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Soraya Akhlaghi, the main protagonist, is a strong-willed Afghan sculptor and illustrator who has been trying for five years to find her way out of Iran and join her mother in Austria. She is a multidisciplinary artist working across sculpture, painting and film. She began sculpting in 2016, creating around 150 papier-mâché sculptures by 2025. In 2018, she expanded her practice to painting, with over 50 works. From 2019 to 2025, she worked as cinematographer of A Fox Under a Pink Moon and director with Mehrdad Oskouei
Would you like to buy a limited artwork signed by Soraya? Donate a 85€ then you receive a A3 print this is including the shipping cost in EU. Do leave your e mail and name when you donate and the Nr of the Artwork, see Gallery. Like to organize an exhibition with Soraya's art in your city? artofsoraya@gmail.com
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Visit the Cookie Policy pageAt just 16, Soraya was already creating stunning drawings and sculptures as beautiful as they are dark.
A Fox Under a Pink Moon is a documentary film directed by Mehrdad Oskouei and Soraya Akhlaghi that premiered at IDFA in November 2025 and won the award for Best Film in the International Competition. Since then it has gone on to win over 40 awards worldwide and has been shortlisted for the European Film Academy Awards, nominated for a Gotham Award and made the DOC NYC and IDA shortlists as well.
Born and raised in Iran, she spent 5 years trying to escape to Europe to reunite with her mother. This subtly textured film is a self-portrait that interweaves chilling scenes of her escape attempts with political news from Afghanistan and videos in which she sings and dances, or shows her bruises. Soraya is married to a violent man, and she is determined to shape her own future. Mehrdad Oskouei directed the film entirely remotely with Soraya filming all the footage herself on her phone over five years. This material is interspersed with shots of her drawings and surreal animations. Making art is no idle pastime for Soraya.
She puts all her worries, joys, and fears into her drawings and into the sculptures she makes from soaked egg cartons or clay she finds along her escape routes. Many of her drawings feature recurring figures: a loyal fox who is her traveling companion, a pink moon that always watches over her, and a clown who is always laughing, a character Soraya identifies with.
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