About me

I am Ava Ghahremanifar (آوا قهرمانی‌فر) born October 29, 2000, in Tehran — an independent artist, painter, and filmmaker based in Croatia. I graduated in Painting from Tehran’s Fine Art School and studied filmmaking at the Iranian Youth Cinema Society.

Art has been an essential part of my life since childhood. My father, Faramarz Ghahremanifar, a painter and Iran’s first stereographer, and my mother, Tayebeh Ebrahim, a TV and stage actress, have both profoundly shaped my artistic vision and passion for this path.

At 16, I held my first group photography exhibition, and since then I’ve participated in various national and international exhibitions in photography, painting, and sculpture. My short film, The Gull’s Shriek (2020), has been screened and awarded at numerous film festivals around the world, including the 44th Asian American Film Festival in New York City (where I received the One to Watch: For Youth, by Youth award), Ireland's 25th Fresh Film Festival (third best International Short ), and more.

Since 2022, I have been working as a video and podcast editor, creating motion graphics, short-form videos, and promotional content for an international YouTube channel and podcast.

Beyond film, my recent paintings and nude self-portraits explore body as both subject and dynamic landscape — a fragile space where touches of light meet vulnerabilities, pain, field, and sometimes self-hatred. Through this collection, I examine my shifting perception of self and body’s continuous transformation through raw, introspective imagery — a quiet attempt to find peace.

Aside from painting, this inseparable limb of my life, I am currently working on my next film — an unfiltered, brutally honest, and emotional project that documents my experience and battle against an aggressive tumor at 24, where I stand as both the warrior and the wounded, confronting fragility and resilience through art.