Golestan was born in 1922 in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz and became an outstanding filmmaker and literary figure with half a century of shining career.
He established his own studio in 1953, where he made A Fire (1961), Wave, Coral and Rock (1962), the Hills of Marlik (1963), and the Crown Jewels of Iran (1965) among other masterpieces.
He was closely associated with the Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad and pushed her into cinema.
Golestan immigrated to England for the first time in 1967 and returned to Iran in 1972. He left his homeland again 1977 forever and lived in England for the rest of his life.
Art and culture runs deep in his family. His daughter Leili is a respected translator and author, his late son Kaveh was a photojournalist and documentary filmmaker, and his grandson Mani Haghighi is a decorated filmmaker, actor, and script writer.
