Zal Batmanglij (; born April 28, 1981) is an American film director and screenwriter. He directed and co-wrote the 2011 film Sound of My Voice and the 2013 film The East, both of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, as well as the Netflix series The OA, which debuted in 2016.
Early life and education Batmanglij was born in 1981 in France to Iranian parents and grew up in Washington, D.C. His mother, Najmieh Batmanglij, is a cookbook author and chef; his father is a book publisher. His younger brother Rostam was a founding member of the band Vampire Weekend. Both brothers are gay.
Batmanglij studied anthropology and English at Georgetown University, graduating in 2002. At Georgetown he met Mike Cahill in a philosophy class. They took a screenwriting course together and co-directed a short film that won the Georgetown Film Festival. Brit Marling saw the film and asked if she could work with them. Several years later, following Marling's graduation, the three friends moved to Los Angeles, California, where Batmanglij was a directing fellow at the AFI Conservatory. For his thesis film, he made a 35mm short called The Recordist (2007), which starred Marling.
Career In 2011, Batmanglij's debut feature, Sound of My Voice, written with Marling and starring her, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Shortly thereafter, Fox Searchlight Pictures purchased Sound of My Voice, as well as Batmanglij and Marling's next feature script, The East. Batmanglij also directed The East, starring Marling, Elliot Page, and Alexander Skarsgård. The film premiered at Sundance in 2013.
Batmanglij and Marling collaborated to create drama series The OA, which debuted in 2016 on Netflix. It was written by Marling and Batmanglij, who produced the series along with Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner of Plan B, and Michael Sugar of Anonymous Content. Batmanglij's The OA is known for its novel take on mysterious and mind-bending psychological dramas. Because of the high praise it has received from critics, the series was nominated twice for the Writers Guild Awards (WGA) “Best Episodic Drama” award.
Batmanglij and Marling worked together again in 2023 to co-produce the psychological thriller and murder mystery miniseries titled A Murder at the End of the World, which has been critically acclaimed by reviewer Kevin Considine for its statements on artificial intelligence.Considine, Kevin P. “A Murder at the End of the World.” U.S. Catholic, vol. 89, no. 4, Apr. 2024, p. 38. EBSCOhost.
Filmography Short film Year Title Director Writer 2007 The Recordist
Feature film Year Title Director Writer 2011 Sound of My Voice 2013 The East
Television Year Title Director Writer Executiveproducer Creator Notes 2015 Wayward Pines Episodes "Our Town, Our Law" and"One of Our Senior Realtors Has Chosen to Retire" 2016–2019 The OA Directed 13 episodes, wrote 7 episodes2023 A Murder at the End of the World Directed 4 episodes, wrote 6 episodes
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result2012Gotham AwardBreakthrough DirectorSound of My Voice2013Independent Spirit AwardBest First FeatureTraverse City Film FestivalFounders Prize For Best DramaThe East2018Writers Guild of America AwardEpisodic DramaThe OA (Episode "Homecoming")
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