FIREWALL SHORT FILM SCREENING + Q&A WITH DIRECTOR BITA GHASSEMI
Presented by The Hamdeli Project
Friday, February 27th 2026
SUGGESTED DONATION: $10-20
Firewall reimagines the ancient Persian legend of “Zahhak the Serpent King,” in a contemporary Texas setting. FIREWALL follows Ani, an Iranian-American girl in Texas longing for her father, lost and unreachable due to an internet firewall in politically turbulent Iran. When her father mysteriously returns, ancient Persian mythology intertwines with her reality, forcing her to confront the demons that have kept her from finding peace. The story reflects how cycles of power, violence, and silence repeat themselves, and why these narratives feel especially urgent in light of Iran’s current political reality.
Short film screening followed by a Q&A with filmmaker Bita Ghassemi, moderated by Amanda Etemad (Vox Populi Board of Directors)
About The Artist
Bita Ghassemi is an award-winning Iranian-Texan filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist from Austin, Texas. The daughter of Iranian immigrants who met in the American South, she spent her formative years between Austin and Tehran, and later lived and studied in Berlin and Beijing—experiences that shaped her worldview and artistic voice. A polyglot who speaks five languages, her work moves across borders, exploring censorship, exile, and cultural duality through the eyes of an Iranian-American navigating multiple worlds. At its heart, her storytelling seeks to create universal, emotionally grounded narratives that resonate across cultures.
She is a Schwarzman Scholar, a Disney Launchpad semi-finalist, and a recipient of the Austin Film Society’s Richard Linklater Grant. Bita graduated summa cum laude from the University of Texas at Austin, where she was named the Outstanding Scholar of the Radio-Television-Film department. She produced and edited the Oscar-qualifying short Things That Happen in the Bathroom, and her commercial directing work includes campaigns for Meta, Adobe, and Soho House.
Her politically sensitive short Maryam Joon premiered at SXSW and screened internationally, ultimately making it unsafe for her to return to Iran. Her latest film, Firewall, supported by the Austin and New Orleans Film Societies, is the first narrative film to adapt a story from the Shahnameh, Iran’s national epic.