I navigate narratives that can´t be told without motion pictures, sound, and control over "time".
Amina Maher, b. 1992,
Based in Berlin, Germany
Short Bio
Amina Maher is a queer feminist filmmaker, activist and artist who was born in 1992 in Tehran, Iran. The child of a war veteran started writing poems and short stories at a very early age. Her works train her unblinking gaze on the breakdown of the family structure, shame culture, and patriarchal myths. Her cinematic activity began as the main actor in Abbas Kiarostami and Mania Akbari´s Ten (2002) nominated for the Palmedór at Cannes. She was unknowingly filmed in the passenger seat of her mother´s car. Since then, she acted, edited, and has been in films that have been part of festivals such as Cannes, BFI, San Sebastian, and Rotterdam. Her directorial short films have been internationally well received with +200 festival participations and +50 Awards from festivals such as Ann Arbor, Kasseler Doc, Guanajuato (GIFF), Mexico Shorts, New Fest New York, and Tel Aviv LGBT (TLV Fest) among many others. Her three Short films, Letter to My Mother, Out of Frame and Where Is the Friend´s Home? have been part of the Frauen Film Festival Dortmund-Köln and Museum Ostwalll in 2022. Her creative work explores childhood memories, mental health, and self-realization with a mission to amplify trans and queer storylines. Her first directorial debüt feature has been part of Berlinale Dok Station Lab in 2023, Fid Lab Marseille, Close Up Initiative, Baltic Sea Docs forum, and Dok Fest München forum in 2022. She has a BA in filmmaking and an MA in film directing from Film University Babelsberg in Germany.