Ashtar Alahmad

Ashtar is a Syrian-born filmmaker, motion designer, and storyteller based in Barcelona, Spain, an artist whose life and work are bound by the same thread of resilience that defines her stories. A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Damascus University and holder of a Master’s degree in Motion Design from IDEP Barcelona, Ashtar has turned adversity into art and survival into a language of creation.

In 2015, just days before her graduation, a missile strike changed her life forever. Severely injured, she defied the odds and received her diploma in a hospital room. That act of courage became the seed of her celebrated debut short film, Kano 4 (Currently streaming on Watermelon Pictures Plus), a poetic retelling of her own story of survival, recovery, and the rediscovery of motion, both physical and emotional.

Her second animated short, Tato 4.0, expands her storytelling into speculative and emotional terrain. Set in a quietly dystopian world, the film imagines an unexpected AI takeover led not by a cold machine, but by Tato 4.0, an artificial intelligence modeled after a grandmother whose tenderness, wisdom, and care begin to heal what war and borders once broke. The film will premiere in collaboration with OTV x Mozilla’s Brave Futures program this November (7–9), following its announcement on October 20.

From her beginnings at Dream Catcher Studio in Damascus to creative collaborations with HitRecord, Netflix, and Zappos, Ashtar’s work continues to captivate audiences across cultures. Her art is a voice for the unheard, weaving together themes of displacement, disability, feminism, and human rights with unflinching honesty and lyrical beauty.

Her films have resonated with international audiences and been celebrated at world-renowned festivals, including Sundance, OFFF, BlackStar, and LIFT-OFF, among many others.

Guided by hope, courage, and boundless imagination, Ashtar does more than tell stories. She transforms them into visual testaments of healing, identity, and the enduring power of empathy.