Samina Saifee
Director & Filmmaker
Samina Saifee is an Indian-American filmmaker and writer originally from Rochester Hills, MI, currently based in Brooklyn. She is a Sundance fellow and graduate of New York University's Tisch film school.
Her work explores questions of identity as a Muslim Indian American, including her two short films AmeriGirl (about wanting to be the “cool brown girl”) and AYAT (about a grieving Islamic Sunday school teacher). Currently, she’s working on her first feature film on top of writing a fiction novel.
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This interview was edited for length & clarity. It took place on Mar 25, 2025.
Q: Tell me about your journey to being a filmmaker.
SS: I didn’t think I’d go into film growing up. I was just a lonely kid who loved reading and writing. I went from being the popular kid in elementary school to being shy in middle school when I started wearing the hijab — a lot of kids just didn’t understand. I spent a lot of time alone reading and writing crappy short stories. I was the type of kid who was always befriending their English teacher. I think a lot of artists have a similar story: we’re drawn to art as a result of being an outsider.
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By high school, I was known as the annoying English kid, doing writing clubs and raising my hand in every book discussion. My dad is artsy and loves Urdu poetry. He always encouraged me, saying: “If you can write, then you have a voice.” I started taking film classes in my last 2 years of high school which I enjoyed.
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For college, I applied as a political science major — I wasn’t even thinking of art or film school. But after I got rejected from my early decision school, I was devastated. I had a conversation with my English teacher where he asked me: “Why are you upset? You’ve always loved English. What would you do if you could do anything?” That question opened up something for me. I told my parents I wanted to apply to just one film school, as a kind of deal— I ended up getting into NYU’s film school. It felt like fate.
Q: How was the transition from film school to post-graduation?
SS: Starting film school was a little disorienting, honestly. I’d been writing forever, but film was new to me. It took me a while to find my footing and figure out what kind of stories I wanted to tell. The first thing I wrote was AmeriGirl, and that was the beginning of it all. It started as a short film in school, but even then, I knew it was really a feature. It was inspired by that middle school era, when you’re just trying to figure out who you are and looking at the cooler brown girl like, “How do I be like that?” It’s funny, it’s tender, and it’s full of angst.
After college, I worked for a literary agent who helped authors turn books into TV or film. I love reading, so that job felt perfect. It also let me stay in New York, which was important to me. Eventually, I left to work as an assistant on a feature film set, and that experience confirmed that I really loved being on set. It’s exhausting work, but I wasn’t tired at all — that’s when I realized, this is what I want to do.
"I had a conversation with my English teacher where he asked me: “Why are you upset? You’ve always loved English. What would you do if you could do anything?” That question opened up something for me. I told my parents I wanted to apply to just one film school, as a kind of deal—I ended up getting into NYU’s film school. It felt like fate."
AmeriGirl poster
Q: What motto or advice has kept you going?
SS: One of my roommates—she’s a few years older, also brown—once told me: “You have to channel the straight white male confidence.” And it’s true. So much of this industry is about asking for what you want, reaching out, sending that email. We don’t always grow up thinking we’re entitled to take up space like that. But if you don’t ask, you’ll never know.
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There’s this delusional part of being an artist where you just have to believe you’re good, even if you’re not totally sure yet. You figure it out by doing it. You can be afraid, but do it anyway. The worst thing that can happen is not that bad.
Q: What's your day to day like?
SS: It varies. Right now, I’m doing a script-for-hire—adapting a play into a feature film. I’m also fundraising for AmeriGirl, adapting the short into a feature. And I just wrapped up a doc project where I helped with events and impact producing. Every day is a little different. Sometimes I’m writing, sometimes I’m meeting with producers, and sometimes I’m working on small independent projects like music videos just to keep the creative energy going. I recently spent time in LA in a writer’s room, working on Riz Ahmed’s new Amazon prime show.
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Every week, I spend time getting coffees and meeting up with people in the industry. Networking is so important — all my opportunities have come through networking—cold emails, DMs, and the connections I made at NYU.
Q: How did your parents react to you becoming a filmmaker?
SS: At first, they resisted. When I chose to go to film school, they were like: "How do you pursue that? Hollywood feels so elusive, how do you even get there?"
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My dad has always talked about brown people not having representation in the media. Post 9/11 there’s so much anti-Muslim sentiment. I told him: “If we aren’t telling our stories, others will do it for us.” That changed his mind. He told me: “We have the resources to support you if it doesn’t work out.” I also reassured my parents that I can do something else if this doesn’t work out. I double majored in film and business at NYU.
"My dad has always talked about brown people not having representation in the media. Post 9/11 there’s so much anti-Muslim sentiment. I told him: “If we aren’t telling our stories, others will do it for us.” "
AYAT film still
Q: How do you see your faith and work intersect?
SS: As a Muslim, I don’t always write about faith explicitly, but it shows up. After graduating film school, I was going through a period of grief and thinking more about religion and what it meant to me as an adult. That’s what inspired my short film AYAT: it’s based on a Quranic story I’d never learned in Sunday school—one of those discoveries that reshapes your understanding of faith.
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Even when my work isn’t directly about being Muslim, I think identity and faith are woven in, just more subtly. I think about how much space there is in art for Jewish and Christian stories, but we haven’t really scratched the surface for Muslim narratives.
Q: How do you define success?
SS: My goal has always been to make what I want and not beg people for money. I’m very grateful for what I’ve gotten so far and try not to be someone who’ll only be happy when they get the next thing. I want to get to a place where I’m financially stable and making films seen by people in theatres. After all, that’s why you become an artist — to put your art into the world.
Q: What creative routines do you have that inspire you?
SS: I like going on photo walks with my camera. Walks in general are great for creativity, but especially with a camera, you’re looking at the world intentionally for things you can capture.
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Every Saturday morning, I’ll go to the library — something I used to do with my dad as a kid. I like to browse in the library because a mentor used to say: “If you’re getting what everybody else is getting from social media, you’re not thinking originally.”
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Since writing is my main job, I make sure to write everyday. Even if it’s the worst pages ever, I’ll get it down and edit tomorrow.
AmeriGirl film still
"Every Saturday morning, I’ll go to the library — something I used to do with my dad as a kid. I like to browse in the library because a mentor used to say: “If you’re getting what everybody else is getting from social media, you’re not thinking originally.” "
Q: What does being an Asian American creative mean to you?
SS: I’m grateful I get to do it. I know a lot of Asian Americans grow up thinking they can’t pursue a creative career so I’m grateful to have parents who are supportive. I also love being able to tell our stories beyond “we’re brown” and delve into the specific nuances of growing up Indian-American and how our families work.
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It’s such an honor to have that specificity in your life. I didn’t always feel this way about my culture, but now I love writing about it.
Q: What's your advice for aspiring filmmakers?
SS: Perseverance is everything. The people who succeed are often just the ones who didn’t quit. It’s not about talent alone—it’s about staying in the game long enough.
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A lot of times you don’t realize how hard people work. Rachel Sennott is a comedian that’s really big now but my friends said they used to see her every day grinding away at a coffee shop. You wouldn’t think that from her public persona, but that kind of quiet grind is what it takes.
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Also — stay off social media when you can. It’s not helpful to see what everyone else is doing sometimes