Swimming against the current

Swimming Against the Current is a luminous extension of Melika Shafahi’s artistic journey—a documentary film that merges her signature style of meticulously staged precision with the raw emotional landscapes of marginalized lives. In this project, Shafahi turns her lens on the Iranian drag queens of Toronto: a vibrant community that has long embodied the struggle and hope of the diaspora since the Islamic Revolution.

The film is a poignant exploration of individuals who, like Melika herself, have always lived as outsiders. Shafahi’s camera captures these drag queens in a series of images and videos that are both meticulously composed and filled with spontaneous bursts of life. Each frame is an intimate portrayal of their dreams, their pain, and the fierce passion that drives them. The work oscillates between the surreal fantasy of a “dreamland” and the harsh reality these immigrants face—a delicate balance reminiscent of her earlier works, in which deliberate “displacements” invite viewers to question established narratives of perfection and conformity.

By embedding these subtle glitches and incongruities into her compositions, Shafahi points to the paradox of chasing an elusive dream, while wrestling with societal rejection. Her film speaks to the universal plight of those branded as “others” owing to race, class, gender, or nationality.

Through the eyes of these resilient individuals, we are reminded that every immigrant’s journey is a daring swim against the current—a quest for a place where they can finally say, “I too have my dreams.” In this mesmerizing dance of light and shadow, Shafahi not only chronicles their lives but also affirms her own identity as an outsider striving for belonging.