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Boshra Dastournezhad (née Boshra Dastournezhad Haghighi; born 1985) is an Iranian model and actress. She appeared in the 2006 film Radio Dreams.

Early life

Boshra Dastournezhad Haghighi was born in 1985 in Shiraz into a family of Baháʼí faith, as the daughter of Mehran Dastournezhad Haghighi and Fariba Vesali. She is the granddaughter of Abdosamad Dastournezhad Haghighi and Parvin Samandari (Agah). At age 12, Dastournezhad started modeling for her aunt, Shabnam Dastournezhad Haghighi, a professional painter in Ottawa, which led her towards a career in modeling.

She studied children's literature and theatre at Baháʼí Institute for Higher Education (also known as BIHE University).

Career

Dastournezhad started modeling professionally in Turkey in 2009. Since she has modeled for several local and national campaigns. In 2012, her modeling endeavors took her to the United States. While in the United States, she had several jobs that helped to propel her career.

In 2014, during a trip to Seattle, she was recorded reciting an original poem, "Oral B" in her native language of Persian. It was posted to Facebook and received over 16,000 shares, catching the attention of Marjaneh Moghimi [Wikidata], a prominent Iranian-American film producer. After a brief conversation, Dastournezhad was cast as "Maral" in the film Radio Dreams (2016), by film director Babak Jalali.

For her stage debut, she played the male character "Prince Manouchehr" in the play Zohreh and Manouchehr in Santa Monica, working alongside Shahrokh Moshkin Ghalam. Dastournezhad was a leading member in the play Khale Sooske (English: Auntie Cockroach), which travelled to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Reception

Writing in Variety, critic Catherine Bray called her performance "a standout among the supporting players, sketching the financially astute daughter of the station owner with Aubrey Plaza levels of deadpan misanthropy."

Neil Young of The Hollywood Reporter described the film as "Presenting a nuanced, intelligent and consistently droll take on hot-button subjects of immigration, identity and cultural assimilation..." and that it "stand comparison with the finest radio-themed enterprises of the current century..."

Writing in Variety, critic Catherine Bray called the film a "quietly satisfying gem..." and a "deserving Tiger competition winner at Rotterdam...".

Awards and nominations

References

1. ^ "Boshra Archives". Tirgan Festival 2019. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
2. Kenny, Glenn (2017-06-01). "Review: 'Radio Dreams' Builds a Spiritual Home for Stateless Souls". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
3. "Radio Dreams will make you tune in". NOW Magazine. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
4. ^ "Interview with Boshra". ZH Magazine. 2020-12-15. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
5. Young, Neil (24 June 2016). "'Radio Dreams': Rotterdam Review". Hollywood Reporter.
6. ^ Bray, Catherine (24 June 2016). "Film Review: 'Radio Dreams'". Variety. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
7. Goodfellow, Melanie (January 31, 2016). "Tiger directors: Babak Jalali, 'Radio Dreams'". Screen Daily. Retrieved 24 June 2016.

• 1985 births
• Living people
• Actors from Shiraz
• Iranian female models
• Iranian Bahá'ís
• Iranian stage actresses
• Iranian film actresses