Aria Farjadi
Award-winning actor with lead roles in Danish short film alongside credits in TV series, commercials and music videos. Two-time Best Male Actor nominee at the EKKO Shortlist Awards.
From classical piano to the camera
Aria Farjadi is a Danish actor, pianist and composer born in 1965 in Tehran, Iran, who emigrated to Denmark at the age of 25. He studied music in Tehran under musician Sharif Lotfi for three years before moving to Denmark. He is the founder and director of the Farjadi Piano School in Copenhagen NV, where he has taught piano for over 35 years, and is a member of the European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA) Denmark. In 2023 he also completed a pianist course at The Royal Danish Ballet’s Summer School.
He played the lead role of a piano teacher in the short film “Mount Everest” (2019, dir. Rasmus Nyholm Schmitt), which won Best Danish Short Film at the Odense International Film Festival (OFF) 2019 — earning him a nomination for Best Male Actor at the EKKO Shortlist Awards 2019. According to an interview with EKKO, director Rasmus Nyholm Schmitt had himself been a piano student of Aria’s, and drew on his teaching for the film’s screenplay.
In 2021 he took the lead role of a pianist and family father in the short film “Overtones” (dir. Rasmus Nyholm Schmitt, Growing Stories), which was nominated for Best Nordic Short Film at Nordisk Panorama in Malmö 2022 — and in 2023 earned him his second Best Male Actor nomination at the EKKO Shortlist Awards.
Since then he has appeared in a range of Danish and international productions, including the TV series “Klovn” (TV 2), “Tunna Blå Linjen” (SVT) and the Netflix series “SKRUK”, as well as commercials for DSB, the Danish Cancer Society, LEGO and Telenor Business, among others. He has also composed film music, including for the documentary “My Iranian Paradise” (2008). Most recently he appears as actor, composer and pianist in the short film “An Event in September” (Danish: “En begivenhed i september”, 2026, dir. Amir Rezazadeh, Option Movie), which had a private premiere in October 2026 and has been submitted to film festivals.
In 2026 he played Stefan in Maria Bäck’s feature film “Brave New Love”, which had its world premiere in the main competition at the Locarno Film Festival.
Aria is also the author of a series of books on piano playing and the musician’s life, published by his own imprint, FARJADI PIANO SCHOOL PUBLICATIONS, and translated into up to 13 languages: The Art of Sight-Reading at the Piano (Prima Vista), the six-volume series The Intuitive Pianist, The Art of Memorisation at the Piano, When the Music Falls Silent, Behind the Keys and Solresol. The books are available as e-books on Google Play and Amazon Kindle – see them at klaverundervisning.dk/publications.
Aria speaks Danish, English and Persian (Farsi, native language), as well as Dari and some Arabic.
In 2022, Aria served as a jury member at Brejning Film Festival, where he took part in the professional film industry jury screening and rating submitted films for the festival’s official selection.
Quick Facts
- First lead role2019 – “Mount Everest”
- Awards3 wins, 4 nominations
- Jury memberBrejning Film Festival 2022
- MasterclassIvana Chubbuck, May 2022
- Short films15+
- TV series5+
- Commercials15+
- LanguagesDA / EN / FA / Dari
- Driver’s licenseCategory B
Recognition for leading roles
Best Danish Short Film
Odense International Film Festival (OFF), 2019 — for “Mount Everest” (lead role: piano teacher) · watch the moment
Best Male Actor
EKKO Shortlist Awards, 2019 — for “Mount Everest”
Best Male Actor
EKKO Shortlist Awards, 2023 — for “Overtones” (lead role: father/pianist)
Best Nordic Short Film
Nordisk Panorama Film Festival, Malmö 2022 — “Overtones” selected for the Best Nordic Short Film competition
Audience Award
FILMKRAFT Short Film Festival Aalborg, 2021 — for “Tornen dør, blomsten lever” (role: father)
Best Experimental Film
Cannes Shorts Film Festival, 2022 — for “The Missing Park” (dir. Amir Rezazadeh)
Award Winner
Montreal Independent Film Festival — for “The Missing Park”
Tokyo Shorts
Tokyo Shorts, January 2022 — for “The Missing Park”
Top Escape Room of the Year
Enthusiasts’ Choice Awards 2022 and 2023, Top Escape Rooms Project — for “Spy Mission: Downfall” (role: General Kolnikov)
Bronze Lion
Cannes Lions 2025, Film Craft (cinematography) — for the campaign film “Name the Bias” (Aria appears as a passenger) · also 2× Silver at the Young Director Award
Grand Prix + Gold
TRUE Awards 2025 — Grand Prix, Gold (film over 60 sec.), Casting Director award, DoP award and Bronze for direction — for “Name the Bias”
Documentation
Screenshots of the public sources behind the awards and nominations. Click to enlarge.
Film posters
Music videos
Selected productions
Short Films 17 productions
Coming soonMorendo
Role: The Grand Marquess
An Event in September (En begivenhed i september)
Actor, composer and pianist
Coming soonVejen til Accept
Role: Morteza
The Missing Park
Featured (top-billed)
Nominated · Cannes Shorts 2022 (Best Experimental Film) · Winner · Montreal Independent Film Festival · Semi-finalist · Tokyo Shorts 2022
MEHO
Role: Yunes
Name the Bias
Role: Passenger
Grand Prix + 3× Gold (Film, Casting, Direction), The True Award 2025 · Bronze Lion, Cannes Lions 2025 · 2× Silver Screen, Young Director Award 2025
Overtones
Role: Family father/pianist (lead)
Nominated · Nordisk Panorama 2022 · EKKO Shortlist 2023
Mount Everest
Role: Piano teacher (lead)
Winner · Best Danish Short Film, OFF 2019 · Nominated EKKO Shortlist 2019
Det Eneste Vidne (“True Crime”)
Role: Forester
Commercials 17 productions
Private eventHermès event, “Home Sweet Home”
Role: Aria – husband
Internal filmParkinson’s Awareness
Role: Friend
RAINS
Acting model
Novo Nordisk – Resistance Band Exercises
Role: Trainer
Music Videos 3 productions
Documentary 5 productions
Coming soonDouble Trouble Pilot (reconstruction)
Role: Muammar Gaddafi
BackstageTV – Discovery+ (reconstruction)
Role: Victim (reenactment)
Feature Film & Other 4 productions
ClipEscape Room – “Spy Mission: Downfall”
Role: General Kolnikov
Nominated · Enthusiasts’ Choice Awards 2022 and 2023
Listen to Aria’s music
Aria composes for piano, chamber ensembles and film – from the new piano pieces of Opus 18 to Persian-inspired rhapsodies – and performs a repertoire from Bach to Philip Glass. Choose a piece and it plays right here on the page.
A New Day
Aria’s newest composition, October 2026. Press play to listen here on the page.
Piano Reflections
Aria’s own recordings of four pieces from Piano Reflections, Volume One – eleven original works for solo piano. Press play to listen here on the page.
Original compositions
As a pianist
Ensemble & duets
Books by Aria
Aria writes for pianists and music lovers – about sight-reading, memory, body and mind at the piano, and the life of a musician. The books are published as e-books in up to 13 languages; Prima Vista is also available in print.
The Art of Sight-Reading at the Piano
Prima Vista · a complete method – in 13 languages
The Art of Memorisation at the Piano
How to memorise piano music · a complete method
When the Music Falls Silent
On the emptiness after the concert and the way back to the piano
The Intuitive Pianist – a series in six volumes
Six short books about what happens before, during and after the note: the nervous system, the body, the sound, presence, the repertoire and the stage. Each volume stands on its own.
Photos
Watch Aria on screen
Read the EKKO interview: “A passionate pianist with acting talent”
In the press
“Passionate pianist with acting talent”
An interview about Aria’s role as the devoted piano teacher in Mount Everest, his nomination for Best Male Actor at the EKKO Shortlist Awards – and how close the role lies to his own life as a pianist and teacher.
“If you burn for your art, the rest will come by itself.”Read the interview →
“EKKO Shortlist Awards: The nominees are …”
Aria is nominated for Best Male Actor for Overtoner. EKKO calls him “gribende som konkurstruet klaverlærer”.
Read the article →Moments
Behind the scenes
Casting measurements
Measurements (EU)
- Height174 cm
- Weight98 kg
- Shoe42
- Shirt45 / XL
- TrousersW36 – L32
- Suit / Jacket / Blazer58
- Tattoos / PiercingsNone
Other
- Playing age40–65 years
- Driver’s licenseCar – Category B
- DanishFluent
- EnglishFluent
- Persian (Farsi)Native
- Afghan / DariFluent
- ArabicBasic
Special Skills
- Classical piano✓
- Keyboard✓
- Drums✓
- Dance✓
- Diving✓
- Skiing✓
- Improvisation✓
- Motorcycle riding✓
- Voiceover✓
Book Aria for your next production
Kommunikate — Susanne Rosasco Louw
+45 31 50 90 31 · susanne@kommunikate.dk