Naghmeh Farzaneh is an Iranian artist and filmmaker based in Chicago. Her background in painting led her to embrace animation as her preferred medium for storytelling and filmmaking. Her independent films have gained international recognition and have received awards in festivals such as Heartland, Oberhausen, New Orleans, Tricky Women, Farhang, and the Chicago Children’s Film Festival, to name a few. Her autobiographical film, Scent of Geranium, was premiered by Vimeo Staff Pick and was named one of National Geographic’s ten Best Short Films of 2017.

Over the last decade, Naghmeh has extensively collaborated with independent filmmakers and artists. She has held key roles as a director and art director for clients such as The New Yorker, ACLU, Meow Wolf, Sesame Workshop, and TED-ED. In her recent collaboration, Naghmeh was the animation director for the  New Yorker animated short documentary The Smallest Power, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2022, she was the art director for the Emmy-nominated MSNBC feature documentary In the Dark of the Valley, recognized for an outstanding Social Issue Documentary. 

In addition to her filmmaking and freelance work, Naghmeh is an associate professor at DePaul University, where she teaches filmmaking as an animated art form.

AWARDS

1st Place, Farhang Short Film Festival, CA, USA, 2018
Best Student Film, Conscious Cartoons Animation Film Festival, WA, USA, 2018
10 Best Short Films from 2017, National Geographic Short Film Showcase, USA, 2017
Best Student Film, World Festival of Animated Film, Varna, Bulgaria, 2017
Youth Jury Award, 34th Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, IL, USA, 2017
Audience Award, Best Short Animated Film, San Francisco Independent Film Festival, CA, 2017
Special Mention, International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany, 2017
Finalist, 60th CINE Golden Eagle, CA, USA, 2017
Best Student Director, Sand Francisco Frozen Film Festival, CA, USA, 2017
Jury Special Mention, Festival du film court en Plein air de Grenoble, France, 2017
Best Animated Short Film, Hong Kong Art-house Film Festival, 2016
Best film in the Elephant Program, Animateka Festival, 2016
2nd place, student Films, 47th ASIFA East Animation Festival, 2016
Special Jury Award, New Orleans Film Festival, 2016
Finalist, Best Short Animated film category, Heartland Film Festival, 2016
Best Super Short International Film, Monstra Animation Film Festival, 2013
Audience Choice Award, Alwan 3rd I Award, New York, NY, USA, 2013
Jury Special Award, 7th International 100 Film Festival, Tehran, Iran, 2011
3rd Best Animated Film, 7th Tehran International Animation Festival, Iran, 2011

SCREENINGS

Tribeca Film Festival
Premier and Panel, SUNDANCE Film Festival, Park City, UT, USA
Toronto Lift-Off Film Festival, Toronto, Canada
The Asia Pacific Animated Film Festival, Melbourne University, Melbourne, Australia
Hiroshima Animation Festival, Educational Film Market, Hiroshima, Japan
DocFest, Maastricht, Netherlands
20th Mecal Pro, International Short Film and Animation Festival, Barcelona, Spain
Take One Action Film Festival, Scotland, UK
Marfa Film Festival, Marfa, TX, USA
63rd International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany
25th Anima Mundi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
ITFS- 24th Stuttgart Festival of Animated Film, Stuttgart, Germany
London International Animation Festival, London, UK
Tricky Women Festival, Vienna, Austria
13th World Festival of Animated Film, Varna, Bulgaria
SIFFCY (Smile Int’l Film Festival for Children & Youth, New Delhi, India
KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Bucharest Short Film Festival, Bucharest, Romania
9th San Jose International Short Film Festival, CA, USA
10th Lviv International Short Film Festival Wiz Art, Lviv, Ukraine
Animaphix, Palermo, Italy
13th GIRAF Animation Festival, Calgary, Canada
Sharjah International Children's Film Festival, Sharjah, Emirates
Documentarist Istanbul Documentary Days, Istanbul, Turkey
57th ZLÍN FILM FESTIVAL, Zlín, Czech Republic
La Guarimba International Film Festival, Calabria, Italy
Northwest Animation Festival, Portland, Oregon, USA
VAFI - International Children and Youth Animation Film fest, Varaždin, Croatia
Albuquerque Film & Music Experience (AFME), New Mexico, USA
Universe Multicultural Film Festival, CA, USA
The West Virginia Mountaineer Short Film Festival, Virginia, USA
Columbus International Film and Video Festival, Ohio, USA
Animac, Mostra Internacional de Cinema D’Animacio, Zaragoza, Spain
Montclair Film Festival, New Jersey, USA
Athens International Film and Video Festival, Ohio, USA
Festival du film court en Plein air de Grenoble, France
Drawtastic’s 2D or not 2D Animation Festival, Seattle, WA, USA
30th Leeds International Film Festival, UK
TAAFI, Toronto Animation Arts Festival International, Toronto, Canada
Anibar Animation Festival, Albania
Manchester Animation Festival, Manchester, UK
The animation Block party, Brooklyn, NY, USA
Savannah Film Festival, GA, USA
Reggio Film Festival, Italy
Peace Builder Film Festival, New Delhi, India
Orlando Film Festival, FL, USA
Manhattan Independent Film Festival, NY, USA
South Texas Underground Film Festival, TX, USA
RIT Honor Show, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY, USA
Euro Fest, European International Film Festival, St. Petersburg, Russia
Iranian Film Festival, Zurich, Switzerland
Immigration film Festival, Washington D.C, USA
Athens ANIMFEST, Athens, Greece
Vaughan Film Festival, Vaughan, Canada
International Festival of Animated Films ANIFILM, Trebon, Czech Republic
Golden Kuker-Sofia Festival, Bulgaria
Doc Sunback Film Festival, Kansas, KA, USA
Film Score and Scruffy City Film and Music Festival, Knoxville, TN, USA
Capital City Film Festival, Lansing, MI, USA
Pelan, Iranian Documentaries and short films, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
Les Femmes Underground's first 'Feminista Filmmaker Series', Los Angeles, CA, USA
Los Angeles Cinefest, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Golden Reel International Underground Film Festival, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
High Falls Film Festival, Rochester, NY, USA
Film Miami Fest, Miami, FL, USA