Zain Hashmat

Zain is a New Orleans-based filmmaker, raised and educated in Mississippi. He has spent the past five years in Southeastern Louisiana working to uplift the next generation of filmmakers as a programmer for the New Orleans Film Festival, an educator at the New Orleans Video Access Center, and a collaborator on various sets throughout the city. He has worked to share the films of local filmmakers and their visions as a coordinator for the New Orleans Film Festival and the Overlook Film Festival. He is deeply interested in contemporary Southern stories told through a tender, comedic lens that heightens the everyday. His own films explore contemporary struggles told through a nostalgic viewpoint rooted in film history, the machinations of the cinema, and Southern culture. He is a member of Palestine Film Day, NOLA Freedom Forum, and is a contributor to Antigravity Magazine. Much like his favorite films, he’s short and sweet.