karina dandashi is a syrian-american filmmaker born and raised in pittsburgh pa. her films explore identity through the intersection of family, culture, and sexuality in the arab american diaspora. she loves being a thought daughter, pop culture, railroads, and musicals. she puts herself in her own films because she likes making things harder than they have to be. karina was a 2021 sundance x adobe ignite fellow and 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 distributed on the new yorker. her latest short BABA I’M FINE (2025) will premiere at SXSW in march.