sobh
    2006 : L’ombre
    2008 : Yek Vajab Az Aseman
    2008 : Moosh (Souris)
    2008 : Seda-ha
    2008 : Voyage de la mort
    2008 : Doozakh, Barzakh, Behesht
    2008 : Padash (Le bonus)
    2009 : Noghteh Bi Bazghasht