Maryam Najafi is an Iranian-Canadian filmmaker, born Tehran and raised around the world. She has worked as a writer, director, editor and producer in Canada, Spain and the Middle East. She set up her own boutique production company, Mehr studio in 2007 and has written, directed and produced numerous documentaries, music videos and PSA. In 2010, Maryam co-produced The Neighbor (Dir: Naghmeh Shirkhan) which has been featured in various international film festivals and has won several awards. Maryam debut feature film as writer/director, Kayan (2012), went on to win the prestigious New Currents Award at the 17th Busan International Film Festival and had its European premiere at the 2013 Rotterdam International Film Festival. It has been showcased in many different film festivals, winning more prizes and garnering great critical and popular acclaim. She currently has her second feature film Jannat in development with Ramin Bahrani (hailed by Roger Ebert as the director of the decade) and Amir Naderi (veteran Iranian filmmaker) attached as executive producers.
She holds a BA in Film Studies from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in Motion Pictures and Television from the prestigious Academy of Art University (AAU) in San Francisco, and is an alumna of the WIDC CAM in Toronto.