Anisa Mehdi, President of Whetstone Productions, is Artistic Director of Documentary Voices: Pulling Focus. She is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and filmmaker specializing religion and the arts. She counts 25 years in news and documentary film production and is a popular lecturer, facilitator and program advisor. Her National Geographic Special "Inside Mecca" is recognized as a seminal film on the Hajj; her PBS Frontline film, "Muslims" shows the cultural, economic, social and political diversity of Muslim communities around the world. For ABC News Nightline, Anisa produced and wrote a series of programs on Muslim views about faith and non-Muslim cultures, and on stereotyping in popular media.
Anisa has worked with Bill Moyers, Ted Koppel, Dan Rather, and Merideth Vieira. She teaches documentary film at Seton Hall University, and lectures worldwide on religion and the media. Her current film-in-production, Monks and Muslims: Finding Faith in Algeria, is funded in part by the United States Institute of Peace. With colleague Michael Lame she delivers “Disagreeing on Everything: An Arab and a Jew Look at the Middle East.” They are represented by Wolfman Productions. Anisa has a Masters Degree in Journalism from Columbia University, and a B.A. in Spanish Language and Literature from Wellesley College. She is a Trustee of the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, and of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey.
CASPIAN EVENTS
mahshidzamani@caspianevent.ae
Caspian Events is an event management consultancy and promotion organization, working with local and international clients to bring fine arts and cultural events to the United Arab Emirates. It facilitates programs at government-related and private arts centers. Caspian Events is based in Sharjah, UAE.
Mahshid Zamani, CEO of Caspian Events, is Managing Director of “Documentary Voices: Pulling Focus.” She brings experience in theatre management and film criticism to her executive role with this new initiative.
Ms. Zamani began her career as a film critic in 1990, with an A.S.S. in Film and Cinematography from the Tehran Cinema Institute. Since then she has worked with major film magazines in Iran and for the Persian section of BBC Radio and BBC.com.
As a film critic focused on women's issues, Ms. Zamani supervised a special 1996 issue of the magazine World of Pictures devoted to "Women and Cinema." This has become a reference tool for students doing research in the field. In 1997 Ms. Zamani coordinated an international seminar in Tehran on the "Image of Women in Contemporary Cinema." Both Iranian and international film media praised the seminar. She also published an English-to-Farsi translation of Ingmar Bergman's Face to Face.
Ms. Zamani served as an editor for the International Film Guide (2001) and International Film Encyclopedia (2003). She also wrote numerous film reviews for influential Iranian movie magazines including Film Magazine and Film International.
An international film entrepreneur, Mahshid Zamani managed the “Mesa Community College International Film Festival” in Arizona in 2004. She was a commentator of Iranian films for NITV in Los Angeles.
She was Theatre Manager for the Dubai Community Theatre and Arts Centre (DUCTAC) for two years. In that position Ms. Zamani organized and programmed more than 100 international events in DUCTAC’s several venues, including the 543-seat multi-purpose “Centrepoint Theatre.”
Today she is founder and executive producer of Caspian Events, an event management consultancy and promoter working with local and international clients. Caspian Events facilitates programs at government-related and private arts centers.
Ms. Zamani has a B.S. in Food Industrial Engineering from Azad University in Tehran. She lives in Sharjah with her husband and two daughters.
STAFF
Jenna Arnold, Production Associate
Jenna is founder and President of Press Play, a global production company designed to develop social and cultural competencies among youth. Pulling from a vast array of experiences, Jenna has developed social programming, delivered through engaging media approaches. Most recently, Press Play’s television series, “Exiled!” has been green-lit by MTV making her the youngest Executive Producer at the network. Jenna’s expertise lies in developing content that sparks positive social change. Jenna was the youngest American to work at the United Nations serving as a Media and Education Specialist where she created multiplatform programming that co-branded the UN with Fortune 500 companies, reputable celebrities and international institutions. Most recently, Jenna served as a UN Producer for the Diary of Jay-Z: Water for Life (MTV) and she brought the celebrity studded ‘What’s Going On?’ (Showtime) series into classrooms making it the second best-selling education product nationwide. Jenna has extensive knowledge of the world having taught in 13 countries, traveled to over 30, and has authored 15 different curricula about global topics. A graduate of Columbia University’s International Education Program, Jenna provides thought provoking approaches that educate youth about peoples and problems beyond their borders.
Christina Biddle, Production Associate
Christina Biddle studied film production at Columbia University where she worked on numerous student films. Wishing to synthesize her love of film with her commitment to youth, she entered the New York City Teaching Fellows program in 2000 and proceeded to teach English, global history, video production and screenplay writing in some of the city’s most difficult high schools. Currently, she is a media educator for Educational Video Center where she trains and coaches principals and teachers in using documentary production to enliven, engage and give voice to their students. She earned her BA in Modern European History from Smith College and her MA in Education from City College in New York.
Ahmed Bin Saeed, Media Relations, Dubai
Ahmed Bin Saeed is the co-founder of Emirates Production in 2008 and has since been associated with the company, overseeing companies business and working closely with individual business unit heads and to provide high quality services to Emirates Production Clients. With 5 yrs of experience in public relation and media in handling various campaigns and conferences.
Tabreez Chaudhury, Production Consultant, Dubai
Tabreez studied at the prestigious School of Shillong – All Saint’s Convent School in India before going on to complete his graduation in Commerce with Masters in International Trade Marketing affiliated to Australia from India’s leading commerce college, Shree Bhagwan Mahavir Jain College of Commerce, Bangalore University.
Ajay worked with FIAT Automobiles Mumbai for over 6 years in various managerial positions including operations, sales and marketing. During his career, Tabreez constantly contributed to the business as well as to team development and management to achieve common goals.
In 2007, Tabreez joined D-SEVEN MOTION PICTURES as Project Coordinator. During this period, he managed vast marketing initiatives covering all forms of marketing communication and also running the First official Film Club of Middle East.
Tabreez co-founded Emirates Production in 2008 and has since been associated with the company, overseeing the groups' business across various geographies and working closely with individual business unit heads and to provide high quality services to Emirates Production Clients.
Pamela Cohn, Programs Director
As an independent media producer and project director for the past seventeen years, Pamela Cohn has a broad range of experience in producing broadcast, interactive, CG and animation projects in all forms of media—print, web, video and film—on behalf of a wide array of corporate, non-profit, design, advertising and entertainment clients. She has been a documentary filmmaker and DP since 2003--her first nonfiction film was shot on location in Cuba, La Fabri_K: The Cuban Hip Hop Factory. She writes a well-regarded blog dedicated to nonfiction called Still in Motion, where she conducts in-depth interviews with documentary filmmakers and producers, and reports from festivals and other international film events. She is currently working on a book project on international female filmmakers. Pamela is also a contributing editor on new media and digital distribution for Renew Media’s blog Re:Sources and writes for other arts, media and film sites. In 2006, she was one of three producers who put on the 3rd Annual Artivist Film Festival in Los Angeles at the Egyptian Theatre where she organized panels, events and red carpet press and wrote and produced the closing awards ceremony. Currently she is working as the programming director for the inaugural symposium, Documentary Voices: Pulling Focus in Dubai and as programming director for the inaugural Isle of Wight Film Festival to take place in the UK in October 2008. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in New York in 1993 with honors in poetry, American history and Italian language and literature. She is conversant in Italian, Spanish and French and publishes her photography and poetry internationally. Ms. Cohn comes to Documentary Voices through Press Play Productions
Neda Sarmast, Artistic Advisor
Neda Sarmast left a rewarding fifteen year career in music management, marketing and PR, in order to shift her focus towards improving coverage of Iranians and Muslims in the US media. Growing up as an Iranian-American, combined with her professional background and an ability to bring a message to the masses through the arts, supports her in playing a positive role in her community. She uses music and film to promote tolerance and unity between Eastern and Western cultures. Neda Sarmast was born in Iran, moved to the US at the age of nine, and has traveled back and forth ever since. She was an eyewitness to the Iran-Iraq war; she is still haunted by the death of her best friend in an Iraqi air raid. During the 1979 Iran hostage crisis and again after 9/11, Neda found herself defending Iranians and their beliefs to Americans, and in turn defending Americans and their way of life to Iranians. Fearing that history was about to repeat itself in 2005, Neda left New York to film a documentary on the youth culture of Iran. "NOBODY’S ENEMY" is produced in conjunction with Chat the Planet and is slated for release in 2008.
Nan Sumski, Public Relations Director
An executive with over 20 years of experience in the public relations field, Nan Sumski has successfully compiled extensive media campaigns for Warner Bros., Disney ABC Television Group and Spelling Television, Inc. She has devised and initiated publicity campaigns for such popular television series as ER, 7th Heaven, Charmed, Sisters, Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, The George Carlin Show, The Jenny Jones Show and other popular programs. Handpicked as the first and only in-house public relations executive for legendary producer Aaron Spelling, Sumski has also done PR consulting work for the BBC Worldwide.
