MAP Productions
Bringing Untold Stories to Life
​MAP Productions is a family film company we founded to bring untold stories to life — stories that never had a real chance to live.
About MAP Productions
To surrender once to the fire —
to become ashes —
and then rise again, and fly.
This is the foundation of MAP Productions.
Founded by Iranian-American filmmaker Pourya Dow and Iranian-American photographer Mona Sartoveh, MAP was born out of a radical decision: to leave behind their “safe,” established creative lives — having made five feature films and many acclaimed artistic projects under censorship — and to begin again, in a new part of the world, this time with full creative freedom.
Named after Mona, Alborz (their 6-year-old son), and Pourya,
MAP Productions began in Massachusetts with the vision of making their first uncensored film —
and has now completed that dream: the independent debut feature, As I Am,
with new stories already taking shape.
We set out to tell stories exactly as we are —
just like the characters in our newest film.
🎬 Coming Soon: As I Am
As I Am is the upcoming feature film from MAP Productions — a deeply personal and hauntingly tender story of love, identity, and memory.
Set in a quiet seaside town in Massachusetts, the film follows two Iranian men, former lovers who reunite after forty years, confronting a past they were never allowed to live, and a present that still dares to hold them.
Directed by Pourya Dow and co-written with Mona Sartoveh,
As I Am is a reflection on freedom, exile, aging, and the possibility of becoming whole — just as we are.
This is a story that dares to look at the silences between people — and speak them aloud.