Ana Lily Amirpour

Filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour was born in England. Her family then relocated to Miami, FL and finally settled in Bakersfield, CA. It was there that Amirpour spent her adolescence, and when the time came to select a college, she chose to remain in California. Amirpour first attended an art school in the San Francisco area, but ultimately graduated from UCLA's School of Theater, Film & Television. Amirpour's first short film was made in 2009 and was titled "Six and a Half." She followed up this effort with a number of other short films such as "True Love" (2010), "Pashmaloo" (2010), "I Feel Stupid" (2012) and "The Garlock Incident" (2012). Her first feature film was the critically-acclaimed drama "A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night"(2014). The film was adapted from a short of the same name, which Amirpour directed in 2011. Amirpour described the film as "the first Iranian vampire spaghetti western," telling the story of a lone vampire living in an Iranian ghost town. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014, where it created a considerable buzz on social media, as well as positive critical and audience reactions.