About Me

BIO (long)

Currently, Zara is focused on developing fictional projects with co-writers and revising the screenplay for their queer debut feature, IN YOUR HANDS (working title). Alongside writer Vic So Hee Alz, they are developing the feature film ICH VERGESSE DIR! (working title), supported by the Kuratorium junger deutscher Film.

For 15 years, Zara has led film workshops for young (queer) adults and teenagers at youth centers and organizations. They are also co-creating an acting lab with fellow directors and actors from the Asian New Wave collective, fostering collaborative skill-building for actors and directors.

Zara holds an MA in Gender, Ethnic Studies, and Sexualities from the University of East London (UEL) and studied at filmArche, a self-organized Berlin film school. They also earned a master’s degree in Art and Media from the University of the Arts Berlin (Universität der Künste Berlin). Zara was selected for the 2021 Berlinale Talents and mentored by Axel Ranisch (director, author, and actor) through the Filmnetzwerk Berlin mentoring program (2021–2022). Zara is represented by the filmagency Felix Bloch Erben.

BIO (short)

Zara Zandieh is a Berlin-born director, filmmaker, and author. Their work centers on queer and post-migrant characters—multifaceted, self-aware, and resilient—portrayed with love and tenderness amid their contradictions. Zara’s narrative style and film language draw inspiration from arthouse cinema and queer-feminist storytelling, with early influences from Iranian art-house films.
Currently, Zara is focused on developing fictional projects with co-writers and revising the screenplay for their queer debut feature, IN YOUR HANDS (working title). Alongside writer Vic So Hee Alz, they are developing the feature film ICH VERGESSE DIR! (working title), supported by the Kuratorium junger deutscher Film.

PORTFOLIO (selection)

GRANTS

2024 -2025
Ich vergesse Dir! (WIP) | Treatment funding from Kuratorium junger deutscher Film

2023
In deinen Händen/ In Your Hands (WIP) | Reference film funding by FFA (German Federal Film Board) for developing first draft

2022
In deinen Händen/ In Your Hands (WIP) | Research grant by Film/Video Künstlerinnenprogramm of the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion (Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt)

2021
In deinen Händen/ In Your Hands (WIP), previous working title „Fighting This Despair With Joy“ | Treatment funding by FFA (German Federal Film Board)

2019
Octavia’s Visions | Fine Arts research grant (Recherchestipendium Bildende Kunst) by the Berlin Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion (Senatsverwaltung für Kultur und Gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt)

2016
The Sea Runs Thru My Veins | Queer Short Film Fund XPOSED Film Film Festival Berlin

PRIZES (selection)

Octavia’s Visions:
– nominated for Golden Cube Prize | Kasseler Dokfest (2022), Germany
– nominated for International Short Film Competition | Queer Lisboa (2021), Portugal
– nominated for German Short Film Competition | Hamburg Kurzfilmfestival (2021), Germany
– won Zonta Prize | Internationale Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen (2021), Germany
– won jury prize | Image+Nation Festival Courts Queer Shorts Film Festival (2021), Canada
– honorary mention | Leeds International Film Festival (2021), UK

The Sea Runs Thru My Veins:
– nominated for short film competition | „At the Brink of Dawn“ | BFI FLARE (2019), UK
– nominated for short film competition | Edinburgh International Film Festival (2019), UK
– nominated for short film competition | New Film Award | achtung berlin Filmfestival (2019), Germany
– nominated for short film competition | Queer Lisboa (2016), Portugal

Khoshbakhti (Happiness):
– nominated for short film competition „Made in Berlin-Brandenburg“ | achtung berlin Filmfestival (2015), Germany
– nominated for short film competition | DokLeipzig (2015), Germany

EDUCATION

2023 10er Bloc Intensive Course for acting and directing with Sigrid Andersson, Fanny Stavjanik, Marcel Kowalewski | Andersson System
2022 Workshop for actors & directors for young talents with Teresa Harder | Coachingteam Frank Betzelt
2021 Berlinale Talents | directing
2017 – 2018 Master student at Experimental Film & Media Art | University of the Fine Arts Berlin
2010 – 2014 Cinematography & Master Class | filmArche Berlin

SOME FILMS & SERIES, I <3

I have been captivated by films and series that delve into ambivalence and feature complex characters, finding them deeply moving and compelling. These include All We Imagine As Light (Dir. Payal Kapadia), Aftersun (Dir. Charlotte Wells), Reservation Dogs (Creators Sterlin Harjo & Taika Waititi), I May Destroy You (Creator Michaela Coel), Lady Parts (Creator Nida Manzoor), Everything Everywhere All at Once (Dir. Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert), 20,000 Species of Bees (Dir. Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren), Bird (Dir. Andrea Arnold), Broker and Shoplifters (Dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda), The Five Devils (Dir. Léa Mysius), Fallen Leaves (Dir. Aki Kaurismäki), Anatomy of a Fall (Dir. Justine Triet), Songs My Brothers Taught Me (Dir. Chloé Zhao), City of Wind (Dir. Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir), Moonlight (Dir. Barry Jenkins) and Clara Sola (Dir. Nathalie Álvarez Mesén).