karina dandashi is a first generation arab-american muslim writer, director, and actor born and raised in pittsburgh, but mostly feels like a diasporic sad girl who’s obsessed with making art about her feelings. her films explore nuances in identity through the intersection of family, religion, and culture in southwest asian and north african (SWANA) and muslim communities in america. karina is a 2020 silver sun diverse voices creative culture fellow at the jacob burns film center and a 2021 sundance ignite fellow. she was featured in marie claire’s inaugural creators issue as one of the “top 21 creators to watch” in 2022. her debut feature script OUT OF WATER has recently been chosen by film independent for the 2023 screenwriting lab.