Karina Dandashi

Karina Dandashi is a Syrian-American filmmaker from Pittsburgh, PA, whose work explores identity at the intersection of family, culture, and sexuality within the Arab American diaspora. She often appears in her own films, embracing a personal and immersive storytelling approach. A 2021 Sundance x Adobe Ignite Fellow, she was recognized as one of Marie Claire’s “Top 21 Creators to Watch” in 2022. Her feature script Out of Water was selected for the 2023 Film Independent Screenwriting Lab, and her work has received support from organizations including the Jerome Foundation, the Colin Higgins Foundation, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and the Heinz Endowments. Her short film Cousins (2023) is distributed by The New Yorker, and her latest short, Baba I’m Fine (2025), will premiere at SXSW in March.