Biography

Shiva Boloorian was born on 6 October 1979. She holds a master's degree in theatre directing from the University of Art and Architecture in Tehran and a bachelor's degree in English translation.

She studied screenwriting with Nasser Taghvai at the Hozeh Honari arts centre, took professional filmmaking courses at the Young Filmmakers Society, and completed advanced training in cinematography and film directing with Saeed Pouresmaeili at Hilaj Film, run by Amir Shahab Razavian.

Her artistic life began in childhood, as a voice in the children's programmes of Iranian radio. Acting classes for children soon led her to the stage, where her natural, affecting performances in children's plays and youth theatre festivals drew attention and won her a string of awards. In her early teens she was already writing and directing children's plays alongside acting, and each of them was honoured at the Omid National Children and Youth Theatre Festival. Writing and directing gradually became a serious part of her theatre work, and productions staged at Tehran's City Theatre, among them Burned City, The Tale of the Stone Women and The Tale of Asef, were high points of her years on stage.

Her role in Rasoul Mollagholipour's feature film Help Me brought her an acting nomination and marked the start of her professional career as an actress. She has since appeared in many plays, series and films.

Help Me remains a highlight of her career, but her wide popularity comes from much-loved television series: Eternal Train, produced by Bijan Birang and Masoud Rassam; Days of Life, directed by Sirous Moghaddam; Shadow of the Sun and Leaden Stars, directed by Mohammadreza Ahanj; Youth, directed by Saeed Soltani; Under the City Sky 3, directed by Mehran Ghafourian; and The Dots, directed by Mehran Modiri.

Her role in Mostafa Razzagh Karimi's feature film Hidden Sense, alongside Mohammadreza Foroutan, Mahtab Keramati, Hamed Behdad, Niousha Zeighami and Atila Pesyani, brought her back into the spotlight.

She has also written and directed short films, run a film school, and taught acting and directing.

As a presenter she has hosted popular television programmes including Girls, Ice in Paradise, Good Morning Iran and Moonlit Night.

She continued her radio work on the programme Iranian Friday and has acted in television theatre productions including Five Minutes to the Border, Silence and The Gate of Hours.

Her television films include Hidden Fever, Presence, Be My Mother, Walking Tall, Feast of Terror, Confession, Night Game, Leaning on the Sun and Set Free.

In recent years she has written, directed and produced the short films Beyond Border (2023), in which she also acts, and Forgotten Letters (2026). Beyond Border was selected by eight international festivals and won Best Indie Short Film at the Mokkho International Film Festival; Forgotten Letters won Best Director at the Monza Film Fest.

She married in 2011 and has a daughter, Nania, born in Vienna in 2013, and a son, Brian, born in Vienna in 2019. She lives in Tehran and Vienna.