Celebrate Iranian Women Filmmakers at First-Ever Festival in London

The festival opened with a screening of 10 short films on Friday, 23 June, at the Curzon Cinema in London’s Victoria, followed by a VIP reception for guests including the Iranian-German actress Nicole Ansari Cox. Ms. Ansari was joined by Festival director Jesse Cooper, Persia Educational Foundation’s Executive Team, dozens of VIP guests and a prominent group of artists, fans, diplomats, academics, civil society actors, business leaders and changemakers.

The reception was also attended by independent journalists and media personalities from Kayhan Life, The Independent, and BBC. Featured as ‘the top event of the week’ by fashion and culture magazine Hunger, it was opened with welcoming remarks by Persia Educational Foundation co-founder Nazenin Ansari. Festival Director Jesse Cooper then gave a brief history of this powerful new initiative. Persia Trustee Dori Dana-Haeri welcomed special guest Nicole Ansari Cox, who remarked on the high degree of creativity and talent demonstrated by female Iranian filmmakers. She also said she hoped to continue her collaboration with the festival in the near future to spotlight the short films, but also help raise more funds through Persia’s scholarships for Iranian students studying at UK universities.

Given the films’ focus on the challenges faced by women in Iran – which have led many to join the Woman Life Freedom movement, or to flee to the West — the second day of the festival welcomed newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers who were filmmakers.

The festival had a diverse range of participants and served as a bridge between those living in Iran and those living outside who are curious to learn more about the country. The promising inaugural event pointed to a bright future for the festival and its upcoming events in London and elsewhere.

The festival welcomes all forms of support and educational and artistic expression around the Woman, Life, Freedom movement as well as relating to the Our Story Is One campaign.   

“Having delivered this first-ever event with great success, the festival now also welcomes expressions of interest in terms of partners, sponsors, and film submissions from among the Iranian diaspora,” said Dr. Tahirih Danesh, the Executive Director of Persia Educational Foundation. “Those interested are invited to contact the Foundation at info@persia.education”.

To continue to donate to the Mahsa Jina Amini drive for Persia scholarships, which support Iranian-descent students at UK and internationally recognized universities, please see: www.persia.education/support

About Nicole Ansari

Nicole Ansari is an actor, director, writer and producer. Nicole’s career started in European theatre and film, expanding to other countries, languages and cultures. She performed with the famed Theatre du Soleil under Ariane Mnouchkine, and has starred in numerous plays in Vienna, Zurich, London and NY. Nicole had a key role in Tom Stoppard’s “Rock N’ Roll,” directed by Trevor Nunn at the Royal Court in London, and she went on to perform in the West End and on Broadway.

In addition, Nicole starred in Joshua Sobol’s “Sinners” at the Playground Theatre in London, directed by her husband, the Emmy Award-winning star Brian Cox.

In addition to directing several outstanding productions, Nicole worked with Shirin Neshat and Shoja Azari on their feature film “Land of Dreams” and joined the cast of “Law and Order” in a recurring role.

A Vanja Exerjian Award for Empowering Women awardee, Nicole created the multimedia show “She/ her” featured in several prominent spaces, including the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with an Iranian Women’s Voices version to follow later in the year.

Nicole is the founder of an online community for creators called “Actors Rising“.

Learn more about the delightful Nicole Ansari at: www.nicoleansari.com or on IMDB.

About Film Buzz Festival

Film Buzz Festival has been created by London-based Festival Director, Jesse Cooper, to provide filmmakers & screenplay writers of diverse backgrounds and/or with diverse stories a place to showcase their voice to a large audience and help further their careers as an artist. To learn more and to join Buzz Film Festival please see: filmfreeway.com/FilmBuzzFestival

About Persia Educational Foundation

Established in 1997, Persia Educational Foundation is a non-governmental UK-registered charity. Persia provides educational support to Iranians worldwide who have the ambition to give back to their communities through the pursuit of public service. To learn more please see: www.persia.education