MPI is excited to announce that Leah Varjacques and Ishan Thakore have been selected as the winners of the 2026 Documentary Storytelling Workshop, receiving its $10,000 grant prize for their documentary short Azadi on Ice, directed by Leah and produced by Ishan. The film will now enter MPI’s Production Lab, where it will be produced as an MPI Original documentary short. This year’s eight-week workshop brought together 24 filmmakers developing 18 projects under the guidance of Oscar-nominated documentarian and MPI filmmaker Elizabeth Mirzaei.

Azadi on Ice follows Nick Hedayatpour, who learned to skate at 22 and earned a spot on Iran’s first national hockey team just a few years later. When protests against the Iranian regime turned deadly, he stepped away from the team and spoke out against the government. Now living in exile in Colorado, he pursues a place in the starting lineup of the semi-professional Breckenridge Vipers while grappling with upheaval in his homeland and uncertainty about his family’s safety. Through his story, the film explores ambition, belonging, and the personal cost of standing by one’s principles in the face of political repression.

Leah brings more than a decade of documentary filmmaking experience to the project. A two-time Emmy Award winner based in Colorado, her work has appeared on FX/Hulu, The New York Times, VICE News, and The Atlantic. Her latest documentary short, Sound Guardians, is screening at festivals around the world, and she was a 2024–2025 Ted Scripps Fellow in Environmental Journalism.

Ishan is a reporter at Colorado Public Radio and a multimedia producer whose work has appeared on WNYC, the BBC, Netflix, and NPR. He previously spent six years at Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and his work has received fellowship support from organizations including the Fulbright Commission/National Geographic and the BBC/Sundance Institute.

Congratulations to Leah and Ishan, and to all of this year’s workshop participants for the creativity and dedication they brought to their projects!

MPI’s Documentary Storytelling Workshop helps filmmakers strengthen their craft and develop stories that explore the human experience of freedom. To hear about upcoming workshops and other MPI filmmaker opportunities, sign up for our filmmaker newsletter here.