Arkansas Tech University and Russellville High School alumnus Andy Sarjahani will return home to provide a screening of his short film “Wild Hogs and Saffron” on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
The screening will take place at 6 p.m. in Ross Pendergraft Library and Technology Center room 300B, 305 West Q Street on the ATU campus in Russellville. Admission will be free and open to the public. Sarjahani will participate in a discussion following the screening.
Sarjahani served as director for “Wild Hogs and Saffron,” which explores Sarjahani’s cultural identities as an Iranian-American.
“Wild Hogs and Saffron” debuted on PBS’ “Independent Lens” weekly documentary program on Sept. 16, 2024.
Other director credits during Sarjahani’s film career include “The Smallest Power” (2024), “American Grail: A Quest for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker” (2024) and “Black Ag” (2024).
Sarjahani provided cinematography for the 2023 film “The Barber of Little Rock,” which was nominated for best documentary short film at the 96th Academy Awards.
He recently served as cinematographer for “Southern Storytellers” (2023) and “Armed Only with a Camera: The Life and Death of Brent Renaud” (2025). “Armed Only With a Camera,” which tells the story of the first American journalist killed in Ukraine, is shortlisted for an Academy Award. Nominations will be announced on Jan. 22.
Sarjahani’s films have screened at Sundance, Museum of the Moving Image, The Hammer Museum and numerous Oscar-qualifying events including the Big Sky, Hot Springs, New Orleans, Woodstock, Blackstar, Cleveland, Palm Springs, Aspen Shorts, River Run and Florida film festivals.
His personal work has been supported by The Pulitzer Center, ITVS, The Gotham, HBO Documentary Films, Doris Duke Foundation, The New Yorker, Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), DOC NYC, New Orleans Film Society, Southern Documentary Fund, Reel South and PBS.
He was a 2022 New Orleans Film Society Emerging Voices Fellow, 2023 CAAM Fellow, 2023 PBS Wyncote Fellow and 2024 HBO/Gotham Documentary Development Fellow.
Sarjahani played high school football for the Russellville Cyclones and was a 2002 Gulf South Conference Academic Honor Roll selection while a member of the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys football program. He went on to earn two undergraduate degrees from the University of Arkansas and engaged in graduate study at Virginia Tech and Montana State University before pursuing a career in filmmaking.
Learn more at www.andysarjahani.com.
