Biography

Ariel Mahler is an award-winning trans writer and director whose work explores memory, identity, and transformation through a distinctly queer lens. Her films have screened at renowned venues including Toronto's TIFF Lightbox, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, and the TCL Chinese Theatre. Her AFI thesis film, "Re-Entry," won the Audience Award for Best LGBTQ+ Short at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival and Best Short Film at the Katra Film Series, with additional screenings at festivals worldwide including Inside Out, Aesthetica, Sidewalk, and Queer Rhapsody. Her acclaimed short documentary, "Evan Ever After," earned multiple honors, including the Audience Award for Best Florida Short at the Florida Film Festival and jury prizes at Out on Film Atlanta and the Stamped Film Festival.

Ariel's screenwriting has advanced in top development programs, including the WeScreenplay Diverse Voices Lab (Finalist), and the Shore Scripts Film Fund (Top Five). In 2021, she produced the feature "Death and Bowling", which premiered at Outfest and was later nominated for a GLAAD Media Award.

Ariel has been on HuffPost's list of 10 Trans Filmmakers You Should Know, and IMDB's top 20 trans filmmakers working today. She is the first trans woman to graduate from the Directing Fellowship at the American Film Institute (AFI) Conservatory, which was recently named the #3 film school in the world by the Hollywood Reporter. Ariel also holds an MA in Theatre Education from Emerson College and a BA in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic.
- IMDb mini biography by: Ariel Mahler