Kit Zauhar (born 1995) is an Asian American filmmaker best known for the feature films ''Actual People'' and '' This Closeness''.

Early life

Zauhar was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Her mother is a

Chinese immigrant Waves of Chinese emigration have happened throughout history. They include the emigration to Southeast Asia beginning from the 10th century during the Tang dynasty, to the Americas during the 19th century, particularly during the California go ...

who came to the United States to study medicine, while her father is white. She has one sister. In high school, Zauhar directed her first short film, titled ''It Was Fall''.

Education

Zauhar graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

in 2017. She later enrolled in a

Master of Fine Arts A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.) is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admi ...

program in nonfiction writing at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, but left the program after a year amid the onset of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

to finish work on her first feature film.

Career

While attending NYU, Zauhar wrote and directed the short film ''Helicopter'', released in 2016. Her 2018 short film ''Terrestrials'', about a device that allows people to meet for anonymous sex on the metaphysical plane, was recognized with the Best Screenplay award in the International Short Film Competition during the 2019

Fantasia International Film Festival Fantasia International Film Festival, also known as Fantasia Fest or simply Fantasia, is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on fantasy, horror, sci-fi and cult genre films. Regular ...

. Zauhar wrote, directed, and starred in her debut feature, ''Actual People'', an

autofiction Autofiction is, in literary criticism, a form of fictionalized autobiography. Definition In autofiction, an author may decide to recount their life in the Third-person narrative, third person, to modify significant details and characters, use in ...

al work inspired by her her final week at NYU which premiered at the 2021

Locarno Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...

. Her 2023 film '' This Closeness'', about a weekend in the life of a young couple renting a home from an awkward host in Philadelphia, debuted at the

South by Southwest Film Festival South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has continued growing in both s ...

; Factory 25 acquired the film for a limited theatrical run the following year. In June 2024, ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' reported that Zauhar would adapt a film adaptation of the 2010

Sheila Heti Sheila Heti (; born 25 December 1976) is a Canadian writer. Early life Sheila Heti was born on 25 December 1976 in Toronto. Her parents are Hungarian Jewish immigrants. Her brother is comedian David Heti. Sheila Heti attended St. Clement's ...

novel ''How Should a Person Be?'' for Neon Heart Productions, the company that produced ''This Closeness''.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zauhar, Kit 1995 births Living people American women writers of Chinese descent American film directors of Chinese descent American actresses of Chinese descent Film directors from Pennsylvania Actresses from Philadelphia Writers from Philadelphia New York University alumni