Faculty/Staff Directory
Zardosht Afshari - MFA
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| Office Hours: | Tuesday-Thursday 01:00 PM-3:00 PM (by appt via MS TEAMS or in-person) |
| Biography: | Zardosht Afshari is an award-winning Iranian filmmaker whose short films have been showcased at international film festivals in various countries, including the U.S., Iran, Poland, Croatia, India, and Italy. He earned his MA in Dramatic Literature from the University of Tehran. In 2019, he moved to the United States, where he obtained an MFA in Film and Media Arts from Temple University in Philadelphia. Currently, he serves as an assistant professor of film at Ӱ. His short documentary, *Philadelphia Iran Afghanistan* (2020), was chosen as a "Market Pick" at the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. His recent short narrative films, *She Does Not Smile* (2022) and *An Endoscopy* (2023), premiered at the Tehran International Short Film Festival and the BlackStar Film Festival, both of which are Academy Award®-qualifying film Festivals for Shorts. |
| Courses: | Introduction to Media Production [NMAC 2145] Digital Storytelling [NMAC 3600] Screenwriting [NMAC 4440] Fiction Film Production [NMAC 4451] |
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| Education: | MFA in Film and Media Arts, Temple University, USA MA in Dramatic Literature, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran BSc. in Mechanical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran |
| Professional Experience: | Jury member of the Cleveland State University’s School of Film & Media Arts Film Festival, USA, May 2024 Board member of the Reel People Arts Festival, MGA School of Arts & Letters, USA, March – February 2024 UFVA Graduate Student Fellowship Mentor, The University Film&Video Association Conference Graduate Student Fellowship Program, USA, July 2023 Member of the screening committee of the 31st Philadelphia Film Festival, USA, 2022 Speaker and Discussion Lead of Virtual Educational Seminar: Deep Focus, Middle Eastern Cinema, launched by Renew Theaters and Majestic Theater, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, USA, 2021-2022 Member of the screening committee of the 30th Philadelphia Film Festival, USA, 2021 Member of the screening committee of the 10th Omid international student short film and photo Festival, Iran, 2021 |
| Professional Affiliations: | UFVA | University Film and Video Association |
| Awards and Honors: | Macon Film Festival Audience Choice Narrative category award⎹ Aug 2025 UFVA | University Film and Video Association⎹ Award of Merit for Short Screenplay The Finalist in the 14th Iranian Short Film Academy Awards (ISFA) for Short Film “An Endoscopy”⎹ USA⎹ Sep 2024 The Quarterfinalist for Atlanta Film Festival Screenplay Competition, “Academy Awards® Qualifying”⎹ USA⎹ Jan 2024 The Top 10 Finalist for Fall 2023 Filmmaker Grant⎹ The Film Impact Georgia ⎹ USA⎹ Oct 2023 Philadelphia Filmmaker Lab Fellowship Grant⎹ BlackStar Film Festival, “Academy Awards® Qualifying”⎹ Philadelphia, USA⎹ Nov 2022 |
| Publications: | Polish Refugees’ Exodus to Iran: Visual Imagination and Oral History in Two Historical Documentaries, Presented in the University Film&Video Association Conference⎹ SUNY Fredonia, USA⎹ July 2022 “Analysis of Migrant Dramatic Literature of Iranians in Australia; Postcolonial Analysis of a Mammad Aidani’s Play: In the Mirror |
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