Esmail Koushan (Ismāʻīl Kūshān; 1917–1981) was an Iranian filmmaker and a pioneer of Iranian cinema. Georges Sadoul referred to him as “the father of the Iranian film industry.” Koushan was a pioneer in the development of Iranian cinema, introducing the studio system to Iranian filmmaking. He studied cinema at the Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft (UFA) in Berlin, Germany. After his return to Iran, he began his career by dubbing foreign films into Persian. He then established his film company, Mitrā Film, producing Tūfān-i zindigī (The Storm of Life) in 1948, the first Iranian talkie to be made in Iran. In 1950, he not only founded Pars Film studio, but also established the Ālam-i Hunar magazine, and produced newsreels and documentary films. He served in 1968 as the chairman of the National Film Industry Union of Iran. Koushan died in Tehran in 1981.