Biography
Rayka Zehtabchi is an Oscar-winning Iranian-American director based in Los Angeles. Her directorial debut, Madaran, is an Iranian language short that won Jury awards at top film festivals and qualified for the 89th Academy Awards in 2016.
She won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short at the 91st Academy Awards for Period. End of Sentence., a documentary about a group of village women in Northern India who start a sanitary pad-making business in an effort to improve feminine hygiene and de-stigmatize menstruation. Along with the film’s release, Rayka helped co-found the non-profit “The Pad Project” to fight the stigma of menstruation and improve feminine hygiene worldwide.
Rayka’s passion is telling human stories that bring awareness and action to little-known social causes. In both documentary and narrative, she brings a naturalistic approach to her storytelling, striving for honesty and intimacy on screen.
Filmography
Cast Credits
Crew
Crew Credits

THE SINGERS
Role: Executive Producer
MOVIE • 2025

You Know Where to Find Me
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 2023

The Old Young Crow
Role: Executive Producer
MOVIE • 2023

Long Line of Ladies
Role: Director
MOVIE • 2022

Long Line of Ladies
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 2022

Are You Still There?
Role: Director
MOVIE • 2021

Are You Still There?
Role: Writer
MOVIE • 2021

A Woman's Place
Role: Director
MOVIE • 2020

Just Hold On
Role: Director
MOVIE • 2020

Ours to Tell
Role: Director
MOVIE • 2020

(SHn(y)o͞of)
Role: Director
MOVIE • 2019

(SHn(y)o͞of)
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 2019

Mammoth
Role: Assistant Director
MOVIE • 2018

We Home
Role: Director
MOVIE • 2018

Period. End of Sentence.
Role: Director
MOVIE • 2018

Period. End of Sentence.
Role: Producer
MOVIE • 2018

Madaran
Role: Co-Producer
MOVIE • 2016

Madaran
Role: Director
MOVIE • 2016

Madaran
Role: Writer
MOVIE • 2016

They Came From All Over
Role: Director
MOVIE • TBA