About
I'm Arezou, a writer and filmmaker whose journey in the arts began with sculpture and painting in my early teens. From the start, I enjoyed combining different forms to create an imaginative world distinctly my own. Eventually, writing took the lead, filling notebooks with short stories and experiments in fiction, while I developed a fascination with films and the magic behind their creation.
At thirteen, I first expressed my desire to become a filmmaker and imagined myself as a director. However, with limited resources for arts education in my hometown, I focused on academics while continuing to write. In high school, while studying mathematics, I practiced playwriting and dialogue, immersing myself in dramatic structure and stage direction. Following my decision to pursue academics, I was accepted into Energy Engineering at Amirkabir University in Tehran for my undergraduate studies. However, I soon realized that my true calling lay in the arts.
Determined to follow this path, I left engineering and spent a year preparing for Iran’s art entrance exam. With a top ranking, I was accepted into the Tehran University of Art to study Dramatic Literature. There, my most serious artistic work took shape as I explored new mediums, combining my love for visual storytelling with my personal perspective on social issues.
In university, I experimented with different mediums to present my unique perspective, initially writing short, single-act plays with multiple characters performed in small venues. My work often reflects themes like common beliefs in superstition and the realities faced by women in Iran—a perspective informed by personal experiences and observations.
Academically, I have published two articles in which I used NLP techniques to analyze emotional and linguistic patterns in Bernard-Marie Koltès' plays and examined how minimal language in Beckett's Not I reflects existential themes. This article uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze the emotional and linguistic structures in Bernard-Marie Koltes’ plays. Aiming to bridge the gap left by traditional literary critiques, this research employs computational techniques like sentiment analysis and linguistic feature extraction to identify the linguistic patterns that contribute to dramatic tension and psychological depth in Koltes' works. Findings indicate that Koltes skillfully uses vocabulary richness to convey psychological complexity and create unique emotional atmospheres. This scientific approach enhances our understanding of language in modern theater and offers a fresh perspective for analyzing Koltes’ works, which could be highly effective in directing and dramaturgy.
This study uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to analyze the linguistic complexity in Samuel Beckett's Not I. Through word frequency analysis, a BERT-based sentiment model, and the examination of repetitive motifs, it reveals how Beckett’s minimalist language reflects the fragmented psyche of the protagonist. The findings illustrate themes such as time, memory, and existential anxiety, depicted through rhythmic and recursive language structures. Notably, it is shown that Beckett creates a musical language in this play through these repetitions. This approach underscores Beckett’s role in modern literature, highlighting the significance of his linguistic style in evoking profound existential reflections.
Some of the projects I have done in the last few years include editing episodes for a podcast, creating short motion-graphic videos, co-directing and editing a music video, delivering a lecture performance, and producing two short films inspired by the 2022 movement in Iran, the first called Sand Storm and the second Glaucoma.
Sand Storm is a short film shot in an apartment in Tehran. I was the writer, director, and editor of this project. The story presents an absurd episode from one day in the life of three friends, one of whom is strangely always sweeping the balcony. In this short film, I worked with actors who chose to appear on camera without the mandatory hijab, pushing back against Iranian laws that forbid it. This was an important step for me to share my views on gender discrimination and to show women’s lives honestly, without censorship.
Glaucoma is a film whose concept originated after the script was written by Farshad Jafari. This script was written after a long hiatus following the social movements in Iran in 2022. Part of the scenes were filmed in urban areas of Tehran, while the other part was shot near Lake Urmia, a city far from Tehran. The most important and longest part of the film's production process was the editing and visual effects. For the editing and visual effects in certain parts of Glaucoma, I was inspired by the paintings of Francis Bacon, especially works like Study after Velázquez (1953) and Head VI (1949), where Bacon had distorted pre-drawn images, particularly faces. I thought this approach would help alter the images and create a different perspective. Additionally, throughout the editing process, I continuously experimented with different techniques, layering images, and making constant changes to create unique visuals that could effectively depict the point of view of a person gradually losing their sight.
Currently i'm working as a graphic designer at Yektanet, the largest online advertising platform in Iran. This role has given me the opportunity to test my skills in a larger space with a broader audience and to become closely acquainted with audience interaction and feedback. Working in such a company has offered me a fresh perspective and added valuable experience to my professional and artistic journey.
Now, I am eager to continue on this path. The process of creating Glaucoma and the enjoyment I found in experimenting throughout, from filming to editing, have left me wanting to repeat the experience. Currently, I am brimming with new ideas and concepts for projects that blend multiple mediums. After my experiences with editing and creating visual effects in my recent film, as well as working with a scanner and creating scanography projects in the past, I came up with the idea for an experimental documentary, and I am currently working on it. The documentary captures the everyday life of a young woman in her twenties living in Tehran. The film weaves together present-day footage with scanned images of notes and sketches she has made on scattered pieces of paper over the years, all of which she has carefully kept. This project reflects on the passage of time, showing how her thoughts, desires, and concerns have shifted; issues that once seemed significant now feel distant, while parts of her dreams, fears, or goals have finally materialized, becoming a living part of her present.
Looking to the future, I hope to have the opportunity and resources to finally create a feature film. Over the years, I’ve gained a wealth of ideas and experience in editing, which I’m eager to apply to my own work to bring something fresh to the process. I aim to incorporate editing techniques often seen in experimental shorts, adapting them thoughtfully for feature-length narratives. My goal is to create visuals that reflect my unique perspective on life—likely with a dynamic interplay of light, pacing, form, and composition. Above all, I wish to bring my scripts and ideas to life in a creative, unrestricted space, with multi-location settings and a diverse cast of characters.