Elahe Esmaili
Elahe Esmaili is an award‑winning Iranian filmmaker, writer, and director. She studied film at the Tehran University of Art, where she made her first documentary, The Doll, as her graduation film. It won Best International Short at Hot Docs in 2021 and was selected for numerous international festivals. Her work focuses on intimate, personal stories that engage with broader social themes, particularly around gender, family, and human rights, while also reflecting her storytelling skill and commitment to women’s rights advocacy. Esmaili continued her studies in the UK, earning a Master’s degree in directing from the National Film and Television School (NFTS). Her short film Can I Hug You? premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest 2023 and won several international awards. Her recent film A Move — a personal documentary about returning to her hometown in Mashhad — has been screened at prestigious festivals such as Visions du Réel, IDFA, Telluride, BFI London, and DOC NYC, earning multiple prizes, including the Youth Jury Award at Visions du Réel.
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Duration: 54 minutes
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Against the backdrop of the "Women, Life, Freedom" protest movement in Tehran, filmmaker Elahe Esmaili is helping her parents to pack up the family home. As the boxes stack up, discussions flare between the generations: Elahe does not wear the hijab, embodying the courage of her generation’s struggles. But can changing a society be as simple as moving house?
A mMve
Duration: 54 minutes
Subscription access
Against the backdrop of the "Women, Life, Freedom" protest movement in Tehran, filmmaker Elahe Esmaili is helping her parents to pack up the family home. As the boxes stack up, discussions flare between the generations: Elahe does not wear the hijab, embodying the courage of her generation’s struggles. But can changing a society be as simple as moving house?
