Sonder Films - Mission
Rooted in empathy and lived experience, our films span genres and scale — from intimate character studies to bold, high-concept worlds — grounded in emotional truth that lingers.
Founder’s Note
A few years ago, while traveling through Italy with my mother, we took an unplanned exit into a small town. There were no tourists … just everyday life unfolding. It was there I experienced sonder: the realization that every passerby carries a life as layered and complex as your own.
As an actor, I’ve spent years inhabiting other people’s lives. That experience shaped the stories I now feel compelled to tell behind the camera. As an Iranian-American navigating this industry, I’m drawn to human-first stories, grounded in truth, intimacy, and emotional complexity.
Sonder Films exists to tell those stories. Cinema, at its best, creates connection. And connection is where change begins.
PROJECTS
Ashes
Written by Maaman Rezaee
Recipient of the 2024 Slamdance Screenwriting Competition and selected for AFI DWW+, Ashes is a darkly funny exploration of grief, identity, and belonging. When an Iranian-American woman returns to Iran to honor her late mother’s final wish, she finds herself confronting a homeland she barely knows and a legacy she never fully understood. Set against the backdrop of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, Ashes explores resistance, resilience, and the enduring bonds between Iranian women - with humor, heart, and irreverence.
Blue Flower
Written by Niousha Noor
Blue Flower is a modern romantic drama — a character-driven exploration of love at its most intimate: the kind that spans time, distance, and everything left unspoken. Through the story of Neda and Raza, two strangers who meet by chance while traveling through Europe, the film examines the nature of true connection, and our deeply human tendency to romanticize the past and long for what we don’t yet have. Like the motif from the Romantic era that gives the film its name, Blue Flower asks:
Do we want what we already have — or do we only fall in love with what we’re about to lose?
Humans Without Borders
Created by Azad Jafarian
Humans Without Borders is a one-hour episodic drama set in a near-future where teleportation has replaced human travel and erased borders — but power, inequality, and corruption remain.
Seven crime families operate the underground teleportation network — smuggling bodies, identities, and power in a system designed to serve the elite.
The series unfolds as a grounded sci-fi crime thriller with the soul of a character drama.
FROM SET TO STORY
LET'S CONNECT
For inquiries, collaborations, or to share a story that resonates with our vision, please reach out.
Currently developing a focused slate of original work — and selectively exploring new stories that align with Sonder’s mission.
📧 contact@sonderfilms.co