Years of Work
Gian grew up in a Kurdish family where folk music filled the house every day. He picked up the violin as a boy, then classical piano, before studying Art History and Pedagogy at the University of Tehran.
Leaving for Europe
He left Iran to pursue vocal artistry in Europe — the beginning of a life spent translating himself between cultures, disciplines, and languages.
Gian earned a place in the World Music Master’s programme at the Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki. There he became lead vocalist and composer of BaranBand, a Middle Eastern indie-pop group blending tradition with modernity, and released the album Mn Bo To.
Solo Music
His solo work followed: the intimate voice-and-piano collection La Mia Rosa, then two English-language pop albums, The Start (2021) and The Moon (2022). Today he sings in Kurdish, Persian, Italian, English, and Finnish.
The Page & The Stage
Music opened the door to writing. Gian has written theatre plays, screenplays, and novels including The Tram Driver — stories built with the same restraint and intimacy as his songs.
The Screen
He produced short films and documentaries before writing and directing his debut feature, The Soldier — selected at more than 40 international festivals and winner of Best Film, a Special Jury Prize, and the DocPoint Helsinki Audience Award.
Now
Gian is currently completing A Finnish Summer, his second feature. Music, writing, film, and theatre remain one ongoing conversation — a search for what connects us beneath language, nationality, and fear.
“I do not separate my work from my life. Everything I make is an attempt to understand what it means to be human — in exile, in love, in loss, in hope.”
— Gian Majidi
Cinema
Literature