Marjan Hashemi wins 2023 WIDC feature award

The Iranian-Canadian filmmaker will receive $250,000 worth of in-kind support for her dark comedy feature After Love.

Women in the Director’s Chair (WIDC) has selected Toronto-based filmmaker Marjan Hashemi (pictured) as the 2023 WIDC Feature Film Award recipient.

Hashemi, an Iranian-Canadian creator, earns the award for her debut feature film, After Love. The dark comedy follows the story of an Iranian-Canadian immigrant wife who must walk the line between tolerance and justice in relationship with her daughter and husband.

The annual award provides development support with roughly $250,000 worth of in-kind services toward a scripted fiction feature film project directed by a Canadian woman, in partnership with vendors such as Keslow Camera, Panavision Canada, William F. White International, and more.

After Love will be produced by Toronto-based Gearshift Films’ Jordan Barker and Borga Dorter, responsible for films such as Lost & Found and The Waiting Room.

Now in its 15th year, the Feature Film Award has supported 14 women directors, with past winners including Kim Albright (With Love and a Major Organ) and Marie Clements (Red Snow).

“This year’s jury described Marjan Hashemi’s After Love project as funny, fresh and tragic,” said WIDC co-creator and producer Dr. Carol Whiteman in a statement, noting that the decision was “a unanimous choice.”