Maaman Rezaee
Growing up as a queer woman in a persecuted minority in Iran helped Maaman develop a dark sense of humor which she later utilized for a career in filmmaking. She went from being a political prisoner in Iran to becoming a political refugee in the US.
After receiving her MFA in film, she pursued an academic career as professor of film at the University of New Mexico before finally settling in LA. !he writes and directs stories that focus on issues of memory and belonging, some of which are funny too.
Her feature script Ashes was a finalist at Sundance Development Lab and a second rounder at Austin Film Festival and her short films have screened in Oscar-qualifying festivals such as LA Shorts, Blackstar and deadCenter.
Recently, she became a fellow at Writers Guild Foundations’ Access program and shadowed Steph Green on the set of Duster, a new series created by JJ Abrams and LaToya Morgan.
Residents
Half-hour | Dramedy
Kris leaves a pampered life in London and moves to Bumfuck New Mexico to help her friend, Lena and her ragtag roommates establish an artist retreat on Lena’s ancestral land. They juggle romance, family and friendship while shepherding their rotating eccentric artists.
Ashes
Feature | Drama
After her mother dies, Mona, an Americanized Iranian woman, finds her last wishes to have been a burial in their ancestral home, Iran. The issue is, her mother is now ash. Mona shows up to Iran in the middle of a feminist revolution, bearing a bag of human ashes, with her ex-girlfriend in tow.