about

Zaferhan Yumru, or Zaf, is a queer, Muslim immigrant to the United States—a filmmaker, photographer, and communications professional whose award-winning work has screened at Sundance, SXSW, and Hot Docs, and has been licensed by PBS and TIME, among others. Across film and communications, Zaf focuses on LGBTQ+ experiences of organizing, immigration, displacement, community (re)building, healing, romance, and joy.

Zaf believes in the power of art to heal, educate, entertain, and transform—and to help guide us toward a de-weaponized, de-colonized future.

For over 14 years, Zaf has led marketing, communications, design, and event teams across arts and media organizations—most recently as Director of Marketing, Communications, Design & Events at the International Documentary Association (IDA) from July 2022 to October 2025. Previously, they held leadership roles at the New Orleans Film Society / New Orleans Film Festival (2018–2022), !f Istanbul (2011–2018), Discovery Channel Turkey, and co-founded zu PR & Communications.

Zaf holds a B.Sc. in Engineering from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul and was selected as a 2024 Rockwood Documentary Leaders Fellow, further grounding their practice in documentary storytelling and social impact. They are also a proud member of PATOIS Collective, dedicated to nurturing New Orleans’ human rights community through support for organizers and a forum for artistic expression across local and international issues. Zaf is an alum of the Flaming Flagettes, New Orleans’ only all-drag flag-dancing krewe.

They live in Los Ángeles (Tovaangar) with their cat, Hera. Zaf is bilingual in Turkish and English, conversational in French and Spanish, and currently learning Greek.