I was born in Rasht, the capital city of the province of Gilan, home to some of the lushest vegetation in Iran. It's where the rest of the country escapes to from the sociopolitical matters that plague everyday life. It's where my parents took flight from to Canada to give my sister and I a chance to grow free from systematic corruption. Fast forward 14 years and I’m pursuing a liberated identity as a filmmaker in Toronto. For a while I've debated that if I want to exercise full creative freedom, I may have to eventually give up on returning home. In Dec 2021, I was finally able to visit in more than 5 years. Stepping on its earth and breathing the air of my province in the presence of my family brought a feeling of happiness I can’t find elsewhere. If this is my last trip home, I choose to remember its warmth over the darkness.
