Naghmeh Farzaneh is an independent Iranian filmmaker and animator based in Chicago. After finishing her BFA in painting in her hometown, Tehran, she found the stories she had to tell were bigger than the surface of a canvas. In her exploration for a new medium she began her first animated film, Trapped in Time. The work received international recognition in many film festivals. In 2011 she immigrated to the United States to continue filmmaking and earned her MFA in Animation at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Naghmeh has done extensive work in two-dimensional animation, collaborative works with independent artists and filmmakers, and served on the juries of several international film festivals. In a short span of time, her latest film Scent of Geranium about her immigration out of Iran was officially selected in more than 60 festivals around the globe and was awarded in prestigious festivals such as the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Animateka Festival, 60th CINE Golden Eagle, San Francisco Independent Film Festival, 47th ASIFA East Animation Festival, Heartland Film Festival and the New Orleans Film Festival. Naghmeh has served on the faculties of the Rochester Institute of Technology, and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. She is currently a faculty member at DePaul University in Chicago where she teaches animation while passionately continuing her career as an independent animator.