Fatima Wardy

Visiting Assistant ProfessorDigital Arts

Fatima Wardy is a Sudanese writer-director, who was raised in the United Kingdom. Her film explores themes of mothers and motherlands through a diasporic lens, drawing inspiration from the oral storytelling traditions from her Nubian ancestry. Ms. Wardy's upcoming short film, White Musk (2025), developed through the Berlinale Talents Short Form Station, has received funding from the Sundance Institute, the Islamic Scholarship Fund, Sharjah Art Foundation, and Austin Film Society. She previously directed Hair Care (2023), a SXSW award-winning short that screened at Oscar-qualifying festivals including the New Orleans Film Festival and the Durban International Film Festival.

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Research, Scholarship, Creative Work in Progress

The Love Marriage (2023-present), documentary feature, in development.

Against the backdrop of Sudan’s turbulent history—from the optimism of post-independence to the chaos of dictatorship—a love story unfolds between two individuals from vastly different worlds.

  • Selected for the Austin Film Society Doc Intensive 2025
  • Awarded a development grant from the Arab Fund for Arts and Culture (AFAC) in 2023

Publications

White Musk (2025). Narrative Short, written and directed by Fatima Wardy, in post-production.

When teenage Hiba becomes the caregiver for her terminally ill mother, a tense role-reversal forces her to grow up too fast, threatening their fragile bond and the precious time they have left.

  • Berlinale Talents Short Form Station 2024
  • Supported by The Building Bridges Foundation administered by the Sundance Institute and the Islamic Scholarship Fund, Sharjah Art Foundation, Austin Film Society

 

Hair Care (2023). Hybrid Short, directed by Fatima Wardy, written by Karl-Mary Akre.

After a visit to the African salon goes awry, a young Ivorian-American woman must traverse a fantastically animated Abidjan in order to track down her hair braider.

  • SXSW Special Jury Award [Texa shorts]
  • Screened at over 30 international festivals

External Awards, Honors, Grants

Princess Grace Foundation Award 2025

Pigott/BAFTA Scholarship 2022-23

BAFTA/Fulbright Award 2021-22