Mania Akbari
Mania AKBARI (b. 1974, Iran) began working as an artist in 1991, when she participated in various exhibitions both in Iran and abroad. She was leading actress in Abbas Kiarostami’s Ten in 2002, and directed the sequel 10+4 herself a few years later. Her first feature film, 20 Fingers (2004), won several awards and was screened at more than 40 film festivals around the world. Through collaborative, often therapeutic processes, she explores memory, sexuality, violence, and the socio-political oppression of female bodies. She has received major international prizes including at the Venice International Film Festival. Her latest co-directed project Three Ways of Returning (2026) is selected for IFFR 2026’s The Future is NOW focus.
Filmography
Crystal (2002), Ten (2002), 20 Fingers (2004), 10 + 4 (2007), One.Two.One. (2011), 30 Mins to 6 (2011, short), From Tehran to London (2012), In My Country Men Have Breasts (2012, short), Life May Be (2014), A Moon for My Father (2019), Lubion (2019, short), Dear Elnaz (2020, short), How Dare You Have Such a Rubbish Wish (2021, short), Three Ways of Returning (2026)
Mania Akbari at IFFR
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Three Ways of Returning
Mania Akbari, Xiaolu Guo, Andrea Luka Zimmerman | 81' | China | World premiere
A rich three-part essay film portraying attempts at reconnecting with often traumatic pasts, spanning China, Germany and Iran. -
From Tehran to London
Mania Akbari | 45' | Iran | International premiere
Akbari stopped shooting her film in Iran after several filmmakers were arrested. She edited her story about a married couple in crisis in London. Henc -
20 Fingers
Mania Akbari | 73' | Iran | -
A fresh, dynamic and revolutionary picture of life on the back of the motorbike, with stories from Iranian family life about independence, power, conf