Sara Fazilat an actor, producer,and screenwriter born in Tehran.
After graduating from high school in Bremen, she attended RADA and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, UK. In 2012, Sara moved back to Germany to study Film Production at the DFFB (German Film and Television Academy Berlin). This was followed by a scholarship to study at Columbia University in New York.
Following performing in various theatre productions and acting in several shorts and feature films, she was selected to participate in the Berlinale Talents programme 2017. Sara has also been a regular presence on television such as in the TV series DIE FÜCHSIN as well as the series CHECK CHECK and DER ÜBERFALL or COUNTERPART along with J.K Simmons.
Her feature film NICO, which she produced, starred as the lead and was involved in the writing, won festival audiences’ and critics’ hearts worldwide. NICO was the final film made during her studies at the DFFB and examines how a racist attack changes one young woman’s life. The film celebrated its international premiere at Shanghai International Film Festival and was featured in the lineups of Frameline Film Festival San Francisco and Melbourne Queer Film Festival, as well as film festivals in Oslo, Sydney, Cambridge and BFI Flare (London).
The film has also received various awards in Germany, Austria, England, Switzerland and Italy. This Included accolades for Sara’s performance, including the Max Ophüls Prize (Best Young Actress),The Bavarian Film Award and as a producer, she also received the First Steps No Fear Award for NICO followed by the nomination from the German Academy Award for her performance in NICO for Best Actress in a leading Role. NICO opened cinemas after a successful cinema run and Sara can be further seen in numerous other productions on the big screen, including in a leading role in Michael Bully Herbig’s 1000 ZEILEN, as well as in HOLY SPIDER, the latest feature film from Cannes winner Ali Abbasi.
Since 2020, Sara has been on the board of Pro Quote Film, an association that promotes equality for all genders and diversity in the film industry. She also founded her own production company, THIRD CULTURE KIDS, in 2020.
As a director and writer, Sara is currently working on the script for a feature length film, ARIER, and the series UNDERDOGS. She has been invited to Rotterdam Lab 2022 and to Cannes Producers Network 2022. In the same year she was in the Berlinale juries for the Kompass Perspective Award and the Kompagnon Promotional Award and she got selected by German Films for the FACE to FACE Campaign as one of 7 Talents to watch.
Her film NICO was nominated for the German Academy Award 2022 and was among 9 films shortlisted from German Films for the Oscar Entry. 2022 HOLY SPIDER was selected for the Competition of the Cannes Film Festival and was awarded there. Denmark selected Holy Spider as their Oscar Entry 2023 and later the film got shortlisted by the Academy. In the same year Holy Spider received 11 Robert Awards at the Danish Film Academy Awards. 2022 Sara was Senior Advisor, Speaker and did Curatorial work at the Harvard University for the German American Conference.
