Heidi Saman was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces to Watch in 2014. Saman attended the University of California, San Diego where she studied World Literature and Gender Studies. Upon graduation, she moved to Cairo, Egypt where she was a freelance journalist for The Cairo Times News Magazine. In 2007, Saman completed a master’s degree in Film and Media Arts on a Future Faculty Fellowship from Temple University in Philadelphia. Her thesis film, The Maid (il Shaghala) premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008 and went on to screen at numerous festivals worldwide, including Dubai, Slamdance, and IndieMemphis. Namour, her first feature film, was developed with the Sundance Screenwriters Intensive Workshop, and was the recipient of a Panavision New Filmmaker Grant and a Knight Foundation Grant. Currently she is an associate producer for NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.