Maryam’s films, “Silence,” “Fermysk,” and “Dandelion Season,” have won awards at festivals both in the US and internationally. Maryam has also been a jury member for countless film festivals and has been featured in numerous articles. Check out her feature in the Chicago Weekly News or her work on IMDB.
Where do you pull inspiration from in your craft?
“Life experiences. I am from a society where women have practically no rights. You may have heard about all that is happening in Iran. I spent the first five years of my childhood on the border of Iran/Iraq in the middle of the war between the two countries. My mother was a volunteer nurse, and my father was an avionic aircraft engineer. There was a period when I was the only kid there. I grew up in a very odd situation. I could never say goodbye to this lifestyle, which is very helpful for me as a filmmaker. People know me for the social justice issue films I made. I used to go to different places and try to avoid going to hotels but living with people, borrowing their stories, working on them, and giving them back as movies.”
Why did you choose to study your particular major?
“I moved to the States with an extraordinary artist's Green Card. However, I knew I needed to further my education besides making films. The foundation for any movie is the script, which must be solid, so if I wanted to continue writing scripts in English, which was my second language, this step was the best. After researching a lot, I found my school. The APU program was what I needed because I was busy with different projects, and this program would let me manage them alongside my studies.”
What was your first creative tool?
“I was always a storyteller. My first tool was color, not only for painting but to tell stories through painting because, at the time, I could not write. Soon my tool became pen and paper. In the movie industry, I started with acting. I had a simple camera that I used to practice and record my acting lessons. Soon It became my tool to practice directing.”
What was the most meaningful experience you had at APU?
“Every single moment for me was a beautiful experience. Our excellent professors and classmates helped me create this beautiful experience. In screenwriting and the movie industry as a whole, we are living in the stories and creating events and characters. This is not only studying a lesson or reading a book. It is living the experience together.”
How has your Christian-based college education impacted your career?
“I am a person of faith. I researched many religions to be a better storyteller and to have a deeper understanding of people when I develop the characters in my stories. Before studying at APU, I had some experience with Christianity, but where I lived I was forbidden to go deep into religions, especially Christianity. They want people to accept Islam with no research and no questions.
Let me share a moment with you. It was right before starting my journey at APU. I was in the last days of pre-production for one of my films. My production designer was from Germany, so she was not familiar with the Farsi language (my native language). I needed Farsi letters from a father to his daughter in a scene. She printed one of the papers by mistake, which she got from a Google search. Guess what the text was? A page containing 15 messages from the Bible to me! Starting with :
‘My Child, You may not know me, but I know everything about you.’
Psalm 139:1
I was alone here, and I immediately realized that my journey had purposely passed this Christian-based college. During my time at APU, reading all the resources that our professors gave us, information in the articles and class conversations, and the way others behaved as people of faith was extremely helpful for me.”
