Yasmin Hed: IPI

2026 Filmmaker in Residence

IPI, a feature-length film, explores the intersection of art and politics through the prism of Ipi N Tombi, a musical from South Africa that became a lightning rod of controversy at the height of the anti-apartheid movement. While the performers' perspectives and the story of the production, its history and controversial life will form the main narrative spine, IPI is also a personal film. While helping her mother clear out her garage, filmmaker Yasmin Hed came across a dusty film canister with her late father’s writing. One labeled “Ipi Tombi” piqued her curiosity. It was this discovery, beautiful 16mm B&W footage of the musical from a performance in Jerusalem, that led her to investigate further. Yasmin’s curiosity about the production has led her on a 10-year journey to seek out the original performers and learn first-hand about their experiences and varied perspectives to explore complex questions about art, appropriation, commerce.

Yasmin Hed (PRODUCER/DIRECTOR) is a TFI / A&E IndieFilms Story Lab grant recipient (2019). She received her BFA from Tisch School of the Arts, and after graduating, directed her first short documentary, CHILDREN OF BAHIA, in the favelas of Salvador, Brazil. This short documentary premiered at the Havana Film Festival and SXSW. Relocating to Los Angeles, she immersed herself in exploring the actor’s craft with actress Lelia Goldoni, icon of the beat scene of cinema and star of John Cassavetes’ SHADOWS. In 2010 Yasmin created UNMARKED GUIDE, a curated travel series on the hidden gems of Los Angeles highlighting the people who are the city’s treasure. Her shorts from Unmarked Guide screened on Virgin’s in-flight channel Virgin Produced from 2012 to 2013.