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Ary Zara is a transgender person who excels in the roles of screenwriter and director. He studied cinema at Universidade Lusófona in Lisbon and University of Texas in Austin. 

AN AVOCADO PIT, his debut short film, earned a spot on the shortlist of the 96th Academy Awards® (Oscars®) and Elliot Page has become its Executive Producer. This achievement comes after the short film has garnered 90+ selections and 20+ awards in festivals such as: Clermont-Ferrand, AFI FEST, FIC Guadalajara and Outfest. 

SUN IN SATURN, his first feature was selected for Torino Script Lab and won CNC Prize for his pitch. At Dot.on.the.map it won Best Debut Project and after it was selected for EAVE. Ary will shoot his second short TOKOS in early 2025, developed at Midpoint Institute, pitched at WEMW 2024.

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Ary’s work has been recognized by the Portuguese Film Academy with the nomination of An Avocado Pit for Best Short film at the prestigious Sophia 2023 awards. Recently, Ary was invited as a jury member for Pitch ME, a program in collaboration with the Portuguese Film Academy and Netflix, he was also a jury member of the international short films section at Indie Lisboa and invited by the European Film Academy in collaboration with the Portugal Film Commission to showcase and share experience with a group of emerging directors at Sunday in the Country.

Ary is one of the 8 directors selected for the 57th edition of the Directors' Fortnight that will take place in
Cannes from May 14 to 24, 2025.

He's currently developing his first feature SUN IN SATURN