Sadaf Foroughi is an award-winning Iranian filmmaker with a career spanning over two decades. She started her journey in 2003 by writing and directing short films, documentaries, and video art pieces that have been showcased and screened globally.
As an alumnus of the Berlinale Talent Campus, Foroughi was selected in 2005 to direct a short documentary episode for the "The Why Democracy?" project, commissioned by Steps International and ZDf/Arte. Her episode, Féminin, Masculin, received critical acclaim, being nominated for Best Non-European Film at the Grand Off- European Off Film Awards in Warsaw and winning Best Short Film at the Oxford Brooks University Film and Music Festival.
In 2009, Foroughi co-founded the Montreal-based production company Sweet Delight Pictures (SDP) with fellow filmmaker Kiarash Anvari. SDP was recognized as one of the top five emerging Canadian production companies at the 2017 Indie Screen Awards.
Foroughi co-wrote, produced, and starred in Anvari's feature debut, The Pot and the Oak, which had its world premiere at the 2017 Rotterdam International Film Festival.
As a writer, director, and producer, Foroughi's debut feature film, AVA, premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. AVA received widespread recognition, winning the FIPRESCI award in the Discovery section, earning an honorable mention as best debut Canadian feature film, and being named one of TIFF's Top Ten Canadian Films of 2017. AVA also earned Foroughi nine significant award nominations from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, including a win for Best First Feature Film and Best Supporting Actress.
Foroughi's second film, Summer With Hope, won the Crystal Globe Grand Prix for Best Film at the 2022 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. Summer With Hope has since been screened and nominated for further awards at prestigious festivals worldwide, and is nominated for three 2023 Canadian Screen Awards, including best screenplay and best picture.
Aside from her filmmaking work, Foroughi has served as a juror for various festivals and awards, including the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, the Tbilisi International Film Festival, and the Talents Footprints - Mastercard Enablement Programme at Berlinale Talent 2024. She holds a master's degree in film studies from the University of Provence in France and a degree in film production from the New York Film Academy, and is currently pursuing a PhD in film philosophy.
