ABOUT

Zia Mohajerjasbi is an Iranian-American filmmaker hailing from Seattle, a city that has served as the primary focus of his work. He has shot & directed critically-acclaimed music videos for Macklemore, Blue Scholars, Jake One and Common Market, as well as a 2007 mockumentary short with standup comedian Hari Kondabolu, Manoj. In 2009, Zia became the youngest winner ever of the “Genius Award,” presented by The Stranger, a Seattle weekly. In 2015, he wrote and directed the award-winning narrative short film, Hagereseb, and is also the cinematographer and director of an ongoing storytelling series, The Charcoal Sky. In April 2022, Zia's debut feature film "Know Your Place" which he wrote and directed, premiered at the Seattle International Film Festival where it was awarded the New American Cinema Grand Jury Prize and the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Film.

PRESS

VARIETY - Seattle International Film Festival Awards Top Honors to ‘Klondike,’ ‘Know Your Place’

THE STRANGER - The Political Economy Of Urban Beauty

INDIEWIRE - ‘Klondike,’ ‘Know Your Place’ Win Big at Seattle International Film Festival

CROSSCUT - Seattle movie about loss and gentrification debuts at SIFF

THE MOVEABLE FEST - SIFF 2022 Review: Zia Mohajerjasbi’s Arresting “Know Your Place” Explores a City’s Limits

OZY - "The Filmmaker Bringing Seattle Realness To YouTube" - 'The Charcoal Sky' - 2017

CityArts Magazine - ‘The Charcoal Sky’ Captures Changing Relationships to Meaningful Places - 2017

KUOW - ‘The Charcoal Sky: He met his first love in Seattle's south end. He lost her there, too.’ - 2017

Seattle Globalist - "What Seattle is Losing in Yesler Terrace Redevelopment - 'Hagereseb' Film Review - 2015

Seattle Met Magazine - "Yesler Terrace Comes to the Big Screen in SIFF's 'Hagereseb'" - 2015

The Stranger - "Genius Award in Film" - 2009

Daily UW - "Artist Spotlight: Zia Mohajerjasbi" - 2009

The Stranger - "He Got Cinema" - 2008