Soraya Simi is a film director, producer, and writer. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, she moved to California to attend USC's film school. She directed multiple award-winning documentaries including her poetic thesis film SALT WATER, and her sailing documentary WHERE THE WATER TAKES US. She’s produced high-level, celebrity-driven branded films and commercials, and most recently is in development for a crime docu-series based in her hometown. Her first feature documentary, ROW OF LIFE (2024), follows the remarkable story of Paralympic ocean-rower Angela Madsen, and her final row across the Pacific Ocean. It is by far the most significant story Soraya has worked on, learning first-hand the complexity of a close subject-director relationship, and how the stakes in non-fiction storytelling are not imagined, but very real. She believes wholeheartedly in the profound and necessary capacity for stories to heal hearts, open minds, and immortalize lessons. Soraya gravitates toward narratives that delve into resilience, our human relationship to nature, and achievement against all odds. She currently lives in Santa Barbara, where she founded a local film collective, 805 Film Co., a membership organization for all filmmakers in the area focused on nurturing film community, culture, and craft.