ABOUT

My artistic roots were shaped in Iran, where I worked alongside a generation of young artists searching for honest ways to tell stories. I learned to create in rooms where resources were limited, but speaking felt urgent, where collaboration and trust in one another became part of the material itself. Those years taught me to see space as something shaped by human presence and by the need to resist and express.
From independent films and dark theaters in Tehran to stages and studios in the United States, that foundation has stayed with me. I approach each project through a dramaturgical lens, looking for the human architecture beneath the visual one, the memories, pressures, and desires that shape how people inhabit a world. I am interested in untold stories, the hidden layers of a script, and the feelings a space can reveal that a character or a text cannot say.

‌‌BIO

Sara Azampanah is an Iranian production and scenic designer based in Chicago, working across film and live performance. She is currently pursuing an MFA in Scenic Design at Northwestern University and holds a BA in Stage Design and an MA in Interior Architecture from the University of Tehran.
Her film work includes the Berlinale Crystal Bear-winning short documentary Memories of a Window (2026) and the short film It Means Hope, winner of the Soapbox Award at the Odense International Film Festival and recipient of an Honorable Mention at Slamdance. Her production design work has also received a nomination from the Iranian Short Film Association (ISFA).
Her recent theatre credits include In the Time of the Butterflies and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Both scenic designs were selected for the United States Emerging Exhibit at the 2027 Prague Quadrennial as part of the official U.S. representation.