Mehraneh Salimian

Master of Fine Arts in Studio, Film, Video, New Media, and Animation

Mehraneh Salimian is an Iranian filmmaker who holds an MFA in Film from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work spans documentary, fiction, and video installation, exploring the intersection of public and private spaces and the sensory dimensions of personal and collective memory. Her short documentary Memories of a Window premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it received the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film in the Generation section as well as a Special Mention from the International Jury. Her films have been screened at international festivals worldwide and exhibited in major venues including Expo Chicago, the Dittmar Gallery at Northwestern University, and the SITE Gallery at SAIC.

Mehraneh Salimian - Untitled (Window), 2026

Untitled (Window), 2026, Short Documentary, Film Still, Co-directed with Amin Pakparvar (MA VCS)

Following crackdowns on protests in Iran, civilians begin documenting the unrest from behind windows. When a woman is shot while recording, a film student writes her a letter raising the question: Can revolution emerge from behind windows?

Untitled (Window), 2026, Short Documentary, Film Still, Co-directed with Amin Pakparvar (MA VCS)

Winner of the Crystal Bear for the best short film at the 76th Berlinale

Mehraneh Salimian - Gravestone's Touch (2025)

Gravestone's Touch (2025), Video Installation, Co-created with Amin Pakparvar (MA VCS), Exhibited at Expo Chicago, Northwestern's Dittmar Gallery, and the SAIC SITE Galleries.

When families face the execution of their loved ones, they often hide photographs to forget the loss. Yet mourning lingers, and when descendants uncover these hidden photos in closets, they can sense the lingering scent of grief. Gravestone’s Touch is a video installation exploring this hidden grief and its reverberations across generations.

Mehraneh Salimian - Height of the Kite (2024)

Height of the Kite (2024), Short Documentary, Co-directed with Amin Pakparvar (MA VCS), Screened at several Oscar-qualifying film festivals, including Big Sky, Durban, St. Louis, and Athens.

In a rural area of Balochistan, on the border of Iran and Pakistan, where women can only sing in private rituals, a teenage girl called Fariba wants to sing in public. Can she overcome the gender and racial discrimination preventing her?

Untitled (window) (Trailer), 2026, Short Documentary, 19 mins.

Read an article about Untitled (window) on the The Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/feb/17/iran-protest-movement-dissent-documentary-memories-of-a-window-berlin-film-festival

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