Niki Kohandel


(b. 2000, FR) is a visual artist, filmmaker and educator based in London. Her practice is nourished by intergenerational transmissions, Farsi oral traditions and engagement with broader sonic histories. She employs film, sound, printmaking and expanded drawing processes, working in collaboration with family members, friends and young people to re-write personal and collective mythologies. 
Her practice sits in a variety of contexts beyond galleries and film spaces, including schools, radio waves and community centres. Since 2021, she has been working with Shahre Farang, facilitating both regular and one-off workshops in bridging hotels. The collective supports children and young people who have newly arrived in the UK through multi-disciplinary story-telling sessions.

Her work has been presented in a solo exhibition at LUX Moving Image, London (2025) and in group shows at Dar Bellarj, Marrakech; Bow Arts (2026); Cubitt Gallery, London (2025); Metroland Studios, London (2024); Greatorex Street Gallery, London; Projet Casa, Tioh- tià:ke/Montreal (2023); The Toy Museum, London (2022); Octagon Gallery, London; Noorderlicht Photo, Groeningen; Gulf Photo Plus, Dubaï (2021); Lethaby Gallery, London (2019). 

Her films have been screened extensively in the UK and abroad in festivals, galleries and film spaces in- cluding: Millenium Film Workshop, New York (2026); Swedenborg Film Festival, London; LE18, Marrakech (2025); Harkat, Mumbai; Art Station, Samarakand; Lago Film Festival, Revine Lago; Open City Docu mentary Festival, London; Kunsthal, Ghent; Experimenta India, Bangalore; University of Kent, Canter- bury (2024); BFI Film Festival, London; Kulturbunker, Köln-Mülheim; Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield; not/ nowhere, London; Sinematek, Istanbul; Vienna Shorts, Vienna; Bloomsbury Theatre, London; Flying Broom Festival, Ankara; Porto Femme International Film Festival, Porto; 35th International Short Film Festival, Dresden; The Nordic House, Reykjavik; Barbican Cinema, London; From Rosa to Simone Film Festival, Tbilissi; Anthology Film Archives, New York; ICA, London; Cine Humberto Mauro Mais, Belo Hori- zonte (2023); SOAS University, London; London Migration Film Festival, London; DOCUMENTARIST, Istan- bul; London Short Film Festival, London (2022); Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York; Museum of Modern Art, New York (2021).

In 2025, she was part of videoclub/FLAMIN’s Selected 15, a touring programme of new artist’s film and video nominated by the 2024 Jarman Award shortlist. She is the recipient of several prizes including the EastEast Film Award (2024); Rosa Morison Memorial Award (2023); Prankerd Jones Scholarship; Herbert Seaborn Award (2022); Sue Jamieson Memorial Award (2021).
She holds a BA from the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London.


For vimeo links, screenings and other inquiries please email.

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NIKI KOHANDEL 

(b. 2000, FR) is a visual artist, filmmaker and educator based in London. Her practice is nourished by intergenerational transmissions, Farsi oral traditions and engagement with broader sonic histories. She employs film, sound, printmaking and expanded drawing processes, working in collaboration with family members, friends and young people to re-write personal and collective mythologies.

Her work has been presented in a solo exhibition at LUX Moving Image, London (2025) and in group shows at Dar Bellarj, Marrakech; Bow Arts (2026); Cubitt Gallery, London (2025); Metroland Studios, London (2024); Greatorex Street Gallery, London; Projet Casa, Tioh- tià:ke/Montreal (2023); The Toy Museum, London (2022); Octagon Gallery, London; Noorderlicht Photo, Groeningen; Gulf Photo Plus, Dubaï (2021); Lethaby Gallery, London (2019). 

Her films have been screened extensively in the UK and abroad in festivals, galleries and film spaces in- cluding: Millenium Film Workshop, New York (2026); Swedenborg Film Festival, London; LE18, Marrakech (2025); Harkat, Mumbai; Art Station, Samarakand; Lago Film Festival, Revine Lago; Open City Docu- mentary Festival, London; Kunsthal, Ghent; Experimenta India, Bangalore; University of Kent, Canter- bury (2024); BFI Film Festival, London; Kulturbunker, Köln-Mülheim; Hepworth Gallery, Wakefield; not/ nowhere, London; Sinematek, Istanbul; Vienna Shorts, Vienna; Bloomsbury Theatre, London; Flying Broom Festival, Ankara; Porto Femme International Film Festival, Porto; 35th International Short Film Festival, Dresden; The Nordic House, Reykjavik; Barbican Cinema, London; From Rosa to Simone Film Festival, Tbilissi; Anthology Film Archives, New York; ICA, London; Cine Humberto Mauro Mais, Belo Hori- zonte (2023); SOAS University, London; London Migration Film Festival, London; DOCUMENTARIST, Istan- bul; London Short Film Festival, London (2022); Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York; Museum of Modern Art, New York (2021).

In 2025, she was part of videoclub/FLAMIN’s Selected 15, a touring programme of new artist’s film and video nominated by the 2024 Jarman Award shortlist. She is the recipient of several prizes including the EastEast Film Award (2024); Rosa Morison Memorial Award (2023); Prankerd Jones Scholarship; Herbert Seaborn Award (2022); Sue Jamieson Memorial Award (2021). She holds a BA from the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL, London.


For vimeo links and screening inquiries please email.

For Shahr-e-Farang
please email shahrefarang.project@gmail.com

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A departure
2025, 2’ - 16mm to digital. 

'A departure' begins with a question: how do we navigate on disappearing rivers, seas, sources, bodies of water endangered by neo-colonial extraction? The film responds to the call of Sohrab Sepehri's poem 'Beyond the Seas' and invites the viewers to build their own paper boat.

Commissioned by Open City Documentary Film Festival for the 2025 festival trailer.

Performance: GolCHER.
Camera: Daniel Owusu
Writing & editing: Niki Kohandel
Boat architects: Frea Xinyi Lei & Daniel Owusu
Boat musicians: Bint M’Bareh & Afsaneh



Screenings:

18/10/2025: ‘listening, when words refuse blooming anew’ at ‘Niki Kohandel: مينويسم (We are writing)’ LUX Moving Image, London.

Selected 15. Nominated by the shortlisted artists of the Film London Jarman Award 2024. Curated by videoclub and Film London Artists’ Moving Image Network (FLAMIN). 

5th June 2025, Fabrica, Brighton.
12th June, CCA Glasgow. 
13-14th June, Somerset House, London. 
25th June, Nottingham Contemporary. 
5th July, CAST Cornwall.
10th July, Spike Island, Bristol.
19th July, Towner, Eastbourne.
24th July, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead.