Vania Parvasi

Vania Parvasi was born on August 23, 1966 in Tehran, Iran. From the time he was a child, he showed an interest in painting. With no instructor to give him directions, he found that each painting he worked on was a class in learning new techniques and the styles of respected artists. At the age of twelve, during summer break, he was introduced to the art of rug weaving. His mentor, a master of rug weaving, was world renowned Mr. Rasam Arabzadeh who is recognized as the father of Persian rug weaving. Mr. Arabzadeh accomplished making Persian rugs popular all over the world as art objects rather than mere craft products. Vania showed a keen interest in the ancient art of rug weaving from the beginning of his training. While attending school he devoted his free time to pursuing the art of rug weaving. By the time he graduated from high school he had mastered all processes of rug design, weaving, dyeing, and restoration. At the recommendation of Master Arabzadeh, he opened his first gallery in Tehran. With great enthusiasm he displayed his works, and with the help of his family, he started teaching the art of rug making to his students. In 1992, Vania won the Green Card Lottery to be able to move to the United States. In January of 2000, Vania opened his first US gallery in southern California, in the city of Claremont. He continued opening galleries in Pasadena, Los Angeles, and Laguna Beach as well as a restaurant in Old Town Pasadena. In 2010, a friend of Vania's - an actor, who was one of his gallery clients - invited him to a film set he was working on. Immediately, Vania fell in love with the process and art of filmmaking. He wanted to tell stories from his life in a meaningful way, and film was calling to him. In 2019, Vania wrote the script for his first movie and with the help of some of his friends - professionals in the film industry - in 2021 Vania is now directing and producing his own movie.