Tara Aghdashloo
Tara Aghdashloo | |
|---|---|
| تارا آغداشلو | |
| Born | Tehran, Iran |
| Occupations | Writer, Director, Producer, Author |
| Parents |
|
| Website | www |
Tara Aghdashloo (Persian: تارا آغداشلو) is an Iranian-born writer and director.[2]
She is an advocate for women's rights issues, and has attended panels on issues relating to Iran and the Middle East, as well as discussions on women and diversity in filmmaking.[3] Her activism has made her a target for the Iranian authorities.[4][5]
Biography
Tara Aghdashloo was born in Tehran to the architect Firouzeh "Fay" Athari and the painter Aydin Aghdashloo.[6][7] When she was in high school her family moved to Toronto, Canada.[2]
She studied print journalism and political science at the Toronto Metropolitan University, and Global Media and Post-national Communication at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies. [1]
Work
Film and television
Aghdashloo's first narrative short The Ride [8] premiered at Cinequest Film Festival in California[9] and was funded by BFI Network, Canada Council of the Arts, and Toronto Arts Council. The short film Bridge, commissioned by the BBC, was based on a spoken-word poem by Gemma Barnett and premiered at Norwich Film Festival.[10] Her third narrative short, Empty Your Pockets, is her first Persian language film.[11]
Tara's journalism and documentaries have appeared on Channel 4 News,[12][13] and BBC World.[14][15] She was a founding co-host and producer on the first Persian-speaking all-female talk show, Samte No.[16]
Writing
Her poetry has appeared in English[17] and Persian[18] magazines, and her poetry collection, This is Not a Pomegranate, was published by Shahrvand Publications in 2011.[19]
Curation
She co-directed and curated The Invisible Line (TIL) Gallery in East London for two years.[20] In 2017 she curated a retrospective of Portuguese artist Cristina Rodrigues in Castelo Branco Museum.[21] She frequently reviews art by Iranian and Middle Eastern artists.[22]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Type | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Empty Your Pockets | Short film | Writer, director & producer | Awards: Outstanding Short Film Direction, Outstanding Short Lead Actor (ReelWorld Film Festival), Best Director (HB Film Festival), Best Fiction Film (Festival International du Film de Vebron), Best Foreign Short Film (Unrestricted View), Best Short Film (Quarantine Film Festival), Best Drama (Sustain Film Festival), Best International Short (Giddy Island Film Festival), Special Jury Mention (Kaafilm Festival). |
| 2023 | Bridge | Short film | Director | Short film adaptation of an award winning poem by Gemma Barnett who also stars in it. Nominated for Best UK Short (Unrestricted Festival), Best Drama (Southport Festival), Best Cinematography (Mansfield Festival), and Best Original Score (Mansfield Festival).
Festivals (18 nominations): Norwich Film Festival, Catania Film Festival, This is England Film Festival, Afrodite Shorts Film Festival, Alessandria Film Festival, Leiden International Film Festival, Contemporanea Film Festival, Job Film Festival, KIN Festival, Norwich Film Festival, TweetFest Film Festival, Lichtspielklub Short Film Festival, British Shorts, Unrestricted View Film Festival, Southport Film Festival, Mansfield Town Film Festival, MoliseCinema International Film Festival, Bardi Film Festival, I Will Tell International Film Festival, HB Film Festival, North East Film Festival, Love Your Shorts Film Festival, Romford Film Festival Awards: Best European Short Film (Catania Film Festival), Best Director and Best Actress (Alessandria Film Festival), Best International Director and Best International Short film (Contemporanea Festival), Best Narrative Short and Best Actress (I Will Tell Festival), Imagine This International Women’s Film Festival, Atlanta Women’s Film Festival, The Women’s Film Festival. |
| 2022 | The Ride | Short film | Writer & director | Debut short film premiered at the Oscar Qualifying Cinequest Festival. Supported by Canada Council of the Arts, BFI Network, and Toronto Arts Council. |
References
- ^ "Style Talk, Meet Tara Aghdashloo". Les Belles Heures. June 1, 2017. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
- ^ a b "NASTY WOMAN: Tara Aghdashloo (Writer & Filmmaker)". The Cultural Curator. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
- ^ "Collective Power: Activists @ MozFest 2023".
- ^ "17th British Shorts 2024: Tara Aghdashloo". The New Current. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
- ^ "ABOUT". aydinthemovie. Retrieved 2025-06-27.
- ^ Fassihi, Farnaz; Porter, Catherine (2020-11-02). "Famed Iranian Artist Under #MeToo Cloud Faces Art World Repercussions". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
- ^ "Style Talk, Meet Tara Aghdashloo". Les Belles Heures. June 1, 2017. Retrieved 2020-11-02.
my own father Aydin Aghdashloo,
- ^ "The Ride". Film London. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
- ^ The Ride (Short 2023) - IMDb, retrieved 2023-05-12
- ^ "Tara Aghdashloo | Sayle Screen". saylescreen.com. Retrieved 2024-08-05.
- ^ Aghdashloo, Tara, Empty Your Pockets (Drama), Banafsheh Taherian, Kiarash Dadgar, Armin Lou, OPC, retrieved 2023-11-16
- ^ "Channel 4 News Instagram in Iran, 2018". Channel 4 Youtube. December 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
- ^ "Channel 4 News: Iran's Women Truckers". Vimeo.
- ^ "BBC World Restoration at V&A". Vimeo. December 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
- ^ "BBC World London's Arcola Theatre". October 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
- ^ "Samteno – Speaking Publicly About Cancer. 2014". Manoto. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- ^ Aghdashloo, Tara. "Things I Have Heard". Literal Vagrant. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ Aghdashloo, Tara. "Poems in Pishomare". Persian Gulf Club. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
- ^ Taheri, Farah (2011-06-30). "این یک انار نیست". Shahrvand. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ Zarandi, Oliver (8 September 2014). "Exhibition review: Tell Me Again at Invisible Line gallery". East End Review. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ Burrell, Drucilla. "Cristina Rodrigues Retrospective". ArtRabbit. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
- ^ Aghdashloo, Tara (30 July 2013). "Presenting the Nation's Art". Majalla. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
External links
- Official website
- Tara Aghdashloo at IMDb
- Tara Aghdashloo (2018) in Harpers Bazaar Arabia magazine