Amina Maher
Amina Maher ( , born as "Amin Maher" in 1992 in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian queer artist, filmmaker and poet whose works deal with the themes of social taboos and gender-identity in relation to violence and power structure. Biography. Amina Maher began her cinematic activity as the main protagonist in Abbas Kiarostami's "Ten" which featured the private-life relationship between Amina and her mother without Amina knowing that she was being recorded. Afterwards she has worked on several film projects as an actor and assistant director to her mother, Mania Akbari. She began her filmmaking practices in  2007 by filming her friends both at school and later at university. She was arrested two days after 2009 Iranian presidential election and had been subjected to serious beatings. The reasons for her arrest were her support to Iranian Green Movement and that he had been identified as an active participant during the presidential campaign. In 2010 she began her study at University of Tehran. Three months later she was arrested for the second time due to her political activities and for attending the Student Day demonstration against the dictatorship. This time she spent a week in the notorious Evin  prison. Maher subsequently left Iran to Dubai and then to Malaysia. In 2016, she received her bachelor degree in Filmmaking from Limkokwing University in Malaysia. Her first short film was Sweet Gin and Cold Wine, followed by Orange and One Window Will Suffice. Her multi-awarded short film, Letter to my mother, was well received internationally. The film was part of the competitions at numerous Int. film festivals such as 36th Kasseler Dokfest, 38th Feminale - The International Dortmund | Cologne Women's Film Festival, 15th Shorts México and 26th Chéries-Chéris (Festival du Film Lesbian, Gay, Bi, Trans & ++ ++ de Paris). The film is about her own experience of childhood sexual abuse. Among numerous critical praises and reviews, the film was described as a means for survival, a way to stand up and to understand – a fearless and strong examination that touches upon the center of the pain and dares to look precisely. Letter to my mother received more than 30 International Awards such as the Audience Award and the Special Jury Prize at 23rd Indie Memphis Film Festival, USA and Special Jury price at 15th Shorts México and Beirut International Women Film Festival. Due to directing  controversial films, she fled to Germany in 2018. After moving to Berlin in 2019, she started her MA study in Film Directing at Konrad Wolf Film University of Babelsberg. Letter to my mother. The film is self-produced, directed, written, performed and distributed. It has evoked wider social debate, highlighting the need and benefit of survivors and communities being able to speak openly about their own experiences of sexual assault and harassments. Letter to my mother won numerous awards and nominations and had been part of the program of more than 100 international film festivals in more than 40 countries . 35th Lovers Film Festival - Torino LGBTQI Visions, 34th Mix Milano Film Festival in Italy, 9th Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival in Spain, and 27th Blue Sea Film Festival in Finland are some of the festivals in which the film was programmed or was nominated for the main award. The film won more than 30 awards including the special jury prize at 15th Shorts México, Winner of the best film at 16th Davis Feminist Film Festival in the category of The Body & The Self, The Best short Documentary on Human Rights at Venice Intercultural Film Festival and Award of Recognition at  Impact Docs Award. Reviews. Essays on political body at 22nd Belo Horizonte International Film Festival, Brazil: In Letter to my mother, Amina Maher conceives a complex montage assembling autobiographical report, epistolary language, archives and performance. The filmmaker goes through archives of her own therapy sessions and images from the movie, Ten (2002), in which she participated when she was a child, in search of the creation of an autonomous body, one not defined by abuse. One that is free from restraint. The jury statement at 15th SMHAF: "This is more than just a film. It is an act of courage  and radical honesty. It pushes the boundaries in its cinematic discourse on violence, identity, gender and sexuality; whilst maintaining an unflinching intimacy as the filmmaker shares a long held secret with her mother and searches for ways of coping and moving forward." Dutch Culture: Within the multifarious strands of filmmaking practice, Maher's filmmaking uses trauma therapy as a theme and it is characterized by a few key factors: its an autoethnographic approach, a desire for an honest self-examination, and a play with notions of cinema, reality and life. As the direct victim of abuse, she gave an insight  into an experience that is impossible to imagine. Section::::#MeToo movement in Iran and Interview with Iran International. In November 2019, Amina Maher finished her debut short film, Letter to my mother which is stemming from her own experience of childhood sexual abuse. On 25 August, the Persian TV channel, Iran International interviewed Maher where she came forward publicly that a family member had raped her over a four years period. With this interview she had also her coming out as a trans woman in Persian-speaking media, which was followed by the large numbers of insult, transphobic comments, haters, and  attacks on social media. Maher's appearance rarely had been seen in Persian-language TV before. She wore make up, a purple dress and a pink bra while the viewers could see her hairy chest. Life and other activities. When Maher was a child, her real-life relationship with her mother, Mania Akbari was featured in the movie, Ten. Four years after that, Maher performed the main role in Mania Akbari's "10+4", a continuation of the movie “Ten” which followed Akbari's battle with breast cancer. "10+4" screened at Cannes International Film Festival and San  Sebastián International Film Festival amongst many other festivals and received critical praise. Afterwards, Maher followed her film activities as an actress, editor and assistant director to her mother, Mania Akbari on "6 Video Arts" and "From Tehran to London". In 2010, Maher began studying at Tehran University. Two months later she was arrested due to her political activities and for attending the Student Day demonstration. She subsequently left Iran to study filmmaking at Limkokwing University in Malaysia and directed several short films. Her first fictional short film, “Sweet Gin and Cold Wine" was nominated for the best short film at  the 21st Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany and won an award of recognition at the Creative Open International Film Festival (IOFF) in 2016. In November 2019, Maher finished her documentary film, "Letter to my mother" which is stemming from her own experience of childhood sexual abuse. The film opens up a cinematic discourse about anger, repression, violence and identity. Letter to my mother was described as a fearless and strong examination that chooses a radically intimate perspective. It is an examination that touches upon the center of the pain and dares to look precisely. It finds exact scenes for  despair and cruelty and searches openly for ways of coping.