Sarah Adina Smith | |
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![]() Smith in 2019 | |
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Sarah Adina Smith is an American film writer, director, and editor. [1] [2] Films she has directed include Buster's Mal Heart (2016), [3] and The Midnight Swim (2014). She also directed two episodes from the television series Room 104 . Her films often center around mysticism, spirituality and psychology, and the surreal. [4] Smith also directed several acclaimed television pilots, including Hanna , Looking for Alaska , and Lessons in Chemistry . [5] She won the Directors Guild of America award for Movies for Television and Limited Series for her Lessons in Chemistry episode "Her & Him". [6]
Smith was born in Fort Collins, Colorado. She graduated from Poudre High School in 2001, and studied philosophy at Columbia University in New York. [7]
Smith's first feature as director, The Midnight Swim , was released in 2014. The film was noted for its shifts in visual style, [8] and won six awards on the festival circuit, including the audience award from AFI Fest. [9] [10]
Her sophomore feature, Buster's Mal Heart , [11] premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and stars Rami Malek, DJ Qualls, and Kate Lyn Sheil. [12]
Smith co-wrote the screenplay for the film Unlovable , which screened at the SXSW festival in 2018. [13]
In 2018 Smith was chosen to direct the first two episodes of television adaptation of the film Hanna. [14] [15] In 2019, she directed one episode of the television adaptation of the novel Looking for Alaska .
She wrote and directed the 2021 film Birds of Paradise [16] and the 2022 film The Drop . [17]
In 2023, Smith directed two episodes of Lessons in Chemistry for Apple TV+. [18] [19] In 2024, she won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series for directing "Her and Him" from Lessons in Chemistry . [20] In June 2024, it was announced that Smith would direct three episodes of the upcoming series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms . [21]
Short film
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | Madura | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
2009 | The Sirens | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
One Cup of Coffee | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ||
2016 | Mother's Day | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Segment of Holidays |
Feature film
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Editor |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Goodbye World | No | Yes | Yes | No |
2014 | The Midnight Swim | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
2016 | Buster's Mal Heart | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
2021 | Birds of Paradise | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
2022 | The Drop | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Television
Year | Title | Director | Executive producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | Wrecked | Yes | No | 2 episodes |
Room 104 | Yes | No | 2 episodes | |
2018 | Legion | Yes | No | Episode "Chapter 11" |
2019 | Hanna | Yes | Yes | 2 episodes |
Looking for Alaska | Yes | Yes | Episode "Famous Last Words" | |
2023 | Lessons in Chemistry | Yes | Yes | 2 episodes |
2025 | Little House on the Prairie | Yes | No | |
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)