Baktash Abtin (born 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 1990s, and shortly thereafter, driven by an interest in documentary cinema, he began making films with a critical and socially conscious approach while continuing to write poetry.
He became a member of the Iranian Writers’ Association in 2010.
Due to the critical nature of his artistic work and his principled activism in the public sphere, Abtin faced ongoing pressure from security and government agencies. He was arrested multiple times and received several sentences. In 2019, Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court sentenced him to six years in prison on charges of “propaganda against the system” and “gathering and colluding with intent to act against national security.”
He died on January 8, 2022, after contracting COVID-19 for the second time while imprisoned. His death was widely attributed to the authorities’ deliberate negligence and delay in providing medical care. He is remembered for seven books of poetry and 18 documentary films.
Ghazale Razavi (born August 23, 1979, in Tehran) is an Iranian English literature undergraduate with a background in publishing as a proofreader and editor. She has extensively studied Ferdowsi’s Shahnameh, drawing on its mythological narratives in her educational work with Afghan immigrant and working children, using storytelling and painting as creative tools. Since 2011, she has pursued photography, and her involvement in documentary filmmaking began in 1997, marking a significant step in her engagement with humanities research.
From scribbling notes as a kid to selling rap lyrics as a teen, storytelling has always been my rhythm. Theater became my stage, cinema my vision. Studying Dramatic Literature sharpened my craft, directing fueled my passion.
Then the pandemic hit—I grabbed a camera, took the leap, and never looked back. Now, I bring stories to life, one frame at a time.
Payam Razi, born in Tehran, is an Iranian-American writer, director, and radio producer based in Prague, Czech Republic. A graduate of FAMU International, Payam began directing short films at 17, building a portfolio that includes five shorts and a documentary. As the former founder of Screenshot Film House, he has participated in Berlinale Talents (2007), TorinoFilmLab’s TFL Next (2020), and represented his projects as a producer at Cannes’ Marché du Film (2022). He is currently developing his debut feature films, Red Bear and Sima Needs to Die!
Farhad Vilkiji is a Persian/Dutch film director and film production designer, born in 1972.
EFA member (European Film Academy), member of jury in “Scenecs” International film festival
since 2012 in The Netherlands. Since 1999 he is working in film industry as an independent Film production designer and costume designer. During 20 years of film making, he has worked on various feature films and historical documentaries. These films have won prizes in Cannes film Festival, Berlin film Festival, Locarno film Festival, Venice film Festival.
2011 has marked his film directional debut on different films and series among which some mid- length films and online series in the Netherlands. The short length film ”Leili” won the Honourable Mention 2018, Best Experimental, Independent Shorts Awards in Hollywood.
