Kianoush Ayari (Persian: کیانوش عیاری; born May 14, 1951) is an Iranian director and screenwriter.

[1] He is famous for his realistic style and unique stories like heart transplantation in his movie To Be or Not to Be (1998) or fate of a teacher after the horrible Bam earthquake in Wake Up, Arezoo!

Ayari started his cinematic career by making 8mm short films.

[5][6] Mehdi Hashemi, one of the best actors of Iranian theatre and cinema has played the main actor role in his movies for the last two decades, including: Thousand Eyes (TV Series), Roozegar-e Gharib (TV Series), The Paternal House and his latest movie Kanape'.

Here is a list of awards received by Kianoush Ayari in film festivals:[7][8]