Baktash Ahadi is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, storyteller, and TEDx speaker. He directs, produces, and writes films that delve into the human condition, spotlighting stories of hope, resilience, friendship, and love, particularly those related to loss, conflict, refugees, and vulnerable communities.
His award-winning films have been showcased at prestigious festivals such as Tribeca, SXSW, Telluride, Hot Docs, TIFF, and AFI DOCS. These films have garnered numerous Jury and Audience Awards, Cinema Eye Honors nominations, Peabody Awards, and multiple Emmys. Baktash continues to push the boundaries of the medium, creating powerful and memorable films that resonate with audiences worldwide.
The Taleem Project, founded by Baktash, embodies the heart of his work. This initiative is dedicated to storytelling, bridging cultural divides, and fostering engagement through openness and radical curiosity. The Taleem Project connects seemingly distant worlds, creating common ground and mutual understanding through compelling narratives and meaningful conversations about identity, legacy, and our shared humanity. At its core, The Taleem Project believes in the power of courage and imagination, envisioning a future where empathy and openness lead to a more inclusive and harmonious world.
He is always interested in new projects and open to collaborating. Reach out to him at baktash.ahadi@gmail.com.
The tragic events of 9/11 set Baktash on a path of examining why people do what they do. Upon graduation from college, he decided to serve in the Peace Corps as an educator in a rural village in Mozambique. His father learned English from a Peace Corps Volunteer in Kandahar in the 1960s and that experience was the inspiration for his family to come to the United States.
After completing his service in the Peace Corps, Baktash went back to Afghanistan, the country of his birth, to serve as a combat interpreter and cultural advisor for three years supporting military and reconstruction efforts throughout the country. This life-changing experience put his Afghan-American identity on the front line on the War on Terror in Afghanistan.
His lived experience as a former refugee, humanitarian, and combat interpreter shapes his understanding of living between different cultures, which informs his empathetic and creative approach to engagement, storytelling, and meaningful conversations. He writes, speaks, and teaches regularly about individual, organizational, and societal change.
