Born in Afghanistan and raised in Germany, Zamarin Wahdat attended NYU’s Graduate film program as a Dean’s Fellow. After graduating, Zamarin participated in Film Independent’s Project Involve Fellowship program as a cinematography fellow, where her film LIBERTY (dir. Faren Humes) received the Special Jury Prize at the Berlinale 2019. In 2020 she received an Academy Award for the short documentary LEARNING HOW TO SKATE IN A WARZONE (IF YOU’RE A GIRL)  (dir. Carol Dysinger). The experience of returning to her hometown Kabul, inspired her to write the short film BAMBIRAK. Her directorial debut was awarded Best International Fiction Short at the Sundance Film Festival 2021. In the same year, she was selected for the American Society of Cinematographer’s Vision Mentorship Program and shot the coming-of-age feature film SPIRIT IN THE BLOOD  (dir. Carly Borgstrom) and the feature documentary LONG DISTANCE SWIMMER SARA MARDINI (dir. Charlie Feldman). 

 

In addition to being a filmmaker, Zamarin worked as a mentor for the Goethe Institute in India, helping young Afghan Refugees in the development of their short documentaries. She also participated in the group installation of AVAH (Afghan Visual Arts and History Collective) with a lyrical film on childhood memories, that she produced and shot in collaboration with the writer/director Parwana Haydar. Zamarin is a member of the IFCF, Free the Work, and the Cinematographinnen and is currently in development of her first feature film, which received the Moin Development Film Fund. Zamarin was part of the Ingmar Bergman Residency this year.