| Sara Zandieh | |
| Nationality: | Iranian American |
| Known For: | Short film, Filmmaking, Film director |
| Awards: | Fulbright Scholar |
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]
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]
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]
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]