Bijan Daneshmand
Bijan Daneshmand
Bijan is London based British-Iranian Artist, actor, writer and director born in 1958, in Tehran-Iran, and moved to England at age 10. He has over 60 screen credits, directed and produced many projects including the Venice award winner 20 Fingers.
He also Works as a visual artist creating geometric and abstract paintings, including the Damavand series, represented at Capital Art London, October 2026.
The Damavand project
Artwork- Beginning in 2020, this series, inspired by childhood memories of Tehran, explores repetition and difference, revisiting this iconic mount through shifting scales, colours, materials and emotions on various surfaces, including canvas, gesso board, wood, and aluminium. Bijan later experimented with small concrete objects, with the earth used sourced from Iran.
The film- In 2025 Bijan wrote a screenplay for a feature film titled Damavand. A story centered on a fractured Iranian-British family in London forced to confront buried secrets and a contested inheritance tied to Mount Damavand, where truth, identity, and loyalty collide. To study the story, and it’s dialogue, Bijan arranged to shoot the scenes in a simplistic, minimalist manner, on an iPhone. This exercise was a collboration, for which Bijan is hugely grateful to the following artists and talents: Raad Rawi, Niki Karimi, Christiane Amanpour, Hossein Amirsadeghi, Isabella Nefar, Yazdan Qafouri, Nathalie Armin, Kate Gartside, Joseph Samimi, Fariba Mobara, Sam Varavipour, Keyvan Fehri, Kiu Samii, Marjaneh Sabouri, Cyrus Panahizadi, Roxana Chegini. Edited by Gareth Johnson. This project is still at its infancy and development. The intention is to possibly go to the next stage and make the feature film.
Education
MA Fine Art Chelsea College of Art, London
BSc Eng Kings College, London
Trained at London Centre of Theatre Studies and Philippe Gaulier, Paris
Selected Exhibitions
2026 Damavand, solo Exhibition, Capital Art, London
2026 With My Roots Biennale, Capital Art London, Mall Galleries, London
2023 Ke Chi, Finch Projects, London Fields
2021 Green & Stone Summer Exhibition, London
2020 Magic of Persia, From Tehran with Love, Los Angeles
2020 Banana Jam, Beijing design week group show, Beijing
2019 Patternitcture, Farhangsaraye Niavaran, Tehran
2019 Banana Jam Shenzen Art Fair, Shenzen
2017 Infinite Truths, solo show, Janet Rady, London
2017 Seasons, Maxilla Space, London
2016 Paper Tiger Wooden Horse, Shenzen
2016 Savoir Faire, Different Gallery, London
2016 Fast Forward/ Rewind, Punctum Space, London
2016 Blue Gold, Gallery Etemad, Tehran
2015 Geometry Zen, Fetch Art, Taipei
2015 Chelsea Summer Show, London
2015 Unreadable, Pangaea Sculptors’ Centre, London
2014 Exploration, La Galleria, London
2014 Kids of Dada, London
2014 Middle East Contemporary Art Auction, London
Selected Press Release
Bijan Daneshmand Joins the Cast of Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’
The Authentic Talent of Actor and Filmmaker Bijan Daneshmand
The Persian Observer 2023 Interview with Prolific TV + Film Actor Bijan Daneshmand
From Tehran With Love, 2020
INFINITE TRUTHS, by Elizabeth Manchester, London 2017
Wall Street International Infinite Truths
Lisa Pollman interview 2016
BIJAN DANESHMAND, Selected works: 2008–2013, text by Helen Sumpter
Review: “‘Unreadable’, a triumph of a show that connects ten artists and a space ” by Sean Worrell for ORGAN THING online arts magazine
Le muqarnas di Bijan Daneshmand by Sergio Spadaro Le muqarnas di Bijan
Film review: ” Rumi, opium, and the beauty of genuine forgiveness: a review of Bijan Daneshmand’s ‘A Snake’s Tail’
Film & TV Bijan Daneshmand on IMDB
Bijan Daneshmand’s biography on Wikipedia
Acting
Trained at London Centre of Theatre Studies and Philippe Gaulier, Paris.
Bijan acts and performs in film, tv, theatre, radio drama.
Acted and produced 20 Fingers, winner Best Digital Film at Venice Film Festival 2004 Produced, directed, acted in A Snake’s Tail, Best International Feature Bare Bones Film Festival USA 2006
Acting credits include:
Prisoner 951 by Philippa Lowthorpe
100 Nights of Hero by Julia Jackman
The Persian Version by Maryam Keshavarz
The Diplomat by Simon Cellan Jones
House of the Dragon by Miguel Sapochnik
The Infidel by Cyrus Nowrasteh
The Night Manager by Susanne Bier
Pari by Siamak Etemadi
Nowhere to Run by Luke Scott
Women Without Men by Shirin Neshat
Under The Shadow by Babak Anvari
Body of Lies by Ridley Scott
Munich by Steven Spielberg
20 Fingers by Mania Akbari
Page Eight by David Hare
Various Radio plays for BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service
Theatre in Under The Shadow at the Almeida Theatre 2026
Represented by JWL Artists, London