A native of Saudi Arabia, Ahd Kamel is a filmmaker and actress based in New York City. In her acting debut Razan, she won the Golden Gate Award for Best Actress at the San Francisco International Film Festival. Working alongside Peter Berg on The Kingdom, Ahd's roles included set assistant and technical advisor. The Shoemaker, her second directorial short film premiered at Dubai Film Festival in December 2009 and was in the official competition at Clermont-Ferrand short film festival. In 2008, Ahd received a Cloeween Connection award from the ADACH as an emerging Middle Eastern filmmaker presented by Spike Lee. She is currently developing her first feature film, "Smile, you're in Jeddah". Ahd studied acting under the tutelage of William Esper at the Esper Studio and received her directing degree from the New York Film Academy. She has a BFA in Animation & Communication from Parsons School of Design.