Jordan Bryon
I’m a filmmaker from Australia. All my work is about the human experience. I’ve shared stories from refugees, prisoners, LGBTQI and indigenous peoples, survivors of drug addiction and family violence, people with psychosis and physical disabilities, children, homeless people, families living in one of the biggest slums in the world (Dharavi, India), communities in the Amazon and even monks in Tibet.
I’ve created films, TV series and commercials for Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, BBC, Channel 4, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, local TV channels and 30+ film festivals.
I have also created short films for UN agencies, as well as dozens of local and international NGOs around the world in Afghanistan, Jordan, Palestine, Uganda, India, Japan, Ecuador, Peru and Australia.
My most recent documentary film, Birds of the Borderlands (Jordan, 2017), premiered at the prestigious Mardi Gras Film festival in Australia in 2018, and then screened at 12 more international film festivals.
I also directed, filmed and co-produced Battle Dogs (Afghanistan, 2018), a 10-part docuseries for Discovery Channel.I was cinematographer on two feature films for Canadian cinema, Labor of Life (Afghanistan, 2018) and Forbidden Reel (Afghanistan, 2017) which premiered at IDFA in 2019.
I’ve also created large-scale community and cultural development projects that fuse film, theatre, public art, billboards, radio, and more. Most recently, in 2019, I designed and was Creative Director on a nation-wide mental health campaign, Peace of Mind Afghanistan. Spanning 7 provinces in Afghanistan, the campaign spread messages in street art, billboards, theatre, PSAs, documentary film, workshops, infographics, mental health videos and more.
My favourite and closest collaborator on all projects is the very talented Hasiba Ebrahimi, see her bio below!
Hasiba Ebrahimi
Hasiba Ebrahimi is one of Afghanistan’s most talented actress’. She was recognised by the film fraternity in Iran as one of the top five most enduring actress’ from the 2000s and has played leading roles in several internationally recognized films.
When Hasiba is not on set acting, she is working behind the camera as a Director at Off The Record. She has co-created feature and short documentaries, and TV commercials with OTR, bringing her extensive professional experience in front of the camera and contributing to the creative excellence of OTR.
Hasiba has acted lead roles in 2 TV series and 5 feature films. Most recently, she played Ayesha in Hava, Maryam, Ayesha (2019), a film which premiered at the Venice Film festival where it received accolades in from Angelina Jolie. This film was nominated to the foreign film category at the Oscars and was in the Official Selection of the Festival International des Cinémas d’Asie de Vesoul. The film also screened at festivals in India, Turkey, Spain, USA, South Korea, Egypt, Morocco and China, and Hasiba was awarded best actress at the Dhakka International Film Festival.
Hasiba became known to global audiences with her first leading role in A Few Cubic Metres of Love (2014). She was awarded the best actress award from Marrakech International Film Festival, and was nominated for best actress alongside some of Iran’s most well-known actors at the prestigious Fajr Film Festival in Iran. This film was nominated to the foreign film category at the Oscars and screened at many prestigious film festivals in Japan, Belgium, Italy, Tajikistan, Bangladesh, India, USA and South Korea.
Hasiba gave a daring performance in one of Afghanistan’s more controversial films The Bird Was Not a Bird (2015). Too risky to show the locally, this film premiered at Sundance, and then went on to Canada International Film Festival, Toronto Independent Film festival, La Festival of Cinema in Italy, and the Official Selection at All Lights International Film Festival, India. It was selected among the top 25 premier international films at the Hollywood Screening Festival.
Hasiba’s portrayal of Lina in Lina (2017), moved audiences at many festivals including Cannes Film festival, and others in Bulgaria, Bangladesh, Italy, Hungary, Spain, India and more. The film took the Audience Award at the Afghan Film Festival in Sweden.
Hasiba’s own film that she wrote, directed and starred in, Under The Red Light (2017), was awarded best short film by Goethe Institute in Afghanistan and screened at festivals in China and Australia.
Hasiba is also renowned for her performances in four of Afghanistan’s most watched and loved TV dramas. Hasiba played the lead roles in two of Afghanistan’s most acclaimed TV dramas. She was Shereen in Shereen (2015) and Shahr Bano in Shahr Bano (2017). Hasiba also stars in two seasons of two other celebrated TV dramas, Khate Sewom (2018-19) and Roya (2018-19).
