Ironically Southern, Ahlaam Yasmin (he/him) is a director, writer, and producer based in NYC whose work is a personal excavation of cultural inheritance shaped by generations of displacement, grief, and the search for belonging. His storytelling celebrates empathy, platonic Black love, and the space between belonging and [trans]formation, with a directorial style that carefully considers where and how light falls on characters as they navigate pivotal moments of self-determination. Drawing from his experience as a first-generation Coloured South African, Black, Desi, Muslim, and Queer individual raised in rural Texas, Ahlaam’s films challenge cultural monoliths surrounding gender roles in Black and Desi communities, offering visibility and validation to those with similar experiences. He hopes people feel possible when watching his films.

In 2024, as part of the Filmmaker’s Mixtape Challenge Cohort, created by director Briana Clearly, Ahlaam produced and directed a short film each month. His films have screened at the IFC Center, the Music Box Theater, and the Chicago Cultural Center, and at festivals including Queer West (U.S.), Fairy Tales Queer Art & Film Festival (Canada), Fringe! (U.K.), PrideFull Fest (NYC), XL Fest (Chicago), and Women X (U.K.). That same year, his half-hour pilot, It’s a Serial Thing, was selected as a Quarterfinalist for the Black Boy Writes & Black Girl Writes Mentorship Initiative. He is now developing a web series adaptation of the project, slated to begin production in the summer of 2026.

Ahlaam served as a Showrunner’s Assistant for John Wells Productions and MGM+ on Emperor of Ocean Park, released in 2024. His documentary Chicago’s Smoothest, which follows two young skaters from Chicago’s South Side into the world of James Brown skating, received the 2018 Best of Medill Recognition. His early work covering Black communities as a journalist led him to an internship at the Emmy-nominated exhibition platform OTV|Open Television, where he contributed to the development of Black, Queer stories across Chicago.

He has assistant directed commercials for NatureMade Vitamins and lululemon, worked as an office production assistant for 21st Century Media and Apple TV, and produced independent short films Bad Blood and The Wolf Among Us.

Ahlaam earned his BA from Northwestern University and is pursuing an MFA in Screenwriting and Directing at Columbia University.