Film Forum

Sara Khaki is a documentary director, producer, and editor dedicated to telling stories that promote gender equity. She is a Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award winner (World Cinema Documentary) and Visions Du Reél Audience Award winner for her feature documentary CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS, which follows the first elected councilwoman of a rural Iranian village. The film has been called “a deftly shaped work of cinematic nonfiction” by IndieWire and “one of those profound vérité documentaries that are only possible through the patience and perseverance of the filmmakers” by POV Magazine. Sara’s short film Our Iranian Lockdown (2020) is now streaming on The Guardian and received an IDA Awards nomination. Her co-directed Netflix Original CONVERGENCE: COURAGE IN A CRISIS (2021) was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Current Affairs Film. Sara graduated from the University of Maryland with a BFA in cinematic arts and from New York’s School of Visual Arts with an MFA in social documentary filmmaking. A grantee of the Sundance Film Institute, Chicken & Egg Films and Firelight Media, her work continues to amplify change on gender equity through the cinéma vérité form.

Mohammadreza Eyni is a director, producer, and cinematographer whose career and cinematic approach aims to bridge boundaries, elevate underrepresented voices and connect diverse perspectives globally. He is a 2025 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award winner in the World Cinema Documentary competition for his feature documentary CUTTING THROUGH ROCKS, which has become an audience favorite at Sydney, Hot Docs, and the Visions Du Reél film festivals, among others. His cinematic approach has been heralded as “uniquely propulsive" and “practically magical” (Variety) and “precisely lensed” (IndieWire) as well as “delivering simple moments into cinematic poetry” (Hammer to Nail). He was named by Pure Nonfiction as one of the top five cinematographers to watch at Sundance in 2025. Mohammadreza’s intimate short film Our Iranian Lockdown, streaming on The Guardian, received an IDA Awards nomination. His co-directed Netflix Original CONVERGENCE: COURAGE IN A CRISIS was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Current Affairs Film. Mohammadreza has been supported by Sundance Institute, IDFA Bertha Foundation and Hot Docs Cross Current Doc Fund, among others. He is a Tribeca Film Institute alumnus and graduated with an MFA in cinema from Tehran University of Fine Arts.

Arian Moayed is an Iranian-born Emmy and Tony nominated actor and co-Founder of Waterwell, an award-winning community production non-profit. As a writer/director, Arian created the Emmy-nominated The Accidental Wolf and The Courtroom. Notable acting credits: A Doll’s House (Tony nomination, opposite Jessica Chastain), Broadway's The Humans (Drama Desk Award), Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (Tony nomination, opposite Robin Williams), Guards at the Taj (Obie Award), Succession (2 Emmy nominations), Love Life (NAACP nomination), SPIDERMAN: NO WAY HOME (Marvel), Inventing Anna (Netflix), YOU HURT MY FEELINGS (A24), FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH (Apple/Skydance) and Nobody Wants This (Netflix).

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