Baktash Abtin, whose birth name was Mehdi Kazemi (December 15, 1974 – January 8, 2022), was an iranian poet, filmmaker, and member of the Iranian Writers’ Association. He began writing poetry in the early 1991’s, and a short time later, due to his interest in the world of documentary cinema, he began making his own films with a critical and social approach while writing poetry. He became a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association in 2010. Due to his critical approach to his artistic works and responsible activism in the social arena, Abtin faced numerous pressures and cases from security and government agencies. After being arrested several times and issued numerous sentences, he was finally sentenced to six years in prison in 2019 by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court on charges of “propaganda against the system” and “gathering and colluding with the intention of acting against national security.” He passed away on January 8, 2022, after contracting the coronavirus for the second time during his imprisonment due to the prison authorities’ deliberate lack of care and delay. He is remembered for seven books of poetry and 18 documentary films.