Maryam Najafi

Cinema

Born in Tehran and raised around the world, Maryam Najafi is an Iranian-Canadian filmmaker. She holds a BA in Film Studies from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in Motion Pictures and Television from the prestigious Academy of Art University (AAU) in San Francisco. She has worked as a writer, director, editor and producer in Canada, Spain and the Middle East.
She set up her own boutique production company, Mehr studio in 2007 and has written, directed and produced numerous documentaries, music videos and PSA. In 2010, Maryam co-produced The Neighbor (Dir: Naghmeh Shirkhan) which has been featured in various international film festivals and has won several awards.
Maryam’s own debut feature film as writer/director, Kayan (2012), went on to win the prestigious New Currents Award at the 17th Busan International Film Festival and had its European premiere at the 2013 Rotterdam International Film Festival. 
She currently has three feature films in development, one of which is called Jannat and has Ramin Bahrani (hailed as "the director of the decade" by Roger Ebert) attached as the executive producer. Maryam is creative consultant and cultural liaison on Window Horses.