NIKI KOHANDEL

(b. 2000, Paris) is an artist and filmmaker, in her third year of undergraduate studies at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL.

Niki films mothers and daughters, houses and flowers, and all sorts of things which, like relationships, can be nurtured, but also grow out of control. She uses obsolete recording devices and her imperfect knowledge of languages to document and tell stories, creating at the interplay between the analogue and the digital.

Her films have been shown in group screenings with Habibi Collective at The Museum of Modern Art, New York, T A P E Collective at Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York, and at the ICA as part of London Short Film Festival in 2022.


For vimeo screeners, inquiries or collaboration please email
For Shahr-e-Farang,
please email shahrefarang.project@gmail.com

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NIKI KOHANDEL 

(b. 2000, Paris)
is an artist and filmmaker, in her third year of undergraduate studies at the Slade School of Fine Art, UCL.

Niki films mothers and daughters, houses and flowers, and all sorts of things which, like relationships, can be nurtured, but also grow out of control. Creating at the interplay between the analogue and the digital, she uses obsolete recording devices and her imperfect knowledge of languages to document and tell stories.

Her work has been shown as part of group screenings with Habibi Collective at The Museum of Modern Art, New York and LUX Moving Image in collaboration with Central Saint-Martins, London.


The Sparrow is Free
2021, 14’ - Hi8 film

Through a window into the life of the filmmaker's grandmother, Kohandel's short interview-film explores gender roles in early 20th-century Iran. As a young girl, marriage to her older cousin leads to years of control and frustration. Rebelling against her husband, she eventually relocates to France with her sons, building a new life. As she voices her own story, the film weaves her experiences together into a broader narrative of self-determination. She carves out her independence in Paris and finds comfort in the everyday. A simple kind of happiness follows, the sparrow is free.

از مصاحبه فیلمساز نیکی کهندل با مادربزرگ خود، شرایط زنان ایرانی در اوائل قرن بیستم را میتوان لمس کرد. در هفده سالگی ، این دختر نوجوان مجبور به ازدواج با پسر عمه خود می‌شود. همسری که سالیان سال او را زیر سلطه خود قرار میدهد و سرانجام ، این پیوند را به ناکامی و طلاق می کشاند. در نهایت ، برای فرار از این موقعیت و به امید ساختن زندگی جدید ، به همراه دو فرزندش ، تصمیم مهاجرت به فرانسه را می‌گیرد. با شنیدن داستانهای گوناگونش ، پی می بریم که چگونه می‌توان با تصمیم و انتخابی تازه ، فصلی جدید در زندگی خود را آغاز کنیم. در پاریس ، آن .خوشبختی ساده ای که همواره در جستجویش بود را پیدا می کنند. گنجشک آزاد است






Past screenings:
29th - 30th June 2022, DOCUMENTARIST İstanbul Belgesel Günleri- Istanbul Doc Days, Institut Français
18th - 30 th June 2022, GODSPEED: 18 short films by a new generation of diary filmmakersA gallery group show in collaboration with Millennium Film Workshop, curated by Nick Ramsay and Saint Piñero
22nd Jan 2022, Root/25 Micro-film screening for Restless Beings.
21st Jan 2022, London Short Film Festival, ICA.
‘New Shorts Documentary: The Promise of Hapiness?’ curated by Miranda Mungai.
18th Nov 2021, Girls in Film at House of Vans, London ‘It’s the family you choose’,
curated by Raheela Suleman
5th Oct 2021, Conch art collective presents ‘3 films by Niki Kohandel’ at SOAS University, London
Jul 2021, streaming on shashamovies, ‘CLOSE CUTS: 23 films around local cultural traditions’