Somayyeh Chaychi

Somayyeh Chaychi is an independent filmmaker and researcher currently collaborating with the Cinema Iranica Project and the Elahe Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto. She completed her Master’s degree at the University of Tehran in Social Communication Sciences Studies. During her studies and after graduation, she conducted various interdisciplinary research in social science, humanities, and art.

Her MA thesis, which focused on Farsi Textism, was recognized as the best theses in the Social Communication Sciences department and was later published as a book by Logos Publications. Chaychi also contributed to a research project on “The Approach of Iranian Cinema to Ethics after the Revolution,” a joint initiative between the University of Tehran and the Research Center for Culture, Art, and Communication. One of the articles she co-authored was presented at AVANCA CINEMA 2020 and published in the conference proceedings book. In 2019, her research on the young heroes of Iran’s cinema was awarded the best visual research in the 3rd Annual Iranian Cinematic Research Award. She has a keen interest in conducting research in the field of Iranian cinema in general and Iran’s diasporic cinema in particular.

In addition to her research pursuits, Chaychi is also involved in film production. She has produced various documentaries and fiction films. One of her short films, “A Borrowed Life,” has received awards at numerous international film festivals, including the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival 2023, and is now available on Prime Video.

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