Faraz Shariat is an German-Iranian filmmaker, who’s mould-breaking coming-of-age feature
debut Futur Drei premiered to great reception at Berlinale 2020, before going on to win the
festival’s two Teddy Awards for Best Queer Film and  The Reader’s Award. Produced by his
production company JÜNGLINGE, and partly autobiographical, Futur Drei is the story of a
confidently “out” second-generation German-born Iranian who falls for an Iranian refugee
who has recently arrived in the West. Exploring the nexus of race, displacement, and
sexuality in a modern, multicultural society, Faraz describes Futur Drei as unabashedly
“feminist, anti-racist and queer” in its approach to story-telling, and an example of “Activist
Popcorn Cinema” – a genre of filmmaking that uses a broadly appealing pop-culture lens to
examine hard-hitting issues about identity and community.

Since then, Faraz has directed episodes for the highly acclaimed series adaptation DRUCK,
as well as for the British high-end horror comedy THE BABY (HBO/Sky) and German true
crime anthology series ZEIT VERBRECHEN (Paramount+). He executive produced
SCHWARZE FRÜCHTE (ARD), a dramedy that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in
June 2024 and was released to wide critical acclaim in Germany in October 2024.
Faraz Shariat is a fellow of Villa Aurora in Los Angeles and is currently developing his
English-language debut THE BEACH BOY, together with Ottessa Moshfegh. His second
feature film, Staatsschutz, will be released in German cinemas in 2026.