User:Mozhgan Pazooki
Mozhgan Pazooki | |
|---|---|
| مژگان پازوکی | |
| Nationality | Iranian |
| Occupation(s) | Documentary filmmaker, researcher |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Notable work | Mafakhere Iran Emrooz, Kalling, Farourgan Island, Connecting Conversations |
Mozhgan Pazooki (Persian: مژگان پازوکی) is an Iranian documentary filmmaker and researcher. She is known for her long career in radio, television, and independent documentary filmmaking in Iran and later in Australia. She has directed cultural and environmental films including Mafakhere Iran Emrooz (Distinguished Figures of Contemporary Iran), Kalling, Farourgan Island, and Connecting Conversations. [1]
Early life and education
[edit]Pazooki began her career in 1989 with Radio Tehran, working on science programs for children and adolescents. While studying microbiology, she became the editor and producer of the scientific programme Scientific Report for Children and Adolescents and later produced Ghoncheha (Buds). She later undertook a two–year filmmaking course at the Ferdowsi Garden Film Training Centre in Tehran.
Career
[edit]Television documentaries
[edit]In 1993, Pazooki proposed a documentary project about Iranian scientists to IRIB, which resulted in the 26–episode series Mafakhere Iran Emrooz (Distinguished Figures of Contemporary Iran). The series profiled more than 80 scholars and academics, aired on Channel 1 and Channel 4, and was praised in Iranian media. In 1996 she was voted Best TV Documentary Director by public poll in Cinema newspaper.[1]
Independent documentaries in Iran
[edit]After her success on television, Pazooki moved to Kish Island where she produced independent cultural and environmental films. Her 1998 film Kalling portrayed the lives of pearl divers on Kish Island and became the first underwater documentary directed by an Iranian woman wearing full hijab. The film was screened at festivals, broadcast on television, and received critical attention.[2][3] She later directed Farourgan Island (2014), an environmental documentary which was showcased at international conferences on marine conservation.[1]
Work in Australia
[edit]After immigrating to Australia in 2019, Pazooki continued making documentary films. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she directed Connecting Conversations, a remotely produced documentary about migrant students and volunteer English tutors in Melbourne. The film premiered at Melbourne’s Multicultural Hub in 2021, organised by AMES Australia and the City of Melbourne.[4]
Her work has also been featured in diaspora media, including Radio Neshat’s Women’s Tribune programme.[5] In 2019, she directed and edited an exclusive filmed interview with veteran Iranian actor Manouchehr Farid, produced and published by Radio Neshat in Australia.[6]
In March 2024, Pazooki was invited as an industry expert for the Lifecycle of Film event, organised by Women in Film & Television Victoria in collaboration with the Melbourne Women in Film Festival.[7] In November 2025, her early film Kalling was re–screened at Cinema Nova in Melbourne, presented by Film Art Media and WIFT Vic, followed by a Q&A moderated by Sue Maslin AO.[8]
Pazooki is also an associate member of the Australian Directors' Guild (ADG), the national association representing professional directors in Australia.[9]
Selected filmography
[edit]- Mafakhere Iran Emrooz (1993–1996)
- Kalling (1998)
- Farourgan Island (2014)
- Connecting Conversations (2021)
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Mozhgan Pazooki, a researcher, writer, producer, and documentarian in an interview with the Free Zones Journal". Iranian Newspaper of Economic, Social, and Cultural Free Zones. No. 652. 11 March 2024. pp. 12–13.
- ^ "Introduction of selected films at Parvin E'tesami Film Festival". IRNA (in Persian). 14 February 2017.
- ^ "Selected films at the Parvin Etesami Film Festival". Parvin Etesami International Film Festival. 2017.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ AMES Australia. Special documentary launch at Melbourne's Multicultural Hub. 20 April 2021.
- ^ Radio Neshat. Women’s Tribune – Episode 119: Interview with Mozhgan Pazooki. 12 January 2021.
- ^ Radio Neshat. منوچهر فرید interview on Radio Neshat. 22 June 2020.
- ^ WIFT Vic. Lifecycle of Film – Documentary Filmmaking: Producing and Directing. 16 March 2024.
- ^ Iranian Documentary Kalling to Screen in Melbourne. Film Art Media, 9 November 2025.
- ^ Australian Directors’ Guild. ADG Member Directory. Accessed 30 September 2025.