BIO
Raha Faridi (born 27 October 1980 in Tehran) is an Iranian experimental artist, independent filmmaker, radio producer, music explorer, and storyteller.
She has been independently producing audio-visuals as a solo artist since 2000. Her practice spans anthropology, music, stream of consciousness, gender equality, the environment, performance, culture, and the arts. Her interdisciplinary projects explore urban and intellectual themes in a serious yet playful manner.
She studied mathematics, linguistics, translation, and drama at university. She worked as an English teacher for two years before spending four years in theatre and performance, working as an actor, director, and costume and stage designer.
For over eight years, she worked as a freelance journalist, radio producer, and music researcher with the BBC World Service. She produced more than a hundred radio features, uncovering Iran’s underground music scene. Some of today’s best-known Iranian artists were first introduced through her interviews. Her exclusive BBC series on HIV/AIDS in Iran was commended by the Nelson Mandela Foundation.
In 2004, Faridi collaborated with Ramin Jahanbegloo to produce a series of over 70 radio panel discussions featuring prominent Iranian intellectuals exploring various aspects of Iranian society and culture. She also contributed as a columnist to Tehran Avenue, the first independent online magazine in Iran, and collaborated in organizing underground music and urban film festivals. In 2006, she produced Iraq 360 Degree, a Beirut-based radio series focusing on artists’ responses to the Iraq War.
In 2009, carrying only a camera and sound recorder in her backpack, she traveled around Iran documenting locals in search of music and personal stories. The outcome was several experimental shorts, a folklore music album, and her feature-length ethnographic film "Chicheka Lullaby", a turning point in her career. Crowdfunded in 2014, the film explores traditional and fusion music in southern Iran and began screening internationally in 2018 after years of censorship and restriction.
Faridi was forced to leave Iran after intelligence agents raided her home. Her equipment was confiscated, screenings were banned, and after multiple court trials, she was sentenced to prison on political charges.
Since 2022, she has been working as a freelance filmmaker in Berlin. She has directed documentaries and music videos in Germany and toured Europe screening her films. Her first production in Germany, "Please Step Aside!", premiered at IDFA in 2024 and won Best International Documentary at the Porto Femme Festival in 2025.
Raha Faridi is a light traveler, expressing her stories using simple, portable equipment. She shares much of her work, including films, podcasts, and music recordings, freely online under a Creative Commons license.