Mania Akbari

Mania Akbari
مانيا اكبری
Akbari in 2014
Born1974 (age 49–50)
Tehran, Iran
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter, artist, writer
Years active1991–present
Children2, including Amina

Mania Akbari (Persian: مانيا اکبری, born 1974) is an Iranian filmmaker, artist, writer, and curator whose works explore women's rights, marriage, sexual identity, disease and body image.[1] Her style, in contrast to the long tradition of melodrama in Iranian cinema, is rooted in the visual arts and autobiography. Because of the taboo themes frankly discussed in her films and her opposition to censorship, she is considered one of the most controversial filmmakers in Iran.[2]

From 2007 to 2010, Akbari worked on numerous photography-based works that were featured in various galleries around the world, while she kept making documentary and fiction films until 2011, when during production of her film, From Tehran to London, members of her crew were arrested by Iranian authorities for filming without official permission. Scared she too might be imprisoned, Akbari fled Tehran for London.[3]

Since settling in London, various international retrospectives of Akbari's films have drawn attention to her cinema, among which retrospectives at the BFI, the Oldenburg International Film Festival and the Danish Film Institute are the most notable.[4][5][6]

Mania Akbari founded the online art platform Cryptofiction in 2020.[7][8]

  1. ^ Iranian film-maker Mania Akbari: 'Cinema threatens the government', The Guardian 15 July 2013, retrieved 27 January 2014
  2. ^ "In other words: A talk with Mania Akbari". YouTube. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  3. ^ Tom Seymour (15 July 2013). "Iranian film-maker Mania Akbari: 'Cinema threatens the government' | Film". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  4. ^ Ania Ostrowska (9 July 2013). "From Tehran with love: the cinema of Mania Akbari @ BFI PLUS competition - Blog". The F-Word. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  5. ^ "21. Internationales Filmfest Oldenburg | 10.-14. Sep. 2014: Retrospective Mania Akbari". Filmfest-oldenburg.de. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  6. ^ "Cinemateket".
  7. ^ "About". cryptofiction.
  8. ^ "Disruption: Contemporary Shorts by Iranian Women Filmmakers". Barbican.