Iranian-born, Afarin moved to London as a baby with her family following the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

 

She graduated from Leeds University in 1998 with BSc Combined Honours in History & Philosophy of Science with Psychology. Her passion for creative expression led her to embark upon a second degree: BA Graphic Design, at the prestigious Central Saint Martin's College of Art & Design, where she graduated with First-Class Honours in 2007.

 

Afarin gained her MA In 2011 from the National Film & Television School with her graduation film ABUELAS, an animated-documentary in which she uses non-polemic narrative to highlight the plight of the Argentine “Grandmothers of May Square”. The film has had huge success, screening at almost 170 film-festivals worldwide and receiving 70 awards and a further 14 nomination, including a BAFTA-Nomination in 2012 for Best Animation, and two Oscar-Qualifying awards.

 

Since then Afarin has worked as screenwriter working closely with BAFTA-winning director Jonathan Hodgson on a couple of animated-documentaries – one raising awareness about juvenile capital punishment, (produced by Guardian Films & Sherbet) and more recently a film about violence against women (produced by Womankind and Sherbet). The former was nominated in the Digital Innovation category of the 2013 Amnesty International UK Media Awards. 

 

In 2013, Afarin was spotlighted as ‘one-to-watch’ by two of the UK’s prestigious film-industry schemes: She was one of five directors selected to participate in the “Guiding Lights” mentoring programme, and is being mentored by director Bart Layton.  She was also featured as one of Screen International’s ‘Stars of Tomorrow’.

 

Afarin is currently developing ideas for both documentaries and fictions, and is making the move into live-action, where she hopes to continue making intelligent, beautiful films with heart. 

 

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