Malek Shafi’i

AHRF FESTIVAL DIRECTOR

Born in 1971, Shafi’i has been making documentary films in Afghanistan and abroad for the last 12 years. He completed his education at Baagh Ferdaws Islamic Filmmaking Center in 1999 in Tehran and additionally attended a film production course in the Netherlands.

Coming back to Afghanistan after 20 years of exile, he has been living in Kabul for the past eight years. He founded Afghanistan Cinema Club – BASA in 2006. He also worked as a senior advisor for the Radio Television of Afghanistan.

He has made about 30 films. Some of them won international film awards from different international film festivals.

Shafi’i was a Jury member of the Tolo TV Film Festival, Kabul Film Festival, Amnesty Award of CPH-DOX (Copenhagen Documentary Film Festival) and BANFF.

He also organized the second and third editions of the Kabul International Documentary and Short Film Festival; and Second Take - a film festival with a principal focus on gender and cinema.

Diana Saqeb

AHRF FESTIVAL COORDINATOR

Documentary film maker and women rights activist, Diana Saqeb spent 24 years as immigrant. For the past three years, she has been a resident of Kabul. She studied at the Tehran Art Academy to become a film director. She is currently a member of BASA - an artists' group based in Kabul.

Her first documentary film 25 Percent deals with six female members of the Afghan parliament and the challenges they face in their daily lives. 25 Percent has been screened at many film festivals across the world.

Her second documentary Run Roobina Run is about Roobina Moqimyar, the first Afghan female Athlete to participate in the Olympic Games. It was screened during the Beijing Olympic Games, 2010.

Diana is the festival coordinator of the first Autumn Human Rights Film Festival. She has worked as deputy director on the second and third editions of the Kabul International Film Festival; and Second Take, a film festival with a principal focus on Gender and Cinema. She is

the chief editor of Theme – a magazine on Cinema, Theatre, Music and Television.

Hassan Zakizadeh

AHRF MEDIA MANAGER

Like many Afghans, Hassan Zakizadeh has spent most of his life in exile. He left Afghanistan at the beginning of the civil war when he was a child. He returned back to Afghanistan as a film making crew in early 2003.

He has been working in the media for over 6 years now and has made several reportage documentaries and commercial clips. However, he considers photography as his vocation. He has taught photography to the fine arts students of Kabul University and is currently involved with several photography projects.

He has exhibited his photography works several times. Nowhere, Nothing in Bagh-e Babur-2009; Untitled at the U.S. embassy in Paris, 2010; Saving Lives at the U.S. embassy in Kabul, 2011; Views of Kabul - a group photo exhibition with Simon Norfolk, John Burke (19th century photographer) and two Afghan photographers in Bagh-e Babur and Across the City at the institute of France for Afghanistan 2011 are some of his exhibitions.

Mariam Mana

Mariam Mana was born and completed her education in exile. She returned back to Afghanistan in 2005 and started working as a journalist for a newspaper for 2 years. She also worked as a radio programs producer for IRIB for 2 years.

She is studying international relations in Kateb university and cooperate with Afghanistan Cinema Club on Autumn Human Rights Film Festival as executive and administrative manager.