Mahdieh zare Zardiny
- Director
- Writer
- Editor
Mahdieh Zare Zardiny became interested in theatre and cinema while still a teenager. Her work with the Youth Theater provided her with her first onstage experience. While also still a teenager, she directed and produced her first documentary film about the city of Yazd, her family's ancestral home. This film allowed her to more deeply engage with the history, people, and ancient culture of the city. She received the Higher National Diploma (HND) in Creative Media Production (Film), her B.A. degree in Art Theater and an M.A. in Film and Television Production from the Royal Holloway University in London.
She spent her 20s working on advertisements, short movies and documentaries and also worked as a producer and editor for international TV channels in London. Of note, in 2012, she began work as a documentary researcher at CBC, Channel 4. This was the same year her first short documentary film, "Unknown Destination," was screened at the Cannes Corner Film Festival. Also in 2012, here film "An Iranian in Paris" was screened at the Cine-Rencontres de Prades Film Festival and broadcast on Voice of America (VOA), a TV channel located in the U.S. In 2013, her documentary film "Big Red J" was screened at the Cannes Corner film festival.
Between 2014 and 2019, Zardiny spent time researching the story of Abdol Hossein Sardari, an Iranian consul in France during the German occupation in WWII. Mr Sardari, at his own peril, worked to protect Iranian Jews from the Nazis. His story and heroic efforts are documented in Ms Zardiny's first full feature documentary film, "Sardari's Enigma" which was released in 2018. This film received press in multiple international media outlets and has been submitted to several major film festivals. She hopes with the making of this film, the name Abdol Hossein Sardari will be added to the "Righteous Among the Nations," an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis.
She spent her 20s working on advertisements, short movies and documentaries and also worked as a producer and editor for international TV channels in London. Of note, in 2012, she began work as a documentary researcher at CBC, Channel 4. This was the same year her first short documentary film, "Unknown Destination," was screened at the Cannes Corner Film Festival. Also in 2012, here film "An Iranian in Paris" was screened at the Cine-Rencontres de Prades Film Festival and broadcast on Voice of America (VOA), a TV channel located in the U.S. In 2013, her documentary film "Big Red J" was screened at the Cannes Corner film festival.
Between 2014 and 2019, Zardiny spent time researching the story of Abdol Hossein Sardari, an Iranian consul in France during the German occupation in WWII. Mr Sardari, at his own peril, worked to protect Iranian Jews from the Nazis. His story and heroic efforts are documented in Ms Zardiny's first full feature documentary film, "Sardari's Enigma" which was released in 2018. This film received press in multiple international media outlets and has been submitted to several major film festivals. She hopes with the making of this film, the name Abdol Hossein Sardari will be added to the "Righteous Among the Nations," an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis.