Bardia Saadi is an Iranian-Canadian independent filmmaker and visual artist, living and working in Montreal since 2003. Graduated from Concordia University in Digital Technologies in Design Art Practice, his thesis project, “2 or 3 Things I Know about Love” won the “Best Documentary Production Award” in 29th Montreal World Film Festival (2005), Canadian Student Competition! This medium-length video documentary, provides a whimsical yet heartfelt look into a wide range of deeply personal experiences of love. Women and men of all ages and cultural backgrounds recall and recount the hopes, joys, frustrations and disappointments that have characterized the most poignant romantic moments of their lives.
Following his fresh career as a filmmaker, Bardia made several experimental shorts and documentaries, including “Atomic Iran: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Nuclear Energy”. The film delves into the lives and opinions of Iranians from all walks of life, giving voice to their highly diverse views on Iran’s rights and roles on the international stage. Infused with a sense of dark humour through the filmmaker’s light handheld video camera we see how ordinary Iranian people from different generations debate Iran’s nuclear program and its national and international consequences, a topic which has made daily headlines across the world for more than seven years.
Bardia studied at University of Art in Tehran, where he achieved a double major B.F.A in Photography and Graphic design in 1997. After a few years of working at “Film Museum of Iran”as a part-time designer, and teaching diverse courses on visual art theory and practice, in different art institutes in Tehran, he cofounded Atelier Koochak, the visual art center with Shahriar Tavakoli, the photographer in 2000. Soon after, the two artists and professional partners co–founded “Herfeh: Honarmand” (Profession: Artist), the Art Quarterly Magazine,where Bardia was also the Art Director and the responsible editor for the Cinema section for the first 6 volumes.
In 2001 Bardia was awarded to participate in Japan’s Young Artists Invitation Program, an exchange convention on art and culture between Japan and Iran, held by the “Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan”in Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Nara.
Bardia’s works have been shown in numerous exhibitions and TV channels, including Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran. His last huge 3-meter tall sculpture, exhibited at Z Gallery in Montreal in June 2012, grabbed some new attention for his novel practice.
Bardia Saadi-nejad is currently living and practicing different forms of arts as an independent visual artist, designer and filmmaker in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.