Sara Blecher

Biography

Sara Blecher is an award-winning South African director, producer, and intimacy coordinator. Born in Gauteng, she moved to the United States in 1981, returning to South Africa in 1992 after graduating from New York University’s film school. Her debut feature, Otelo Burning (2011), garnered over 17 international awards and was named one of CNN’s top ten African films of the decade. She followed this with Ayanda (2015), which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and received a Special Jury Mention. Her subsequent films include Dis ek, Anna (2015) and Mayfair (2018). In 2019, Sara became South Africa’s first certified intimacy coordinator, founding Safe Sets and co-founding Intimacy Practitioners South Africa (IPSA). She has since worked on numerous productions, including Netflix's Unseen, Showmax's Softlife, and HBO's The Wheel of Time. Beyond filmmaking, Sara is a passionate advocate for gender parity and safety in the industry. She founded Sisters Working in Film and Television (SWIFT) and has served on various advisory committees for the South African Screen Federation.

Awards