Kosta Karakashyan is a director, writer, and choreographer working across film, theatre, and immersive experiences. He is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents and a member of the European Film Academy. After studying at Columbia University in New York, performing on stages around the world on Dancing with the Stars, he has gone on to direct projects for Calvin Klein, H&M, and Greenpeace. His aesthetic combines the intimacy, vulnerability, and seduction of the body in motion with a contemporary visual sensibility shaped by cinema, fashion, and spectacle.

Kosta is recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree and a member of the European Film Academy, and his work has been featured by NOWNESS, The New Yorker, The Guardian, ELLE, Bloomberg, BBC Radio, and Radio Free Europe.

Kosta’s work has screened at over 50 festivals worldwide, addressing themes of queer
identity and resilience. His dance documentary WAITING FOR COLOR, about the LGBTQ+ persecution in Chechnya, won the Prix Lumière at Cinédanse Ottawa.

Kosta is committed to telling stories that center marginalized voices and expand our understanding of personal truth, intimacy, and humanity. He sees filmmaking and performance as a way to cultivate empathy and emotion through motion.