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Empowering Middle Eastern Women, On Camera and Off

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variety.com

R.L. Ford Inspired by her experience working remotely from her Los Angeles apartment to help a friend escape Afghanistan, it was slated to be a micro-budget production, paid for with money from her savings account.

But her acceptance into the Rising Voices program — which provides filmmakers with a $100,000 budget and a $10,000 salary — radically changed the game plan. “As a freelance filmmaker, you grind and you hustle, you work really, really hard and use little to no resources to tell stories, and you try to prove yourself to the industry and other people that you can tell a story, no matter what the limitation is,” says Motamedi. “So, for a door all of a sudden to open and have someone to say, ‘Come in and make a film on a bigger platform with more resources, with a budget and with a crew to support you,’ is an incredible experience.”  Motamedi was born in L.A., but grew up in her parents’ native Iran, where she learned English by watching American television shows and movies.

The experience gave her a strong appreciation for the power of cinema.  “It really made us feel like we can make movies and fight against whatever cause or injustice we want,” she says.

Having spent some time with friends in the U.S., Motamedi decided to do a web search for “film schools in America” and applied to the first one that popped up on the screen.  “It wasn’t the best one,” notes Motamedi of the university where she eventually earned a BA in film and video production and an MFA in screenwriting. “But it was good and it worked out for me.

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