Goli Zarei
I am an Iranian-Canadian filmmaker, theatre director, and designer based in Toronto and Tehran. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Theatre Directing and a Master’s in Theatre Practice. As the co-founder and Artistic Director of Veylan Production Company, I have been creating innovative work since 2008.
A Dora Award-winning artist, my films and theatrical productions have received numerous accolades at international festivals. My work explores themes of family, psychology, identity, and language, blending theatrical elements with cinematic storytelling.
My short film Magralen premiered at the 69th Berlin International Film Festival in 2019, and my other short films have been showcased and awarded at prestigious festivals worldwide. I am currently completing my first feature film, Sound of the Salt, marking a significant milestone in my filmmaking career.
Beyond filmmaking, I have directed numerous theatrical performances in Tehran, Edmonton, and Toronto, many of which have been recognized at festivals. Some of my notable works include:
• At the Bank (Tehran, 2012)
• The Journey (Tehran, 2013)
• Crap, Krap, Crap – An adaptation of Krapp’s Last Tape (Edmonton, 2016)
• The Whisper of the Sea, and I (Edmonton, 2017)
• Bone (Short Film, 2021)
• From the Painter’s View (Short Film, 2022)
• Distorted (Toronto, 2022)
• Voiceless (Toronto, 2023)
Other Works
“Voiceless” (theatre)
Neda, host of a popular prime-time live radio show, objects against the ordinary recurrence of cutting voices of phone guests on live shows, and this leads to her dismissal. She starts interviewing some of those who were cut off independently, as an attempt to question the act of exclusion.
“Distorted” (theatre)
It is about a middle aged couple whose relationship has been effected after the woman’s miscarriage, giving birth to an already dead kid two years ago. Their married life changed, which has made them find ways around their problems to avoid the deterioration and collapse.
Bone (short film)
A young woman -Azar- begins to know herself, through her mother's death in a psychiatric hospital. A mother who had always rejected her, believing the little girl to be the root of her physical pain. Azar's faith in her father breaks down, as she learns about his negligence of her mother’s physical and mental depression resulting in the pregnancy that led to her birth…
Magralen (short film)
A family of four live in a car-wrecking yard in Iran. The parents dismantle wrecking old cars and the Kids (Nima, 10 and Tara,4) spend their time playing around the yard, in old cars. The kids are interested in F1 races and imagine they are in an F1 race when playing. Nima explains the imaginary race view for Tara who is blind.
The parents drowned in hard work have fights and arguments often and Nima obliges himself to explain what is going on with their parents to Tara. He makes up sweet stories to prevent emotional damage for Tara.
The Whisper of the Sea and I (theatre)
A foreign language film is being dubbed by a group of professional artists for the blind audience sitting in a theatre. There is no picture, only sound.
As the events of the film take place, while interruptions happen unintentionally in the course of dubbing and bits of original soundscape of the film leaks out, the audience realizes that the real story of the film is way different than what is voiced-over by the voice actors and the company.
They are trying to transform the original story of the film to a romantic drama through forging of a new soundscape, while the film is about sadness and loneliness of a woman struggling in the darkness of war.