Sam & Ati

Atefeh Khademolreza is an award-winning Iranian-Canadian writer and director with over 15 years of experience in international filmmaking. She studied under the late Abbas Kiarostami before immigrating to Canada, and her films have been screened at prestigious festivals such as the Berlin, Busan, and Vienna International Film Festivals. Atefeh was the Writer-in-Residence at the Toronto International Film Festival's Micki Moore Residency for 2021-2022, and she has been selected for the Netflix-BANFF Diversity of Voices Pitch Program in 2023. Atefeh is also an alumnus of the Berlinale Talent Campus (2006), the Asian Film Academy (2008), the Serbia Interaction Film Camp (2006, 2016), and Reelworld E20 (2019). Furthermore, she has served as a jury member at various festivals, including the Oscar-qualifying Tehran International Short Film Festival and TIFF’22's Micki Moore Residency selection committee. Atefeh's work focuses on women, immigration, and identity, exploring the experiences of disorientation and reorientation, both culturally and socially. She holds a Master's Degree in Film Production from York University (2019) and is a member of the Writers Guild of Canada.