Tara Aghdashloo

Tara Aghdashloo is an award winning writer, director,  multidisciplinary artist 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 SWANA region, before transitioning to film. After completing a masterclass by renowned filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, who remains as her mentor, she made three narrative shorts with 25 nominations and 15 awards between them, competing at international Oscar, CSA, BAFTA and BIFA Qualifying festivals including: BlackStar, Edinburgh Short, Leiden International, Cinequest, St. Louis, ReelWorld, Aesthetica, Ennesimo, deadCentre, HollyShorts, Norwich, Chelsea, and more.

Her debut narrative short THE RIDE (2022) was commissioned by BFI Network with the support of Canada Council of the Arts and Toronto Arts Council, and won Best Short Film at Nostalgia Film Festival. Her second short film BRIDGE (2023) was produced by Kusini Productions for BBC. It has been nominated for 18 awards and won 8, and is an adaptation of an award-winning poem by Gemma Barnett. EMPTY YOUR POCKETS (2024) is Tara’s third short film produced by OPC Film and Intermission Films supported by Canada Council of the Arts and Ontario Arts Council, and it has won 6 awards as it continues on the festival circuit.

Tara is developing her feature film slate. Her debut feature participated in the Academy-backed Cine Qua Non script revision lab with the mentorship of Oscar nominee Chrisina Lazuridi. The film is a UK-Canada co-production supported by Telefilm Canada and Ontario Creates, produced by London’s Caspian Films and Toronto’s Babe Nation. Tara participated in RIFF Talent Lab (Reykjavík International Film Festival), as well as the Berlinale pitch lab sessions at the EFM workshopped by Stefano Tealdi, and in 2025 she was on the cohort of Women in the Director’s Chair Canada. Tara is an intersectional feminist, human rights activist and an advocate for women, diversity and SWANA representation in film. She regularly participates in panels and workshops and has served as jury on festival and funding committees, as well as offering mentorships with Film London and the Roundhouse. She is a member of Directors UK, Cinesisters, Female Film Club and Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association.