Ana Lily Amirpour

Ana Lily Amirpour (آنا لیلی امیرپور) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter and actress of Iranian descent. She is best known for her feature film debut A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, self-described as "the first Iranian vampire spaghetti western" that made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014, and which was based on a previous short film that she wrote and directed, which won Best Short Film at the 2012 Noor Iranian Film Festival. Early life Amirpour was born in Margate, England to Iranian parents. She was born partially deaf. Her family moved to Miami, Florida when she was young. Her family then settled in Bakersfield, California, where she attended high school. She began studying biology at UC Santa Barbara but dropped out after one year. Later she returned to school to study painting and sculpting, attending San Francisco State University for her undergraduate degree, and then studied screenwriting at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television. She has been making films since she was 12 years old. Amirpour's love for film came about when she moved to the United States with her family in the 1980s. She speaks often about the culture shock she experienced and her connection with American films. "I got hooked on them. It's how I assimilated and became American through American pop culture and music—Madonna, Michael Jackson. And movies. I was always putting on shows and stuff. My dad got a camcorder when I was 12 and I started making films and imitating commercials. Like, I would remake commercials. I wasn't like; I'm going to be a filmmaker. My parents never encouraged that; I don't know how they would have. Iranians don't do that." Career