Mani Mehrvarz, PhD Media Study ‘20

Media Artist, Filmmaker

Founder of Buffalo Documentary Project, Curator of Media-as-things Collective, Co-founding editor of MAST (The Journal of Media Art Study and Theory)

Mani Mehrvarz is a media artist and filmmaker with a Ph.D. in Media Study (practice and theory) from the State University of New York at Buffalo. His doctoral research examined the materiality of media in artistic practice through the lenses of radical media archaeology and object-oriented philosophy.

From 2015 to 2020, Mehrvarz taught documentary, video art and media theory—ranging from introductory to advanced courses—at UB’s Department of Media Study. In 2022, he taught in the Integrated Design & Media program at New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering.

In 2016, he founded Buffalo Documentary Project, an initiative blending oral history and documentary filmmaking to explore the people, culture and lived experiences of Buffalo. Over time, the project expanded to other states and eventually established its new home in Austin, Texas, under Click & Frame Production.

Mehrvarz is also the co-founding editor of MAST: The Journal of Media Art Study and Theory, a peer-reviewed, open-access publication dedicated to interdisciplinary research in media art and practice-based studies.

In 2020, he directed Live Your Art, a short documentary produced by the School of Arts and Sciences, which profiles four women artists and was met with strong positive responses from audiences and the university community.

His moving-image practice extends beyond traditional linear storytelling, exploring database cinema, interactive documentary, and video mapping. Since 2006, his works have been exhibited and screened internationally.