About

Mina Keshavarz

Documentary Filmmaker & Producer

About

An awarded Iranian documentary filmmaker and creative producer Mina Keshavarz was born in 1984. Her films are about social issues with a personal narrative which have premiered in IDFA, Thessaloniki, Busan International Film Festival, Sheffield, Tribeca, London Film Festival including “Unwelcome in Tehran”, “Profession: Documentaries”, “Braving the Waves” and “The Art of Living in Danger”. Her films have been supported by IDFA Bertha Fund, Sorfond, Fritt Ord, Arte/ ZDF, NRW Cinema Fund and HotDocs International CrossCurrent Theatrical Fund.

 

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Besides her films as director, Mina produced “Fish Eye” directed by Amin Behroozzadeh which has been premiered in Visions du Reel 2020. This film won best film in progress award in Sarajevo Film Festival 2019 and nominated for best International Documentary film in DOCPOINT Film Festival Finland and has been screened in more than 20 film festivals around the world and broadcasted widely in Europe.

She is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents, HotDocs Emerging Docs Accelerator Lab, EsoDoc, Tribeca Film Institute, she is an invited fellow in Nipkow Film Residency in Berlin, Berlin Air Film Residency, Akademie der Kunste Berlin, Cite Internationale des Arts and future fellow at Camargo Foundation in Marseille in 2025.

 “The Art of Living in Danger” won Best Documentary Film award in Busan International Film Festival 2020 and has been longlisted for Oscar feature length documentary film competition 2021 among 10 other International awards.

Her new documentary film “Phobos” is a short experimental film which is part of a program called A Sense of Place supported by Wim Wenders. This film had its world premiere in CPH:Dox in March 2023 and now traveling in other film festivals, such as Beldocs, Sheffield DocFest, DMZ Dox, Boston City Hall, Berlin Sinema Transtopia, retc.

She is member of DAE (Documentary Association of Europe) and EWA (European Women in Audiovisual). she was also jury member in CPH:Dox International Film Festival 2024, One World Media Awards 2021 in London and lecturer in ESoDoc/ Zelig Film School in Italy and Griffith Film School in Brisbane, Australia.

 

future projects

mina keshavarz explains about her new film : hope against hope

Mina Keshavarz, is working on her new film project “Hope Against Hope”, which won Berlin Fund for female filmmakers, invited to present at IDFA Film Festival, DocCircle Women program and she invited to Leuphana Institute for Advanced Studies (LIAS) in Culture and Society to present the idea of this project to artists fellows there

Films

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Panels and Lectures

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Filmography

producer

 

  • Red Mist Descending (Fiction Films, Iran-France-Germany-120 min-2026)
  • Qabil (Fiction, Iran, 100 mins, 2027)
  • Hope Against Hope (Creative Documentary, Iran-France-Norway, 100 mins, 2026)

 

 

  • Fish Eye (Documentary Film, Iran70 min, 2020)

 

Selected Screening:

 

  • Sarajevo International Film Festival- Work in Progress Award-2019
  • Visions du Reel International Film Festival 2020
  • DocPoint International Film Festival 2021
  • Pune International Film Festival 2021
  • Duhok International Film Festival 2021

 

  • The Art of Living in Danger (Documentary Film, Iran/Germany, 87 mins, 2020)

Selected Screening:

 

  • Busan International Film Festival 2020
  • Sheffield Doc/Fest 2020
  • IDFA Best of Fests 2020
  • Inconvenient International Human Rights Film Festival 2020
  • Izmir International Documentary Film festival 2020
  • IWART 2021
  • FilmMore International Women Film Festival 2021
  • Qualified for Best feature length documentary Awards Oscar 2021
  • PortoFemme Film Festival (October 2021)
  • Feminist Film Festival, Romania (September 2021)
  • Slovenia Docu Film Festival (September 2021)
  • Cyprus International Film Festival (November 2021)
  • JAYU Human Rights Film Festival/ Toronto / December 2021
  • Women Voices Now Film Festival / US / March 2022
  • Lisbon Contemporary Art Museum / Lisbon / October 2022
  • American Museum of Asian Arts / US / December 2022
  • Eye Museum / Amsterdam / March 2023
  • Istanbul Cinematek / Istanbul / May-June 2023
  • No Man’s Art Gallery / Amsterdam / April-May 2023
  • Flying Broom International Women Film Festival / Ankara / May-June 2023
  • Documentarist International Film Festival / Istanbul / June 2023
  • MEP (Maison od Photography Europe) / Paris / September 2023
  • Akademie Der Kunste , Berlin, March 2024
  • Belfield University , Belfield , Germany, May 2024
  • Hastam Contemporary Art Festival, Hamburg, August 2024

 

Awards:

  • Mecenat Award for Best Documentary Film in Busan International Film Festival
  • Nominated for Best Feature length documentary Award in One World Media Awards 2021
  • Best Feature Length Documentary Film Award in Feminist Film Festival Bucharest 2021
  • Best Feature Length Documentary Award in Porto Femme Film Festival, Portugal 2021
  • Special Mention human rights award in Porto Femme Film Festival, Portugal 2021
  • Best Feature Length Documentary Film in Cyprus International Film Festival – Cyprus 2021
  • Special Jury Prize in Women Voices Now Film Festival – US – March 2023
  • Quand Les Iraniennes font la loi, Mina Keshavarz, 2019, Iran-Germany,52 min, Arte Tv
  • Braving the Waves (Documentary Film, Iran/Norway/France/Lebanon, 90 mins, 2016)

 

Selected Screening:

 

  • Films from South International Film Festival, Oslo, Norway
  • International Trondheim Documentary Film Festival, Trondheim, Norway
  • International Cinema Verite Film Festival, Tehran, Iran
  • One World International Human Rights Film Festival, Prague, Czech
  • Nordic International Documentary Film Festival, Oslo, Norway
  • ArchFilm Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, October 2017
  • L’escales Documentaire Film Festival, La Rochelle, France, November 2017
  • London International Documentary Film Festival/ LIDF2017
  • Women Voices Now, USA, 2018
  • MelDoc Film Festival, Macedonia, 2018
  • Les Mois du Documentaire (Month of Documentary Film in France )/ November 2021

 

Awards:

 

  • Special Mention Award for Best Feature Length Documentary In

London Documentary International Film Festival 2017

 

 

 

 

  • Sange Saboor, Interactive Documentary Podcast, 2019
  • Others, Interactive documentary , Iran-Netherlands , 2016

 

 

 

Filmography

writer and director

 

  • Hope Against Hope (In progress – Creative Documentary, Iran-France-Norway, 100 mins, 2026)

 

 

  • Phobos (Documentary Film, Iran/Germany/France, Documentary Film 15 min, 2023)

 

Selected Screening:

 

  • CPH:Dox International Film Festival , 2023
  • BelDox International Film Festival, 2023
  • Sheffield Doc/Fest International Documentary Film Festival, 2023
  • Kerala International Short and Experimental Film Festival
  • European Film Festival, Rome, 2023
  • Linz International Film Festival, 2023
  • DMZ International Documentary Film Festival, 2023
  • Filmic Experiment in Ethnography , Athen Ethnography Film Festival , 2023
  • Sinema Transtopia, Berlin Premiere, 2024
  • Millennium Against Gravity International Short Film Festival, 2024
  • Boston City Hall, 2024
  • MEP (Maison de La Photography) Paris, 2024
  • Iranian Film Festival, Paris 2024
  • Seoul Women Film Festival, Seoul, 2024

 

  • The Art of Living in Danger (Documentary Film, Iran/Germany, 87 mins, 2020)

Selected Screening:

 

  • Busan International Film Festival 2020
  • Sheffield Doc/Fest 2020
  • IDFA Best of Fests 2020
  • Inconvenient International Human Rights Film Festival 2020
  • Izmir International Documentary Film festival 2020
  • IWART 2021
  • FilmMore International Women Film Festival 2021
  • Qualified for Best feature length documentary Awards Oscar 2021
  • PortoFemme Film Festival (October 2021)
  • Feminist Film Festival, Romania (September 2021)
  • Slovenia Docu Film Festival (September 2021)
  • Cyprus International Film Festival (November 2021)
  • JAYU Human Rights Film Festival/ Toronto / December 2021
  • Women Voices Now Film Festival / US / March 2022
  • Lisbon Contemporary Art Museum / Lisbon / October 2022
  • American Museum of Asian Arts / US / December 2022
  • Eye Museum / Amsterdam / March 2023
  • Istanbul Cinematek / Istanbul / May-June 2023
  • No Man’s Art Gallery / Amsterdam / April-May 2023
  • Flying Broom International Women Film Festival / Ankara / May-June 2023
  • Documentarist International Film Festival / Istanbul / June 2023
  • MEP (Maison od Photography Europe) / Paris / September 2023
  • Akademie Der Kunste , Berlin, March 2024
  • Belfield University , Belfield , Germany, May 2024
  • Hastam Contemporary Art Festival, Hamburg, August 2024

Awards:

  • Mecenat Award for Best Documentary Film in Busan International Film Festival
  • Nominated for Best Feature length documentary Award in One World Media Awards 2021
  • Best Feature Length Documentary Film Award in Feminist Film Festival Bucharest 2021
  • Best Feature Length Documentary Award in Porto Femme Film Festival, Portugal 2021
  • Special Mention human rights award in Porto Femme Film Festival, Portugal 2021
  • Best Feature Length Documentary Film in Cyprus International Film Festival – Cyprus 2021
  • Special Jury Prize in Women Voices Now Film Festival – US – March 2023

 

  • Braving the Waves (Documentary Film, Iran/Norway/France/Lebanon, 90 mins, 2016)

 

Selected Screening:

 

  • Films from South International Film Festival, Oslo, Norway
  • International Trondheim Documentary Film Festival, Trondheim, Norway
  • International Cinema Verite Film Festival, Tehran, Iran
  • One World International Human Rights Film Festival, Prague, Czech
  • Nordic International Documentary Film Festival, Oslo, Norway
  • ArchFilm Festival, Istanbul, Turkey, October 2017
  • L’escales Documentaire Film Festival, La Rochelle, France, November 2017
  • London International Documentary Film Festival/ LIDF2017
  • Women Voices Now, USA, 2018
  • MelDoc Film Festival, Macedonia, 2018
  • Les Mois du Documentaire (Month of Documentary Film in France )/ November 2021

 

Awards:

 

  • Special Mention Award for Best Feature Length Documentary In

London Documentary International Film Festival 2017

 

 

  • Profession: Documentarist (Documentary Film, Iran/ Collective work , 80 mins, 2014 )

 

Selected Screening:

 

  • Sheffield Doc/Fest 2014
  • 21st Golden Boll International Film Festival, Adana,Turkey
  • International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA),2014
  • Cairo International Film Festival 2014, Cairo,Egypt
  • Asiatika International Film Festival,Rome,Italy 2014
  • Iranian London Film Festival, London,2014
  • Valladoli International Film Festival, Valladolid, Spain,2014
  • Jihlava International Film Festival, Jihlava, Czech ,2014
  • Mumbai International Film Festival,Mumbai,India,2015
  • International Women Film Festival (IAWRT), Delhi, India, 2015
  • BAFICI Film Festival, Buenos aero, Argentina, 2015
  • Edoc Film Festival, Equator, 2015
  • Zurich Film Festival, Zurich, Switzerland, 2015

 

 

Awards:

 

  • Tim Hetherington Award at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2014
  • Special mention award at Asiatika film festival, Rome,2014
  • Audience’s award at Cairo Women Film Festival, Cairo,2014
  • Best Documentary Award at London Film Festival, 2014
  • Best Documentary Award at Mumbai Film Festival,2015
  • Best Documentary Award at Women Voice Now Film Festival,2017

 

  • Unwelcome in Tehran (Documentary Film, Iran, 52 mins, 2012)

Selected Screening:

 

– 14th International Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, March 2012

– 11th international Filmmor Women Film Festival, March 2013

– 11th UCLA Celebration of Iranian Cinema, April 2013

– 11th International Gdànsk Documentary Film Festival, June 2013

– Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, China,2011

– 20th Regards sur le Cinema du Monde, January 2014, France

– Jean Rouch Film Festival, 2019, France

 

Awards:

 

  • Best Documentary Film of the year – Image Film Festival- Tehran- 2012

 

Academic and/or professional background

 

  • Diploma in Visual Anthropology- Tehran University – Fall 2009
  • Diploma in cultural Studies – Tehran University – 2008
  • ZagrebDox Reality Check Documentary Film Workshop 2014
  • 9 months Close-up Documentary Development Program 2014-2015
  • 9 months EsoDoc (European Social Documentary Development Program) – Italy- 2017-2018
  • HotDocs Emerging Filmmaker Lab – Toronto – 2019
  • Berlinale Talent Campus – 2019
  • Doc Station Berlinale Talent Campus – 2022

Prizes and fellowships/grants dated by year

Residencies and Fellowships

 

  • Camargo Foundation Residency , February 2025- May 2025
  • Akademie der Kunste and Martin Roth Initiative Fellowship, Berlin, October 2023- September 2024
  • No Nation Films Production company Fellowship – Fall/Winter 2023-2024
  • Camera Libre Residency, Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris, April 2023- October 2023
  • Villa Serpentara Fellowship, October – December 2022
  • Berlin Air Film Residency, Berlin, February- May 2021
  • EWA Women in Film and Audiovisual Fellowship – 2020/2021
  • Nipkow Film Residency, Berlin, September- October 2019
  • Cinephilia Film Residency, NewYork, 2017
  •  

grants

For “Hope Against Hope” / Feature Length Documentary Film /in Development

 

  • Berlin Fund for Women in Film and Media
  • Fritt Ord Grant

 

 

For “The Art of Living in Danger “/ Feature Length Documentary Film:

 

  • Film und Medien Fund NRW – 2019
  • HotDocs International Theatrical Documentary Film Fund – 2019
  • NordMedia Film Grant – 2018
  • ZDF/Arte Support -2017
  • Best Pitch Award in MIPDoc Cannes Film Festival – 2017
  • 2 Best Pitch Awards in Asian Forum for Documentary Filmmakers – Kolkata- 2018

 

 

 

For “Braving the Waves” – Feature Length Documentary Film:

 

  • IDFA Bertha Fund (International Documentary Festival Amsterdam) – 2016
  • Fritt Ord Film Fund – 2016
  • Sorfond Production Grant – 2016
  • MidtNorsk Film Fund- 2016
  • Medimed Documentary Film Market Best Pitch Award -2015
  • Screen Institute Beirut Film Grant – 2015

 

Experiences

Residencies and Fellowships

    • Doc journalist & Blogger, 2002-present
    • Co-founder and senior editor of vamostanad.com, 2009–present
    • Member of “IRDFA/ Iranian Documentary Filmmaker Association” board, 2010–present
    • Member of EWA (European Women in audiovisual Network), 2020–present
    • Member of DAE (Documentary Association of Europe), 2020 – present
    • Jury member of election best documentary of the year in Iran
    • Jury member at 7th International Four River Film Festival in Croatia
    • Co-founder and senior editor of “From Tehran” (A visual Documentary

    Magazine about Tehran), 2014-2015

    • Curator & co-founder of an underground documentary film festival in

    Tehran,2011

    • Curator and co-founder of “Tehran Documentary Forum”, 2014
    • Lecturer at Griffith Film School 2018
    • Founder of MinDoc Film Production Company, 2013-present
    • Jury member for One World Media Awards2021
    • Jury member Cph:Dox International Film Festival 2024
    • Selection Committee EsoDoc Program, 2024

Films

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Panels and lectures

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Contact

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  • © 2025 Mina Keshavarz
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