Baktash is the founder of the Taleem Project which is dedicated to storytelling, conflict resolution, and engaging others with a sense of openness and radical curiosity. This project is about humanizing those deemed as “the other”. In a world of conflict and war, people flee their homelands far and away by necessity and arrive in our towns, communities, and neighborhoods.
The Taleem Project is about bringing once perceived distant worlds together to find common ground and understanding through storytelling and facilitating conversations about identity, race, and finding a sense of home and belonging. What is required of us in these moments is courage, and most of all, imagination – imagination of a world we do not yet know.
This project is devoted to developing language, frameworks, and stories around imagination, courage, and compassion in a world united in our diversity, not divided because of it.
The questions that guide our work are as follows:
1) How do we want to be in relationship with each other?
2) Who do we want to be for each other, and for ourselves?
3) What is required of me to be a good neighbor, citizen, and ancestor?
As the founder, Baktash directs, produces, translates, and contributes to documentary films that are in alignment with Taleem Project’s mission to share the most compelling stories that tell a uniquely nuanced perspective to garner a greater sense of understanding and awareness. Baktash is particularly drawn to stories related to conflict, forced migration, refugees, and vulnerable and underrepresented communities.
His award winning films have been screened at SXSW Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Hot Docs, BFI London Film Festival, AFI DOCS and hundreds of other festivals. Films that Baktash has contributed to have won more than dozens of jury and audience awards, Cinema Eye Honors nominations, Peabody Awards, Shortlisted for the Oscar nominations, and won multiple Emmy awards.
He also supports other filmmakers from concept to impact campaign as an executive producer and impact producer. Please reach out to him if you are interested in collaborating with your specific storytelling project at: baktash.ahadi@gmail.com.
Documentary Feature | Producer
In the remote mountain villages of Bamyan, Afghanistan, a newfound passion for skiing attracts young athletes from rival ethnic groups to the slopes. With minimal gear and makeshift skis, the determined ski coach Alishah Farhang organizes a thrilling ski race that fosters camaraderie, joy, and triumph. However, after the shocking collapse of their country, many of the skiers are displaced across the globe as refugees, and must call upon the lessons learned in the mountains of their homeland to find a way forward.
CHAMPIONS OF THE GOLDEN VALLEY captures the thrill of a sports rivalry intertwined with a poignant portrait of a community in profound transition -- parallel stories converging to explore what it means to be a champion, in all its forms.
Short Narrative | Producer and Executive Producer
Inspired by true events, On The Mountain is a poignant tale of sacrifice, resilience, and the enduring power of hope. It is a story of one woman's determination to rebuild her life and continue her mission of education, despite the upheaval and loss.
On The Mountain highlights the universal struggle of refugees, the sacrifices they make, and the unyielding hope that sustains them. It is a tribute to the strength of those who rebuild their lives from the ashes of their former homes and the educators who light the way forward, even in the darkest of times.
Documentary Feature | Executive Producer
Baktash Ahadi was an Executive Producer of RETROGRADE, offers a cinematic and historic window onto the end of America's twenty-year war in Afghanistan and the costs endured for those most intimately involved from rarely seen operational control rooms to the frontlines of battle to the chaotic Kabul airport during the final U.S. withdrawal. The feature documentary from National Geographic Films premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in 2022, where it received wide-spread critical acclaim. RETROGRADE was shortlisted for an Academy Award®, nominated for a DGA and PGA Award, and was nominated for six Emmy® awards, winning for Outstanding Current Affairs Documentary, Outstanding Cinematography, and Outstanding Editing. It also received a Producing Award from DOC NYC, and was honored with the Edward R. Murrow Award for Feature Documentary. Most recently, it won the 2023 Grierson Trust Award for Televisual Best Current Affairs Documentary.
Documentary Feature | Associate Producer, Translator, and Film Ambassador
When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, taking a photo was a crime. After the regime fell from power in 2001, a fledgling free press emerged and a photography revolution was born. Now, as foreign troops and media withdraw, Afghanistan is left to stand on its own, and so are its journalists. Set in a modern Afghanistan bursting with color and character, FRAME BY FRAME follows four Afghan photojournalists as they navigate an emerging and dangerous media landscape – reframing Afghanistan for the world, and for themselves. Through cinema vérité, intimate interviews, powerful photojournalism, and never-before-seen archival footage shot in secret during the Taliban regime, the film connects audiences with four humans in the pursuit of the truth.
Documentary Short | Translator
For Afghans, the choice to leave or stay in Afghanistan right now is an unremitting dilemma. The deteriorating security in the last few years has already prompted many to leave. The resiliency of Afghans is being tested almost daily, as they weigh the risks of staying versus the risks of leaving with every new explosion, kidnapping, or human rights injustice. Still, the choice to leave is not a simple one.
