Sarah Adina Smith

Sarah Adina Smith is an American film writer, director, and editor. Films she has directed include Buster's Mal Heart, and The Midnight Swim. She also directed two episodes from the television series Room 104. Her films often center around mysticism, spirituality and psychology, and the surreal. Smith also directed several acclaimed television pilots, including Hanna, Looking for Alaska, and Lessons in Chemistry. She won the Directors Guild of America award for Movies for Television and Limited Series for her Lessons in Chemistry episode "Her & Him".

Early life and education

Smith was born in Fort Collins, Colorado. She graduated from Poudre High School in 2001, and studied philosophy at Columbia University in New York.

Career

Smith's first feature as director, The Midnight Swim, was released in 2014. The film was noted for its shifts in visual style, and won six awards on the festival circuit, including the audience award from AFI Fest.
Her sophomore feature, Buster's Mal Heart, premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, and stars Rami Malek, DJ Qualls, and Kate Lyn Sheil.
Smith co-wrote the screenplay for the film Unlovable, which screened at the SXSW festival in 2018.
In 2018 Smith was chosen to direct the first two episodes of television adaptation of the film Hanna. In 2019, she directed one episode of the television adaptation of the novel Looking for Alaska.
She wrote and directed the 2021 film Birds of Paradise and the 2022 film The Drop.
In 2023, Smith directed two episodes of Lessons in Chemistry for Apple TV+. In 2024, she won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series for directing "Her and Him" from Lessons in Chemistry. In June 2024, it was announced that Smith would direct three episodes of the upcoming series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

Filmography

Short film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Editor	Notes
2006	Madura
2009	The Sirens
2009	One Cup of Coffee
2016	Mother's Day					Segment of Holidays

Feature film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Editor
2013	Goodbye World
2014	The Midnight Swim
2016	Buster's Mal Heart
2021	Birds of Paradise
2022	The Drop

Television

Year	Title	Director	Executive producer	Notes
2017	Wrecked			2 episodes
2017	Room 104			2 episodes
2018	Legion			Episode "Chapter 11"
2019	Hanna			2 episodes
2019	Looking for Alaska			Episode "Famous Last Words"
2023	Lessons in Chemistry			2 episodes
2025	Little House on the Prairie
2026	A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms			3 episodes