Sarah Kaskas

About

Sarah Kaskas is an award-winning filmmaker, Emmy-nominated producer, and film educator whose work centers on the resilience and lived struggles of marginalized communities, particularly in Lebanon. Her films have toured internationally recognized festivals, including Tribeca, Aspen Shortsfest, Odense International, and HollyShorts.

In 2016, she co-founded Karaaj Films, an independent production company dedicated to socially engaged cinema, and released Bread and Tea, which premiered at Cinéma Vérité, where it was awarded Best Short Documentary. Her first feature-length documentary, Underdown (2018), premiered at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) and subsequently earned five international awards, including the Grand Prix at the Mediteran Film Festival and the Jury Prize at the Malmö Arab Film Festival.

Her later works include the short documentary STRUCK (2021) and the short fiction film The Window (2022), the latter of which received the award for Best Cinematography at the Imagine This Women’s Film Festival and Best Narrative Short at the Arab Film Festival. In 2022, she produced Beirut Dreams in Color, which was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Short Documentary.

Through both her creative practice and pedagogical work, Sarah engages with cinema as a critical space for examining social inequities, amplifying underrepresented voices, and exploring the intersections of art, politics, and cultural memory.

Portfolio: https://vimeo.com/user5465556

Karaaj Films: karaajfilms.com

Awards and Nominations Highlights

Beirut Dreams in Color (2022): Producer

• News and Documentary Emmy Nominee: Outstanding Short Documentary, 2023
• Tribeca Film Festival, 2022
• Inside Out, 2022

The Window (2022): Writer, Director

• Best Narrative Short Award: Arab Film Festival, 2022 |
• Best Cinematography Award: Imagine This Women's Film Festival, 2022
• Hollyshorts Film Festival, 2022
• OFF Odense Film Festival, 2022
• Norweigian Short Film Festival, 2022
• Inside Out, 2022
• Aspen Shortsfest, 2022

STRUCK (2021): Writer, Director, Editor, Cinematographer, Sound Designer, Music Composer

• Malmö Arab Film Festival, 2022
• Viewpoint Documentary Film Festival, 2022
• ALFILM Arab Film Festival Berlin, 2022
• Liberation DocFest Bangladesh, 2022
• Arab Film Festival, 2021

Underdown (2018): Writer, Director, Editor, Music Composer

• Special Critic’s Award: FLIGHT/Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Genova, 2021
• ACEC Special Prize: FLIGHT/Mostra Internazionale del Cinema di Genova, 2021
• Best Documentary Film Award: Jerusalem Arab Film Festival, 2021
• Grand Prix Award: Mediteran Film Festival, Bosnia Herzegovina, 2020
• Jury Award: Malmo Arab Film Festival, 2019
• Edinburgh International Film Festival, 2019
• Sao Paulo International Film Festival, 2019
• World Premiere: International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), 2018

Bread and Tea (2016): Writer, Director, Editor, Cinematographer, Sound Designer, Music Composer

• Best Short Documentary Award: Cinéma Vérité, 2016
• Festival International du Film d’Aubagne, 2017
• Human Rights Film Festival, 2017
• China International New Media Short Film Festival, 2017