Remote Intimacy: Building Connection in a Distant Documentary Masterclass by Soraya Akhlaghi and Mehrdad Oskouei
Saturday, 9 May | 10:00–11:30 | State Ethnographic Museum
How can a filmmaker create an intimate, truthful documentary without ever meeting the protagonist in person? In this masterclass, director Mehrdad Oskouei and protagonist Soraya Akhalaghi reflect on their unique seven-year process of remote collaboration that grew into a profound relationship and a completed joint film. They will share the artistic and emotional challenges of working at a distance, the trust and patience that sustained their partnership, and how the digital age continues to reshape personal documentary storytelling under conditions of restriction and separation.
Speakers: Soraya Akhalaghi, Mehrdad Oskouei
SORAYA AKHLAGHI is an artist working across sculpture, painting, and film. She began sculpting in 2016 and created around 150 papier-mâché sculptures by 2025. In 2018, she expanded her practice to painting, producing over 50 works. From 2019 to 2025, she worked as co-director and cinematographer of A Fox Under a Pink Moon, in which she also appears as the main protagonist. Her film A Fox Under a Pink Moon premiered in the International Competition section of IDFA 2025, where it won the Best Film in International Competition award and was named among the top ten favorite films of the IDFA audience.
MEHRDAD OSKOUEI (b. 1969, Tehran) is a celebrated Iranian independent documentary filmmaker, producer, and photographer known for his deeply humanistic and critically acclaimed work. His films often explore sensitive and challenging social issues within Iranian society, particularly focusing on marginalized groups, youth, and women.
Oskouei has directed, produced, and written over 25 documentaries and short films, many of which have been screened at prestigious international festivals, garnering over 200 awards. He gained significant recognition for his tetralogy focusing on the lives of incarcerated youth, including It's Always Late for Freedom (2007), The Last Days of Winter (2011), multi-award-winning Starless Dreams (2016), which captured the lives of teenage girls in a correctional facility, and Sunless Shadows (2019), Opening Film of IDFA, Winner of the Best Directing Award, continued this exploration, offering intimate portraits of women in a youth detention center who were imprisoned for the murder of a male family member.
His achievements have been recognized globally; he is a recipient of the 2010 Prince Claus Award from the Netherlands for his commitment to accurately representing the concerns of his subjects and generating social justice. He also received the True Vision Award at the True/False Film Fest in 2016. Oskouei is a founding member of the Institute of Anthropology and Culture in Iran and serves as a film educator, actively shaping the next generation of Iranian documentary filmmakers. His new film, A Fox Under a Pink Moon, Co-directed by Soraya Akhlaghi, had its World Premiere in the International Competition at IDFA 2025 and won The best Prize.
Free admission
Event in English
