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Parisa Barani is an award-winning  Iranian Canadian American film director. Born and raised in Tehran, she immigrated to Vancouver at the age of 16. 

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Barani is slated to direct the upcoming features HARAM and HAJI and is in development for her television pilot called DUTY STATION. Her most recent work HUMAN TERRAIN, stars Maggie Siff and Sarita Choudhury and distributed by Refinery29/Shatterbox. It debuted at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival and was in competition at Geena Davis’ Bentonville Film Festival. 

Barani’s directorial debut ABLUTION screened at festivals worldwide, including Mill Valley Film Festival, Palm Springs International ShortFest, and Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase.

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Barani is a Directing fellow of 2024 Ryan Murphy's Half Initiative Director Program and Netflix’s 2023 TV Episodic “Directors on the Rise” masterclass led by Paris Barclay. She is also a participant of ViacomCBS Emerging Directors Program, Universal Directors Initiative and Creative Capital’s On Our Radar and a recipient of Tribeca Film Institute Sloan Grant. She has been a semi-finalist for Sundance Screenwriters Lab.

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In addition to filmmaking, Barani has curated and spoken on panels at SXSW and San Francisco State University. She is a programmer at Outfest LGBTIQA+ Film Festival. She is a graduate of AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women and SITI’s Theatre Intensive Training at Skidmore College, where she was mentored by the legendary Anne Bogart. She is fluent in English and Farsi​.​​