The Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS) has today announced the AFTRS Pariya Taherzadeh Radio & Podcasting Scholarship, a new annual scholarship generously supported by AFTRS graduate and international award-winning audio producer Pariya Taherzadeh.
The scholarship has been established to recognise and support an outstanding student in AFTRS Graduate Diploma in Radio and Podcasting. It will be open to students who are experiencing financial hardship and selected on the basis of creative excellence. The scholarship offers a $20,000 cash scholarship, to cover either living costs, study resources or relocation costs, and a one-year internship at Pariya’s audio production company talent@pariya.
Pariya Taherzadeh graduated from AFTRS’ Graduate Diploma in Radio in 2018. That year she was the recipient of the Selwyn Speight Diversity Scholarship, awarded by AFTRS and ABC, which provided her with the opportunity to work full-time at ABC for a year. It was there that Pariya created her first feature Escape from Iran for the Radio National show History Listen. The feature received a Gold Prize in the History category, and a Silver in Social Issues at the prestigious New York Festival Radio Awards in 2020.
Pariya’s career has seen her produce podcasts for a variety of companies and organisations including Mamamia, Netflix, Finder.com, Queensland University of Technology and the Victorian Women’s Trust podcasts. Her 2021 audio feature Jaleh’s Drive for Freedom was commissioned by ABC’s Days Like These program. The feature won a Gold prize for the Personal Lives Podcast category, and was a finalist for two other categories at the 2022 New York Radio Festival Awards and a dual honouree at the 26th annual Webby Awards in 2022.
Pariya is a regular guest lecturer at AFTRS and has mentored students in the Master of Arts Screen: Documentary and Graduate Diploma in Radio and Podcasting programs. Pariya is also a member of the newly minted AFTRS Alumni Advisory Group.
Pariya Taherzadeh said, “AFTRS provided me with the skills and learning I needed to launch what has been an incredibly exciting career to date. My time as a student was immensely rewarding and, with the Scholarship, I want to be able to offer those same opportunities to talented and emerging creatives at the beginning of their careers who need support in order to be able to study at AFTRS.”
AFTRS Director of Partnerships & Development Con Apostolopoulos said, “Pariya has a magnificent story. Her journey from scholarship recipient to scholarship donor could not make us prouder. The Pariya Taherzadeh Radio & Podcasting Scholarship has the real potential to change someone’s life. We thank her for her generosity and her courage to pay it forward.”
Read about eligibility criteria, and apply here.
AFTRS is currently accepting applications for. the Graduate Diploma in Radio and Podcasting, offered full-time on campus and part-time online. Prospective students are encouraged to attend this year’s Open Day on Saturday 13 August, where they will have the opportunity to meet lecturers and students and participate in a live broadcast in AFTRS state-of-the-art radio studios. All sessions will be live streamed for anyone who can’t be there in person. Register here.