Faraz Shariat, a German filmmaker of Iranian descent, scooped the Teddy Award for best LGBT film at the 2020 Berlin International Film Festival, for his debut feature, No Hard Feelings.

The film follows a second-generation Irani-German millennial who falls in love with an immigrant at a refugee detention centre, and Shariat has confirmed the story is largely autobiographical. As co-founder of Jünglinge, a film collective composed of 20-somethings ‘raised in the hybrid cultures of post-migrant Germany’, Shariat has expressed a commitment to telling diverse stories and highlighting issues of racism and homophobia in Western culture. He’s also directed music videos, including for Flight Facilities’ single Arty Boy, and worked with Selfridges to create a short film, Story Makers, starring Halima Aden.