karina dandashi is a syrian-american muslim writer, director, and actor born and raised in pittsburgh pa baby!!! her films explore identity through the intersection of family, religion, and culture in arab and muslim communities in america. she loves being sad, pop culture, vampires, and revels in her basic taste in music. she puts herself in her own films because she likes making things harder than they have to be. karina was a 2020 creative culture fellow at the jacob burns film center and a 2021 sundance ignite fellow. she was featured in the inaugural creators issue as marie claire’s “top 21 creators to watch” in 2022. her feature script OUT OF WATER was chosen for the film independent 2023 screenwriting lab. she has been supported by organizations such as the jerome foundation, the colin higgins foundation, the muslim public affairs council, and the heinz endowments.

her short film COUSINS (2023) is out now on the new yorker and is a vimeo staff pick.