About

Sina Mahdavi is an Iranian filmmaker currently pursuing an MFA in Film Production at Ohio University. He holds a BA in Philosophy from Mofid University and an MA in Cinema from the University of Tehran. His work spans directing, editing, cinematography, and film and media production, with a particular interest in character-driven stories that explore social and human issues.

Before moving to the United States, Mahdavi worked in Iran’s film and streaming industry. He spent nearly two years in Content Acquisition at Filimo, one of Iran’s leading streaming platforms, and served as an Art Director at Filimo School, contributing to the production of approximately 300 episodes of educational content. He also worked on Mentalist, an eight-episode reality series produced for Filimo.

His short films have screened at numerous film festivals and received several awards and recognitions, including Best Ohio Short at the Columbus Film Festival, Best Student Short at the Silver Chance International Film Festival, Best Drama Short at the Virginia Emerging Filmmakers Festival, and Best Director at the WILDsound FEEDBACK Film Festival. His screenplay Epilogue also received Third Place in the Graduate Short Screenplay category at the Ivy Film Festival.

In addition to his filmmaking, Mahdavi has worked as a film screener for the Athens International Film + Video Festival and Cinequest Film & Creativity Festival. His current work focuses on socially engaged storytelling and exploring how film can create dialogue around complex social issues and connect communities through shared human experiences.