Sara Zandieh

Sara Zandieh is an Iranian American filmmaker^[1] whose film, The Pool Party, won second place at the Tribeca Film Festival. It received a Special Jury Mention.^[2][3][4] Zandieh is a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University.^[5]

Sara Zandieh
Nationality	Iranian American
Known for	Short film, Filmmaking, Film director
Awards	Fulbright Scholar

Works

In 2009, Sara Zandieh entered a story called The Pool Party in the Narrative Magazine 30 Below contest for writers between the ages of 18 and 30.^[6] She was among the top ten N30B finalists and won $100 for her effort.^[6]

In 2010, Zandieh directed The Pool Party. It is a 14-minute short film that was shot in Tehran just before the 2009-2010 Iranian election crisis.^[7] It documents the story of a male servant, who must fully repair a pool while acting as a surrogate father to the master's daughter. Zandieh combined social realism with allegory to illustrate the servant's struggle.^[1]

2010 Tribeca Film Festival

Zandieh's film was one of 47 short films screened in Lower Manhattan theaters.^[8] Like Tal Rosner, Zandieh is a returning director.^[8] Amongst other directors premiering films, she competed against Kirsten Dunst.^[8] Student kudos went to the winning short, Some Boys Don't Leave, "with special mention going to Sara Zandieh's The Pool Party."^[4]

On April 29, 2010, The Pool Party was shown at the Columbia University School of the Arts' 23rd Annual Film Festival.^[9]

Awards

Zandieh won a 2009-2010 grant from the Fulbright Program.^[5] This program is the "most widely recognized and prestigious international exchange program in the world."^[10] She is one of 40 Kentucky students chosen and listed with the United States Department of State as being a filmmaking student from Turkey.^[5]

Filmography

• Handsome Harry (2009)^[11]
• The Pool Party (2010)
• A Simple Wedding (2019)
• The Other Zoey (2023) ^[12]
• Doin' It (2024)^[13]