Born in Konstanz, Germany, to an Iranian German family, Shamila Lengsfeld’s passion for cinema ignited early. At just 14, she joined the film club of a local art house cinema, immersing herself in youth programming, projection, and her first film projects.

After high school, she completed a film theater management apprenticeship and worked as a projectionist across various cinemas before pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Digital Filmmaking at the SAE Institute in Cologne. In 2016, she expanded her directing craft during a semester at the New York Film Academy in Los Angeles.

Driven by her fascination with technology and visual storytelling, Shamila developed a distinctive voice that merges AI, VFX, and genre filmmaking. Her breakout short film Blake (2017), a bold VFX infused ode to queer resilience, won the German Newcomer Film Award and was praised by critics as “a middle finger to cookie cutter genre tropes.”

Over the years, Shamila has developed a distinctive voice that merges AI VFX with Live action  storytelling. As one of the early filmmakers in Germany exploring AI-driven filmmaking, she specializes in using artificial intelligence as a creative tool, workflows to rapid visual prototyping and hybrid live-action storytelling.

Her work often features powerful female leads exploring action, sci fi, and psychological horror through a deeply human lens. Beyond entertainment, Shamila’s films aim to evoke empathy, challenge perception, and celebrate the strength of the underestimated.

With her unique perspective as a queer, half Iranian german filmmaker, Shamila’s journey bridges cultures, identities, and technologies, crafting a new cinematic language where emotion meets innovation and AI becomes a tool for empowerment, not replacement.