Sara Chishti is a New York–based filmmaker dedicated to telling underrepresented stories. She is currently directing TAXI DRIVER, a vérité feature documentary exploring the predatory taxi medallion crisis that has devastated New York City’s immigrant cabbies.

Sara is a 2026 Sundance Institute’s Cultural Impact Residency fellow, a 2025 Brown Girls Doc Mafia Sustainable Artist Fellow, and a 2025 Bitchitra Collective Fellow. Her work has been supported by Chicken & Egg Pictures, the Center for Asian American Media, the Firelight Fund, the Islamic Scholarship Fund, the Rogovy Foundation, and Kickstarter.

In addition to directing, Sara recently produced EXODUS, a short documentary directed by Nimco Sheikhaden, about the challenges of re-entry after incarceration. The film premiered at SXSW 2025, was nominated for a Critics Choice Award, and is executive produced by two-time Academy Award nominee Geeta Gandbhir, Blair Foster, and Rudy Valdez.

A graduate of Johns Hopkins University’s Film and Media Studies program, Sara recently wrapped on HBO’s continuation of the landmark documentary series Eyes on the Prize, executive produced by Dawn Porter and directed by Geeta Gandbhir. She also produced San Juan Hill: Manhattan’s Lost Neighborhood—a Firelight documentary on the history of Lincoln Center—directed by Emmy Award–winner Stanley Nelson.

Her filmmaking is driven by a commitment to challenging dominant narratives and centering the voices of those too often overlooked.

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ABOUT Taxi Driver

Amid crippling debt and relentless exploitation, New York City’s immigrant taxi drivers fight to reclaim their humanity and the "American Dream," navigating a city-sanctioned medallion lending scheme that has left their community in financial ruin.

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FILM

Taxi Driver

PROGRAM AFFILIATION

Firelight Fund

COHORT YEAR

2025

INSTAGRAM

@sara.chishti