Justin Mashouf

Justin Mashouf is a filmmaker and artist based in Los Angeles. His award winning film "The Honest Struggle" tells the story of an ex-gang chief turned devout Muslim reentering society after 24 years in prison. Justin received his BFA in Media Arts from the University of Arizona in 2008. His work editing specials for local Los Angeles news channel KTLA 5, has earned him 4 Los Angeles Emmy Awards, a Golden Mic Award, and Southern California Journalism Award. Justin's 2011 short, "Spring Movements," is a dance film dedicated to the "Arab Spring" uprisings throughout the Middle East and North Africa. Spring Movements, originally designed to be exclusive to the Internet, had multiple international television broadcasts on the Al Jazeera English program "Frames." Mashouf's 2009 documentary Warring Factions focuses on his journey to Iran to find break dancers and bridge the rift between the US and Iran with hip hop and traditional Persian martial arts. Warring Factions has received numerous international film festival screenings, over 20,000 digital downloads and was nominated for Best Documentary and Best Original Story at the 2008 Noor Film Festival.