His father, originally from Shiraz, initially exposed him to the poetic works of Hafez and encouraged him to pursue his passion for the arts.

[10] In 2009, he made a short film, Plastic Bag, with the voice of German filmmaker Werner Herzog and an original score from Kjartan Sveinsson of the band Sigur Rós.

Bahrani's fourth feature film, At Any Price (2013) stars Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron, Heather Graham, Kim Dickens, Clancy Brown and Chelcie Ross.

[11] The film, despite its relative star power and a notable performance by Dennis Quaid, received mixed reviews from most critics and earned less than $500,000 at the box office.

Bahrani's film for HBO, Fahrenheit 451, an adaptation of Ray Bradbury's 1953 dystopian novel of the same name, was released on May 12, 2018, receiving mostly negative reviews.