MAGAZINERADIOSHOP
LOG INSUBSCRIBE
2025-10-21
Written by Sofia Ramirez
Kit Zauhar grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a Chinese immigrant mother and a white father. She discovered filmmaking early and, after high school, pursued film studies at New York University (NYU). Shortly after graduating she made the decision to take the reins of her own cinematic voice — acting, writing, and directing in her own films.
Her debut feature, Actual People (2021), is a low-budget, semi-autobiographical story set in Philadelphia and New York. It follows a young woman returning to her hometown, navigating romantic and existential drift. Zauhar plays the lead, drew heavily from her own encounters, and purposely centres a character who is messy, uncomfortable and flawed — because she believes “nice people are not interesting.”
Shot essentially on a shoestring, the film establishes key traits: Zauhar’s interest in the micro-interactions, the in-between moments; her willingness to blur roles (writer/director/actor); and her ability to use a familiar cityscape (Philly) as a backdrop for private turbulence.
For her sophomore effort, Zauhar honed her approach: her 2023 film This Closeness is set over a weekend in Philadelphia (or an apartment meant to evoke it) where a young couple stay at a rental and become entangled with their awkward host. Tessa (Zauhar) and her boyfriend Ben arrive for his high-school reunion; the host, Adam, drifts inexplicably into their lives.
The film deepens Zauhar’s interest in discomfort, power dynamics (especially masculinity), intrusion of space and the unseen tensions underneath seemingly mundane situations.
It premiered at South by Southwest (SXSW) in 2023 in the Narrative Spotlight category, and secured theatre/streaming distribution thereafter.
Importantly, Zauhar says the film was initially conceived as a play, then reworked into a low-budget film, reflecting her leaning toward theatrical staging, long takes and concentrated spaces.
Uncomfortable Interiors: Zauhar often opts for confined settings (apartments, rentals, homes) to push characters into emotional tight spots.
Flawed Protagonists: She resists the expectation of likability. Her subjects aren’t polished heroes but self-aware, sometimes obnoxious, always layered humans.
Autofictional Roots: While not strictly autobiographical, Zauhar draws from her experiences: returning to Philly, alert to racial ambiguity (her biracial identity), and observations of young adulthood.
Focus on Sound & Space: In This Closeness, the use of sound (ASMR-inspired character, recordings, ambient discomfort) and architectural space reflects internal states of the characters.
This Closeness is now moving through distribution and gaining wider audience visibility.
Zauhar is currently writing a novel — described as autofiction — about a recent film grad stuck in stasis, reflecting her interest in parallel media and storytelling forms.
Given her trajectory, one can expect her next film to expand either in scope or formal ambition, still anchored in the intimate, uneasy, reflective worlds she builds.
In a cinematic era where polished, market-safe protagonists dominate, Zauhar stands out for embracing the unpolished, the uncomfortable, the in-between moments. She brings to life characters who look like many of us: uncertain, self-critical, split between ambition and inertia, aware of their racial and social positions yet not defined by them.
Moreover, by placing Philly (rather than New York or Los Angeles) at the centre, she reminds us of regional specificity, of stories grounded in places less often romanticised. Her work helps broaden what a young Asian-American woman filmmaker can depict — not just identity journeys but generational malaise, relational frictions, architecture of loneliness.