About Mohsen Makhmalbaf Mohsen Makhmalbaf (Persian: محسن مخملباف, born May 29, 1957) is an Iranian film director, writer, editor, and producer. He is currently the president of the Asian Film Academy. Makhmalbaf's films have been widely presented in international film festivals in the past ten years. The multi-award-winning director, belongs to the new wave movement of Iranian cinema. Time magazine selected Makhmalbaf's 2001 film, Kandahar, as one of top 100 films of all time. In 2006, he was a member of the Jury at the Venice film festival. Makhmalbaf left Iran in 2005 shortly after the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and now lives in Paris. As of June 12, 2009, and following the events of the 2009 Iranian presidential election, Mohsen Makhmalbaf has claimed that he has been appointed the official spokesman of Mir-Hossein Moussavi's campaign abroad.