Nadia Fares

The Polish director, Krzysztof Kieslowski (The "Ten Commandments", "The Double Life of Veronika") was the directing mentor of Nadia Fares while she was at NYU. He said that great directors always tell stories differently but linked to the same theme. "The fish out of water" theme connects with Nadia's work. It reflects her upbringing and her view of the world. Between her Egyptian father and her Swiss mother, she has learned to deal with different cultures, identities, mentalities and even different senses of humor. Overall these rich experiences have shaped her approach to stories as a director. It's an obsession of her, that people in different places are thinking the same thing, but for different reasons. She makes films, which connect people to the other "fish out of water". She now lives in West Hollywood. She has also lived and shot films in different countries: America, Tunisia, France, Switzerland, Egypt and the Emirates. Her diverse cultural background has allowed her to get inside different perspectives; She applies these in her creative work and in her interactions with actors and collaborators. It has also forced her to adapt to multiple environments, think quickly on her feet and assemble the best available talent and production teams in virtually any situation or location. Her feature film "Honey and Ashes" was a Swiss-Tunisian production where she shot in Tunisia and worked with a mix of French and Tunisian crew and actors. The film won 18 awards at many international film festivals and was distributed in over 15 countries. Variety Magazine called it "edgy, intelligent". She is a graduate from New York University TISCH School of the Arts, where she received her Master of Fine Arts in Film and Television. She speaks English, French, German and Arabic. Critics have described her visual style as very sensual. She doesn't really think about it or plan it per see, but she tries to capture her characters' truths as closely and authentically as she can to bring out subtext that simmers beneath the surface. Since she can remember, she has always had the urge to lift up a stone to see what's underneath.