Directors:Mehraneh Salimian
Mehraneh Salimian is an Iranian filmmaker, editor, and writer working across documentary, video installation, and fiction film. Her practice centres on the concept of the counter-archive, particularly in Iran, where she creates alternative narratives to challenge dominant historical accounts. She works extensively with family photographs and personal archives, reflecting on memory, unrecorded histories, and political erasure. Mehraneh holds a BA in Cinema Directing from Tehran University of Art and an MFA in Film, Video, New Media, and Animation from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Amin Pakparvar
Amin Pakparvar is an Iranian scholar and filmmaker whose work moves between research and artistic practice. Holding a BA in Cinema Studies from the University of Art in Tehran and an MA in Visual and Critical Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), he researches the role of personal archives in Iran and how underground films, private recordings, and family photographs circulate online to reclaim political space. His films draw on speculative methods to reimagine hidden histories and overlooked sites in Iran, blurring the boundaries between documentation and invention. His scholarly and creative work has been presented at international conferences, Oscar-qualifying festivals, and major exhibitions. He has also held teaching assistantships at SAIC and worked at the Video Data Bank (VDB), the largest video art archive in North America.