Arman Kazemi

he/him
Festival Director

Arman is a Vancouver-based writer, journalist and filmmaker. His work has appeared in the Globe and Mail, CBC and the Georgia Straight with films exhibited in festivals in North America and Europe. Born in England to Iranian parents and reared in the west coast, Arman has always teetered along the hyphenated tightrope of his ranian-Canadian identity. Arman’s work engages more and more with immigrant ontologies and especially the Iranian diaspora experience.

I helped cofound MENA due to the lack of Iranian and other minority representation in Vancouver film culture specifically. As director of MENA, I have seen the festival expand over the years thanks in large part to the core support of our administrative team and the thousands of followers and audience members who have come to depend on us for screening their films as well as for bringing competitive and challenging work from the region and across the world to Vancouver.