Where Are They Now: Sara Nimeh
Filmmaker Sara Nimeh draws on her diverse arts background to tell award-winning stories.
Sara Nimeh (IAC 00-06, IAA 06-08) started her arts journey as a 10-year-old at Interlochen Arts Camp, studying theatre, piano, voice, and visual arts for seven summers before joining the Film & New Media department at Interlochen Arts Academy. Filmmaking ended up being the perfect fit for her, bringing together the entire creative community to tell stories. After studying film and accounting at Southern Methodist University, Sara worked on commercial and narrative projects while maintaining her focus on the stories she wanted to tell.
Now a Dallas-based writer and director, Sara is passionate about exploring cross-cultural themes such as war, faith, and identity in her work. Her short film, “Jedo’s Dead,” was chosen as the first project produced by the Interlochen Cinema Collective, which brings together current students, alumni, faculty, and guest artists to create professional films. “Jedo’s Dead” screened at more than twenty festivals across the nation; won best in its category at SXSW 2024, Oak Cliff Film Festival, Houston Film Festival, Minnesota Film Festival, and Palm Springs International ShortFest; and received a theatrical release and Academy Awards eligibility from the Fort Worth Film Commission. Sara is currently working on a feature-length version of “Jedo’s Dead” and other feature projects.
What’s remarkable about cinema is that it draws on all the arts—music, theater, composition—woven together to tell a story. But beyond any single discipline, what shaped me most at Interlochen was being surrounded by a community of passionate artists.