Tara Aghdashloo

Tara Aghdashloo is a writer, director, and poet born in Iran. She received a BA in Journalism (TMU, formerly Ryerson University) and an MA in Global Media and Postnational Communication (SOAS, University of London), with a focus on political philosophy and literature. She worked on a number of docs and doc-series for television (BBC, Channel 4), as well as publishing her essays, short stories, articles, and poetry (The Guardian, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, etc.), covering current affairs and culture primarily in the Middle East, before transitioning to film. After completing a masterclass by renowned filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who remains as her mentor, she went on to make three narrative shorts.

Her debut short film THE RIDE was commissioned by BFI Network with the support of Canada Council of the Arts and Toronto Arts Council, and competed in festivals internationally, winning Best Short Film at Nostalgia Film Festival. Her second short film BRIDGE was produced by Kusini Productions for BBC. It has been nominated for 17 awards and won 7; Best European Short Film at Catania Film Festival, Best Director and Best Actress at Alessandria Film Festival, Best International Director and Best International Short Film at Contemporanea Festival, Best Narrative Short and Best Actress at I Will Tell Festival. EMPTY YOUR POCKETS is Tara’s third short film produced by OPC Film and Intermission Films supported by Canada Council of the Arts and Ontario Arts Council. It premiered at BlackStar Film Festival and has received two awards for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Lead Actor at ReelWorld Festival

Her debut feature film is currently in development and has participated in the Academy-backed Cine Qua Non script revision lab, as well as RIFF Talent Lab (Reykjavík International Film Festival). The film is a UK-Canada co-production supported by Telefilm Canada and Ontario Creates, produced by Caspian Films. Tara is an intersectional feminist, human rights activist and advocate for women, diversity and MENA representation in film. She regularly participates in panels and workshops and has served as jury on festival and funding committees.