Mana Tashakorinia (IR/FI) grew up in films, imagining herself as female characters. In Iranian cinema, where physical intimacy is forbidden on screen, the gap between representation and lived experience has shaped her practice. This tension informs what she calls “deprived embodiment in my approach to knowledge-making and storytelling”. Her practice seeks those moments of fractures in hegemonic narratives, where authority holds sway yet remains unsettled by certain rituals and storytelling tools. She makes films and works with folklore, rites, narrative gaps, stones, puppets, and glasses. She holds an MA in ViCCA: Visual Culture, Curating, and Contemporary Art from Aalto University, Finland.