Azadeh Ahmadi is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker whose documentary and fiction films explore relations between the individual and the social context represented in memory and absence. In her films, human gestures and movements are substantial visual and psychological elements, revealing neglected and suppressed individual and collective narratives.
Ahmadi’s work has screened at festivals and venues including Buenos Aires International Film Festival, Blow-Up Arthouse Film Fest, Lulea International Film Festival, Boden International Film Festival, 2220 Arts and Archives, and Murmurs Gallery among others. She holds an MFA in film directing from CalArts and a BFA in theater from the University of Tehran.
Reading the Waves—Ahmadi’s interdisciplinary practice-based research project—conjoins theory and cinematic form to investigate the inner qualities of everyday human movements and gestures in private and public domains. Through this work she explores the interrelations between the body and the sociocultural structures placed upon, and how these interrelations create affect in art practice.
From the Body to the Screen focuses on the body as a narrative resource for film practice. In this course, students practice and explore how body movements enable them to access emotional and expressive qualities that inform and guide their filmmaking process. The course studies the concept of movement in cinematic language exploring movement in camera, sound, light, and space. Throughout the semester, a series of practical visual composition, editing, and sound design provide students with the necessary experience to produce their final films. Students are encouraged to work on group projects. Our direct studies of movement will be augmented by class discussions and critique informed by film screenings focused on experimental and world cinema, readings from philosophy, contemporary literature, and art history.
