Rayka Zehtabchi is an Iranian-American director and producer based in Los Angeles who works across documentary and fiction. She directed the short documentary Period. End of Sentence., following women in a northern Indian village who launch a sanitary-pad business; the film released on Netflix and won the Academy Award for Documentary Short Subject. Her student narrative short Madaran, on a woman’s power under Islamic Sharia law, won jury awards at HollyShorts, Urbanworld, and Cleveland International and qualified for the Academy Awards. She co-directed the New York Times Op-Docs short Long Line of Ladies with Shaandiin Tome, and co-wrote and co-directed the narrative short Are You Still There? with Sam Davis. Branded credits include KitchenAid’s A Woman’s Place, a documentary on gender barriers in professional kitchens produced through Ventureland and acquired by Hulu; a Planned Parenthood short; and a 2022 Special Olympics USA branded film. Rostered with Prettybird (US/UK), she collaborates regularly with cinematographer-editor Sam Davis and has spoken on Sundance and Cannes Lions panels. Her work imports documentary practice—lived-in locations, non-actor or lightly directed performance, and real-world accident—into independent and brand-supported storytelling.