Fereshta Kazemi is an Afghan-American actress and filmmaker, born on June 10, 1979, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Her family fled the country during the Soviet invasion, living in Thailand before settling in the United States. She was raised in New York and the San Francisco Bay Area. Kazemi studied acting and writing at Marymount Manhattan College and earned a degree in Philosophy and Cultural Anthropology from the University of California, Davis. She later completed an MBA in Film Production from Chapman University. Her film credits include “Heal,” “The Icy Sun,” and “Targeting,” with work often focused on social issues and women’s rights.