Graduate Associate
omidsh77[at]yorku.ca
Master’s Student
Graduate Programme in Cinema and Media Studies, York University
Research Keywords:
Transnational cinema; transnational feminism; Kurdish cinema; Kurdish women movement; stateless cinema; New Neorealist Cinema
Research Region(s):
Research Diaspora(s):
Omid Shakiba (he/him) is a Kurdish-Canadian filmmaker, cinematographer and film instructor with more than 20 years of experience in the film industry and a strong background in television and theatre. He has directed over 30 documentaries, short fictions and experimental films as well as TV programs and promos. He holds a master’s degree in digital filmmaking from the University of Bradford in England (2012), which was completed through a joint project with the BBC. Omid taught filmmaking and media courses to undergraduate students for more than four years in Kurdistan of Iraq. In 2017, by invitation of Hot Docs International Film Festival, he came to Canada. Besides working in the Canadian film industry as an independent filmmaker, he has been a part-time faculty member at the BFTV (Bachelor of Film and Television) Program at Sheridan College since 2020, teaching courses in directing and film production.
As an active member of the Neighbourhood Arts Network, he was the recipient of the Newcomer Arts Award three times from the Toronto Arts Council. He is also a two-time recipient of the Toronto Arts Council’s Grant for newcomers and refugee artists; once as an applicant through the mentorship of Ingrid Veninger in 2018, and recently as a mentor for a Honduran documentary filmmaker in 2022. He served as one of the jury members at the BIPOC International Film Festival in Toronto for 2022, and as a panelist review member for the Toronto Arts Council’s Newcomer Arts Award in 2023.
Omid is currently completing his final year of an MA in Cinema and Media Studies at York University. His research is about the portrayal of Kurdish female fighters in Rojava, Syria in contemporary transnational feminist cinema.