A filmmaker uncovers her family’s Iranian past. Excavating the formative memories of her grandmother, mother, and self, Joonam explores the evolving shape of girlhood - and, with it, the complex relationships between mother and daughter, Iran and America, and the immigrant experience as it ripples over time.

About The Team

Sierra Urich is an interdisciplinary artist and filmmaker, whose work blends animation, sculpture, video art, and narrative & nonfiction filmmaking. In 2013 she received her BFA in Illustration and Film/Animation/Video from RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), with a liberal arts focus in creative writing at Brown University. She was awarded the Emerging Artist Scholarship as an artist-in-residence at The Banff Centre for the Arts 2017, Sundance Nonfiction Directors Fellow 2018, Creative Capital finalist 2020 & 2021, Firelight Doc Lab Fellow 2021, and Points North Fellow 2018 where her first feature film, Joonam, was awarded the winning project by a panel of industry representatives. To date, Joonam (in progress) has received support from Sundance Institute, HBO Documentary Films, Cinereach, Catapult Film Fund, Tribeca Institute, Independent Filmmaker Project, LEF Foundation, Firelight Media, Points North Institute, CNN Films, Field of Vision, and Chicken & Egg Pictures.