Anisa Marie Mehdi is an Iraqi-Canadian
film director
A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
and
journalist
A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
.
She graduated from Wellesley College in 1978 and obtained her master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.
She worked as an associate producer at
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...
in New York on the news magazine series ''
West 57th''.
Her most notable documentary was ''
Inside Mecca
''Inside Mecca'' is a 2003 National Geographic documentary film by Anisa Mehdi that offers an intimate documentation of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Aside from providing insight regarding the universal principles of Islam, this production emp ...
'', which she produced and directed for
National Geographic
''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...
television.
As executive producer of the
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
''
Frontline
Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield.
Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to:
Books and publications
* ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant
* ''Frontlines ...
'' special "Muslims", she received the 2002
Cine Golden Eagle
Ciné film or cine film is the term commonly used in the UK and historically in the US to refer to the 8 mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm, and 16 mm motion picture film formats used for home movies. It is not normally used to refer t ...
Award.
She is currently writing a biography on her father, Dr.
Mohammad T. Mehdi, an
Arab American
Arab Americans ( ar, عَرَبٌ أَمْرِيكِا or ) are Americans of Arab ancestry. Arab Americans trace ancestry to any of the various waves of immigrants of the countries comprising the Arab World.
According to the Arab American Inst ...
activist in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
.
In 2007, Mehdi and two other writers launched the now-defunct Arab Writers Group Syndicate.
In February 2016, she joined the editorial board of the intelligence company
Stratfor
Strategic Forecasting Inc., commonly known as Stratfor, is an American geopolitics publisher and consultancy founded in 1996. Stratfor's business model is to provide individual and enterprise subscriptions to Stratfor Worldview, its online public ...
. As of 1998, Mehdi lives in
Maplewood, New Jersey
Maplewood is a township in Essex County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The township is an inner-ring suburban bedroom community of New York City in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's populatio ...
.
[Curtiss, Richard H]
Dr. Mohammad T. Mehdi (1928-1998)
''Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
The ''Washington Report on Middle East Affairs'' (also known as ''The Washington Report'' and WRMEA) magazine, published eight times per year, focuses on "news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S. policy in that region". '', April 1998. Accessed August 27, 2007.
Anusa Mehdi is of half
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
i and half
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
descent.
Filmography
* ''
Inside Mecca
''Inside Mecca'' is a 2003 National Geographic documentary film by Anisa Mehdi that offers an intimate documentation of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. Aside from providing insight regarding the universal principles of Islam, this production emp ...
'' (2003)
* ''Muslims'' (2002)
* ''Frontline'' (2002)
**''Muslims''
References
External links
Official Site*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mehdi, Anisa Marie
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
Canadian expatriate film directors in the United States
Canadian expatriate journalists in the United States
Iraqi women film directors
Canadian people of Iraqi descent
Iraqi film directors
Iraqi journalists
Iraqi people of Canadian descent
People from Maplewood, New Jersey
Canadian Shia Muslims
Seton Hall University faculty
American Shia Muslims
Iraqi Shia Muslims
Canadian women film directors
Canadian television producers
Canadian women television producers
Canadian women television journalists
Iraqi women journalists
21st-century Iraqi women writers
21st-century Iraqi writers
Film directors from New Jersey